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Alright, So Im a little new to LS Motors, been building Gen 1 SBC's for a good while so I know my way around GM power plants. My question is, how efficient is the LS1 at adding power?, on a budget build and limited time, how fast and how cheap can I get this SOB to squeeze out 400 ponies for me? Its a 01' C5 Base, Stock as hell bought it from an old timer, he did absolutely nothing to it, it was a virgin. So far I tossed on a ram intake and have been hacking away at the exhaust trying to get the sound right, shes got no cats and no mufflers an an Xpipe and I'm waiting on headers. Whats the best direction I should head from here?....... (Keep in mind before you say forced induction or some crazy build. I only wanna get it to 400Hp maybe a tad over, Not looking to build a drag car or break the bank here, just wanting quick bad *** sounding street vette.)
Last edited by Hoonigan628; Aug 17, 2018 at 10:40 AM.
Alright, So Im a little new to LS Motors, been building Gen 1 SBC's for a good while so I know my way around GM power plants. My question is, how efficient is the LS1 at adding power?, on a budget build and limited time, how fast and how cheap can I get this SOB to squeeze out 400 ponies for me? Its a 01' C5 Base, Stock as hell bought it from an old timer, he did absolutely nothing to it, it was a virgin. So far I tossed on a ram intake and have been hacking away at the exhaust trying to get the sound right, shes got no cats and no mufflers an an Xpipe and I'm waiting on headers. Whats the best direction I should head from here?....... (Keep in mind before you say forced induction or some crazy build. I only wanna get it to 400Hp maybe a tad over, Not looking to build a drag car or break the bank here, just wanting quick bad *** sounding street vette.)
400HP at the flywheel is the aftermarket air filter and headers of your choice. 400rwhp add a mild cam.
You are NOT going to gain a lot of power with exhaust mods. 5-10 on a good day.. Don't know exactly what air filter that you purchased BUT, unless you install some sort of purpose built system that gets cool fresh air from infront of the car, anything else is a crap shoot.
As 93Polo stated... Headers and a cam and you will need to tune the PCM to get all the HP/Tq that is on the plate plus the efficiency that you will need to keep it running good.
How many miles on the car??
Auto or MN-6 Manual Trans?
The above will make a difference in some other stuff that you will need to do.
You are NOT going to gain a lot of power with exhaust mods. 5-10 on a good day.. Don't know exactly what air filter that you purchased BUT, unless you install some sort of purpose built system that gets cool fresh air from infront of the car, anything else is a crap shoot.
As 93Polo stated... Headers and a cam and you will need to tune the PCM to get all the HP/Tq that is on the plate plus the efficiency that you will need to keep it running good.
How many miles on the car??
Auto or MN-6 Manual Trans?
The above will make a difference in some other stuff that you will need to do.
Bill
M6 W/140k on the motor. But the Motor is solid as hell, no leaks, no ticks, no codes, no shavings on oil plug, runs like new, It has never been driven hard, 2 owner car, me an the other guy.lol, the intake I made, Dual filter, kinda like the ebay ones, the exhaust I know wont give big power, I just like it loud haha.... I had assumed a cam would be the easiest way, any idea what people are running for a good streetable cams on these, any kits available? How much more will the a LS6 intake mani and 92 mm TB actually add also, not gonna drop $$450 for 10 HP.
M6 W/140k on the motor. But the Motor is solid as hell, no leaks, no ticks, no codes, no shavings on oil plug, runs like new, It has never been driven hard, 2 owner car, me an the other guy.lol, the intake I made, Dual filter, kinda like the ebay ones, the exhaust I know wont give big power, I just like it loud haha.... I had assumed a cam would be the easiest way, any idea what people are running for a good streetable cams on these, any kits available? How much more will the a LS6 intake mani and 92 mm TB actually add also, not gonna drop $$450 for 10 HP.
If you have a 2001,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you already have the better LS1/LS6 manifold. All C5 2001-2004 utilize the improved manifold.
You can NOT fit an LS2 Throttle Body on to an LS1 manifold The LS1/6 TB is a three bolt TB. The LS2 TB is a four bolt TB
You can have the LS-1/6 intake manifold snout cut off and have an LS2 TB snout/flange graffed on. Its not cheep.
You will NOT benefit from installing an LS2 TB. Your heads/valves will not flow enough to justify getting a bigger TB. The LS1/6 TB will support mods and air flow up to 500HP. So, spend you mod cash else where until you make mods that really increase air flow through the engine..
If you have a 2001,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you already have the better LS1/LS6 manifold. All C5 2001-2004 utilize the improved manifold.
You can NOT fit an LS2 Throttle Body on to an LS1 manifold The LS1/6 TB is a three bolt TB. The LS2 TB is a four bolt TB
You can have the LS-1/6 intake manifold snout cut off and have an LS2 TB snout/flange graffed on. Its not cheep.
You will NOT benefit from installing an LS2 TB. Your heads/valves will not flow enough to justify getting a bigger TB. The LS1/6 TB will support mods and air flow up to 500HP. So, spend you mod cash else where until you make mods that really increase air flow through the engine..
THANK YOU!, see this is the info I was hoping to get, I was totally thinking I was gonna need to get new TB and Manifold, now I know I wont need to waste money on it for my mild *** build lol. Good stuff.
Crank (compared to your 350 stock, or a Z 405 stock) or rear wheel HP?
Stock 350, its not a Z06, because I really wanted that damn targa top. lol. (shoulda prob got a Z, but meh, chicks dig the Targa ) Id guess shes prob sitting right at that 300rwhp. Id like it to be 400 rwhp and honestly id prob be pretty happy just staying at that till I win the lotto or my job gives me an effin raise.
Cam is what's going to get you there. Headers will help but a majority will be in the cam spec. Budget for a clutch though, most stock clutches start running into issues at 400whp.
Pretty much what everyone else said. Intake, cam, and headers will get you there or pretty close, depending on how rough you can stand your idle to be. With those mods I was making 408 rwhp using a cam that was 234/240 on a 112 LSA at .050". I had the stock heads ported and bumped the compression to 11.5 to 1 and the rwhp jumped another 50 horses. As far as the exhaust goes, if you like it loud go with a Corsa Extreme cat-back. Here's my car:
Stock 350, its not a Z06, because I really wanted that damn targa top. lol. (shoulda prob got a Z, but meh, chicks dig the Targa ) Id guess shes prob sitting right at that 300rwhp. Id like it to be 400 rwhp and honestly id prob be pretty happy just staying at that till I win the lotto or my job gives me an effin raise.
Yeah, I'm not a targa (or vert, or sunroof) guy, so my Z decision was made even easier.
Sorry, knew it wasn't a Z, I just meant for comparison purposes. An LS6 with intake, headers and tune pretty much hits 400 rear rear wheel for comparison.
On an LS1 (or LS6 for that matter), your air intake and open exhaust (yikes) might gain you ~15HP total. That puts you at ~315RWHP. As you're planning on headers, count on 25-30 for that = 340-350. Now talk to your cam company of choice and tell them what you've done and your goal. A nice cam will hit your target, some used 243 heads will make the target easier and maybe surpassed.
I have an '99 FRC with a custom Lunati cam, an SLP Blackwing CAI, full length headers, no cats and a Z06 Ti Axleback. It dyno'd at 377rwhp and 370 ftlbs of torque. It's the stock LS1 intake and stock heads. Cam specs: 223/239 .615/.629 112+2. It had a BBE Bullet axle back at the time it was dyno'd. I have since removed it due to the volume.
Heads (243s/799s), cam, longtubes, and bigger injectors to match and you should easily be able to attain 400rwhp.
I'm not hip to the current cam selections out there but I have had huge success with the old Texas Speed Torquer V2.
With a quality tuner at the controls it can easily be made to drive in heavy traffic daily.
340rwhp is very achievable on headers, Z06 or aftermarket mufflers, LS6 intake (which should be on your car), and an aftermarket airfilter which is ~400hp
Agreed, I would do a set of 243/799s with the price they are going for but you can get 400rwhp with stock heads.
I likely would not bother swapping intake manifolds with a 400rwhp goal. The LS6 intake can support it which was standard for 01+.
I prefer CamMotion cams and would call CamMotion, EPS, Tick, Vengeance, Brian Tooley and discuss your goals. If you are staying on stock gears, I like an intake duration of roughly 222 to 228 at .050 and 4-6 more on the exhaust. The exact specs depend on what you view as streetable.
Vettenuts has had some great topics on pushrods and their measurement. I would go 11/32 if you are not having anything more than a cleanup decking. As Bill said do a bushed trunion upgrade. I would do the Morel drop in lifters, a quality double spring and a Melling high pressure oil. standard volume pump.
150k is nothing on a LS1 with regular oil changes.
While attempting to be thorough, a tune will be needed.
I would do at minimum a LS7 clutch if not aftermarket depending on how drive. If you do not know the history or have not been in it, I would check the couplers/bearings in the torque tube when you do the clutch. As well as a remote bleeder for the clutch.
Same as your Gen1, just a little less cam timing if you have a good enough port job on the heads
Crack it open, go after it. Cams never give you what you hope for like intakes, mufflers etc.
As Bill and Polo posted most bolt ons dont do much of anything...take web and ad claims with a grain of salt.
Dig into the motor youll find the power there...when you need more, then go after the little stuff as you can afford it.
Most TBs can support a lot more than one would think. It just changes how it feels under your foot to give the illusion you have more.
Ex; An L98 TPI comes with a 48mm throttle body....so does a RamJet 502 crate motor.
What looks good on a flowbench or dyno sheet doenst always translate into faster. Not discouraging you at all just sayin...nothing comes easy or cheap.
These Numbers are for our TPS RPM Headers & X-Pipe on a Bone stock C5 Z06 (180K Miles) with Tune. Bottom Is baseline , Top is headers only No Tune and middle after Tunning. 372 RWHP/ 362 RWTQ
These few mods got my 01 C5 M6 to just shy of 350 rwhp.
-Blackwing CAI
-Summit Mass Airflow Sensor 29007B-C for cold air tuning
-Stainless Works LT headers: 1-3/4" primaries, 3" pipe w/cats
-Corsa Touring exhaust system
-MTI Tune
-Dynojet Results: 349.65 rwhp 361.14 rwtq
Fast Track To 400HP
) Id guess shes prob sitting right at that 300rwhp. Id like it to be 400 rwhp and honestly id prob be pretty happy just staying at that till I win the lotto or my job gives me an effin raise.
