[QUOTE=MLCZ51;1567942767]06 and 07 ls2's can be had for a very good price right now...get a 06 and pocket the x-tra money to mod it.......ps with only cai and a tune i run stock ls3's in the ground...

So your cai and tune picked you up over 50rwhp?? Thats the difference my 08 and 05 made.. My 08 car STOCK w/ 200miles on it put down 400/396.. My 05 w/ CAI, LT's and tune put down 385/379.. and as soon as I drove the 08 off the lot after leaving my 05 I could feel a big difference.. Spend a couple extra grand and get a better platform.. The l92 heads, stronger block, bigger displacement, Z06 injectors, electric steering, nicer interior, better maf for tuning, the list goes on and on from a tuning standpoint..

 

[QUOTE=Slvr08Z51;1567945548]You can make the same point for the 09s, which are putting down great numbers and additional advantages. There are advantages and disadvantages for all platforms. Unless you're planning on buying a new model every year, you're always going to be behind in some aspect.

San

 

[QUOTE=Slvr08Z51;1567945548]looks like your 05 and 08 are only 15 hp apart after you added headers????all cars dyno diff. you can't take the dyno and run it on the street or track, what i said was with a good tune and cai my cars runs over stock ls3's..it dyno's 366/359 at the rear wheels. i have run 12.009/117mph and at the track i have run over several ls3's....
also i just picked up a 06 mz6 3lt car fully loaded with 30k for less than 31k... added cai and tune , b&b exhaust for about a grand and i am running with the ls3's...08 base cars 1lt are 40k.....10k extra for a base ls3.. no way.......

 

Its going to sound silly going back and forth with the mod for mod thing, and as shown by SLP, the heads on the LS3 acount for the big difference. If the cheap 400 dollar heads are put on the LS2 the difference is then 10hp. Taking that mod into acount and the fact that 100 cars can go for the same set of mods and vary more than 10hp, in the end it means nothing. Its a mod the LS3 cant do twice. I have seen guys supercharge an LS3 and have lackluster results so dont think its mod for mod better by owning a 2008.

A $4700 dollar 416 LS3 based stroker in the pre-2008 cars would then change everything and considering that a guy modding has no warranty advantage. The fact is a 2005-2007 car and stroker installed ends the debate and its cheaper than a 2008. The LS3 and the LS7 are great for people not modding, but they have cast pistons and would still cost nearly as much to have forged internals. The really high end of power requires it and the mod for mod stronger argument fails at that point.

 

I would get an LS2 and use the savings towards the mods. That is what I did.

My total investment for my used 2006 LS2 A6 (6k miles bought in April '08) and my magnacharger were less than a new LS3.

 

If you are going to mod the car quite a bit, it shouldn't matter I would think. If you were just going with a cam only car, I would say LS3...or at least that's what I would do. But h/c/i, blower, etc, find a nice used LS2 C6. I see LS1 cars with h/c/i smoking LS2/3 cars at the track. A friend has one actually, runs 6's at our local crappy track.

 

smart shopper.

 

I agree with post above. I would just get an LS2 and put a cam in it, tune, headers and be happy

 

Thats a really good point!! It s takin me a minute to catch up because as I said this is my first vette..but for someone like me who will "never be done" modding the car..I thinnk Spin makes sense..pay thousands$$ less for the car and spend the savings on diff/forged stroker/tranny etc..

Lots of great input guys!!! I really appreciate it, if anyone has any other thought, please keep em comin

 

This also brings up a whole new question...do I pull the motor and have it built, or is there a better won thats all built thats better???

 

It's quicker to have someone like Spin or ECS build you a engine and trade yours as a core.

 

Another option is to buy a car that is already modded..... Should be able to get a killer deal in January after the holidays.

 

I just don't want a car that someone else beat on...I lnow, I'm just gonna beat it anyway, but ...

Spin..You build motors??? I have put engines together before, but would be interested in your opinions on what to use as specifics with this and possibly buying parts from you once I get the car.

Thanks guys

 

Wow, putting me in the same sentence with ECS is an honor but they are light years ahead of most real tuners when it comes to track cars that consistently run in the nines.....and low nines for that matter. Having been in their fastest N/A car and owning their supercharger kit for my car, I think those guys that have the title for both, and should be on a different plateau.

My fastest car ran a 9.92 which is great for a guy who does it all on jack stands but my forum tuner status is to be able to offer tuner services to make frinds and help out kids from St Judes Hospital. I further the DIY crowd and tuners like LG, ECS, Cartek, ect....further the science. My 1800 dollar 470rwhp H/C package is a DIY kit.....they push the envelope.

Proips to ECS who is not only able to make a great package for any level but they also answer the phone to solve problems for DIY'ers that buy their products.

I am here to answer any questions without having to buy anything from me. Its called making friends.......

 

VERY COOL!! I am just going back and forth so much cause I don't wanna buy one and then find out I could have done better with another..You said there is a stroker you would do with the ls2, with that in mind, would doing a stroker in the ls3 allow for greater displacement/power, etc..or is the block the same???

 

Yes, but with the likes of Lingenfelter and Scoggins offering a 416 stroker short block complete for $4700, there is no benefit to doing it yourself. Charlie from RPM, when he was with A&A, built my forged 348 in my C5 for $3600--no core charge including a timing chain (h-beams and diamond pistons. To do it myself would have been 240 bucks less and the question of who is doing the block machine work is there since my families machine shop isnt equiped for all steps and I didnt have a TQ plate for the LS blocks.

Now Charlie (at RPM motors) does all the work in house and I will be getting my 387 all bore (destroked LS7) from him. He is meticulous in his work and does all machine work in house. His knowledge with this engine platform is over the top. He consistently shows cutting edge performance in his tuning and builds so why bother trying to duplicate what is a given there?

I would imaging that a LS3 stock displacement forged shortblock for a LS2 car would be the best of all worlds. Unlike some people in this thread that think the LS3 is a better track motor and an LS2 is a better street motor, I disagree. The LS3 betters the LS2 in all sections of the powerband. Putting on a set of LS3 heads on the LS2 closes that gap big time, but the LS3 still shows a superior low end and the LS3 heads then have unshrouded 2.16 valves which is why they do so well with big cams. The LS3 in the 2008+ is still a cast piston motor and it costs maybe 1000 less to get a forged LS3 for them, as opposed to an LS2 being sold or traded and then buying a forged LS3. At my level neither stock cast piston motor works so arguing about which does better modded is of no consequence to me. They both would come out of the car. My H/C nitrous LS2 with LS3 heads embarassed a lot of cars out there. Any car can get to any power level.

 

Good advice..I am a thinker and can "overthink" somethings to death sometimes...being that I will probably pull the motor on either and build it, either choice should do fine I think. It will probably come down to what I can get a great deal on. Thanks again for all of your input on this, I found it very usefull!!

 

By the time you purchase an Ls2 or LS3 car and make the mods you could buy a Z06 and you might not feel like you need the mods. JMHO

 

The Z06 stock puts about 455rwhp to the ground. My 2005 is putting 704rwhp down not including a small nitrous shot. The Z06 is 70k and a used 2005-2007 is in the 30k-38k range. My car is a 2005 and has 300 more rwhp than a Z06 and will easily outhandle one too. I still havent crossed the 60k line let alone 70k. I also have a level 4 transmission and 2 hardned output shafts in my 4.10 C5 differential (which by the way hasnt shattered with lots of power and wheel hop early on to boot). No stock Z06 will touch even a simple H/C Ls2.

The roof doesnt come off a Z06 and you cant re-gear one. That matters to some people.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I'll take a forged 2005 with a blower and nitrous over a stock cast-piston Ls7 anyday. That motor too needs some serious mods done to it to get to the level I am at. A forged Ls7 still costs thousands to build it up. Any way you look at it a stock car even at 455rwhp isnt the pinnacle of performance. Lastly if you blow up a Ls2 or Ls3 the engine blosk is far less than a thin walled Ls7 block. The Z06 isnt the be-all. If it was, I can easily afford one....but I bought what I wanted, a removeable roof corvette that has the power to run a 9 seocnd pass if the driver could learn to shift it well enough.