racing a ls engine

[darren no 7]

hi all building a new race car and want to know what ls engine to use. Have seen the ls4 from oz which looks cheap (£3300)but wont some thing that will rev and have big bhp, the ls7 looks good with built in dry sump but at £9000 is there that much in it(3x the price)thanks for any info

Edited by darren no 7 on Saturday 11th October 18:50

[stevieturbo]

define revving.....

These are big V8's, dont be expecting much more than 6000rpm from any stock engine for sustained race use.

If you need rpm's, you might be better having an engine built, with this in mind.

[mitch_]

You can reliably have 700Bhp from a well sorted LS7 and be into 7,250rpm. Probably worth chatting to Dave Beecroft at Xero Competition as they have more experience racing on LS engines than anybody else I know. I have no idea what an LS4 is though.....

[darren no 7]

sorry its a ls gen 4 l98 engine 6000cc ,is that a ls3?? and i would like to rev to at least 6800rpm

Edited by darren no 7 on Sunday 12th October 16:13

[JakesterUK]

darren no 7 said:

sorry its a ls gen 4 l98 engine 6000cc ,is that a ls3?? and i would like to rev to at least 6800rpm

Edited by darren no 7 on Sunday 12th October 16:13

Have a surf and find GM High Performance magazine, it's an American monthly publication that's specifically for LS engines and is packed with specs, suppliers, engine builds and race outcomes.

As for an 'LS gen4 l98', that's a bit confusing, as an L98 is a lot earlier version of the small block and pre LS, what year and where did the engine come from as this will be able to narrow down what it is you've actually got.

[Boosted LS1]

People are getting a bit mixed up here. We are talking current ls series engines after 1997 not early series ls engines from 60/70 ies.

[darren no 7]

its a brand new engine from oz

[Godzilla]

darren no 7 said:

sorry its a ls gen 4 l98 engine 6000cc ,is that a ls3?? and i would like to rev to at least 6800rpm

Edited by darren no 7 on Sunday 12th October 16:13

Standard LS7 revs to 7100rpm. I think the standard LS3 is limited to 6500rpm?

Look into fitting forged pistons for those speeds in an LS7 though, particularly under race conditions.

[Boosted LS1]

darren no 7 said:

its a brand new engine from oz

Yes I know but there was a series of older ls series engines such as ls6 and ls7 from the 60 ies or thereabouts. Not a lot of people know that

[Boosted LS1]

Darren, imo it's not worth buying an ls7 for racing only to dismantle it to change pistons etc and to have to rebalance it and build it. You may as well start with a 427 short motor and then add onto it the parts you need to complete the installation. Be aware that an aftermarket 427 won't be an ls7 as such. It may or may not have an ls7 engine block but the rest will be aftermarket. Still good quality, certainly cheaper but you won't find any titanium in there.

I'd start by ordering a short motor and then pick the intake and heads you want.

[mitch_]

Darren, are you per chance related to Team Holden??

[mitch_]

No need to answer that Darren, I just googled you and found that you are. Guessing the car is for Britcar in which case a more important question is what power are you looking for and what class do you want the Sagaris to sit in?? I would still recommend speaking to Dave Beecroft though as the team does have many years experience of racing on LS Engines. We're currently building up two LS7s for next year, moving away from LS1's. Our last LS1 out of interest was giving out 580Bhp at the wheels!

[darren no 7]

if any one is selling a engine let me know,i would like it to be dry sumped and pushing out about 550 bhp but could be more(i will be racing in the dutch super car challange and brit car)thanks

[ringram]

At your budget durability might be questionable.
As mentioned you should probably buy a forged shortblock and put some good heads and intake on it. Spend a bit on the top end getting something to rev nicely.
If you keep to stock displacement forged LS2 then you can spend some money on good parts, lunati, arp, jesel, manton maybe AFR/ETP etc.
Dry sump might be able to be retro fitted, but only the LS7 came with them (though internally they are no different to any other Gen4 block) and they drop valves and split liners...

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10260...

[300bhp/ton]

darren no 7 said:

sorry its a ls gen 4 l98 engine 6000cc ,is that a ls3?? and i would like to rev to at least 6800rpm

Edited by darren no 7 on Sunday 12th October 16:13

No idea what engine you are describing, I guess a link would help.

LS3 is 6.2 litres. LS4 is a 5.3 and an older LS motor found in lesser GM cars when the LS1 was about. L98 is an older engine altogether and was found in the Corvette C4 in the 80's.

6.0 Ls would be an LS2.

Why do you need it to rev to 6800rpm?

Many guys with h/c LS1's in the States have them revving to this level, but I'm not sure how durable they'd be on a circuit, not without a built bottom end.

[Boosted LS1]

^ There is a 'new' l98 in much the same way as there are 'old' ls4/6/7's etc.

[300bhp/ton]

Boosted LS1 said:

^ There is a 'new' l98 in much the same way as there are 'old' ls4/6/7's etc.

oh, didn't know that. Thanks

[darren no 7]

this l98 engine is out of the holden i think ,is that good or bad?

[ringram]

Its basically a 6L version of the LS3 so it should be just as good as the rest of them. Its an enhanced version of the previous models L76 engine which had DOD junk in it. The L98 doesnt.

[Boosted LS1]

Watch some of these new blocks because they're sand cast and there's a lot of crap at the bottom of the lifter bores. I have several blocks here which seem to have been prepped differently by GM. One block has been hand fettled with a sander in key areas which is nice and what I'd expect. Another hasn't been touched, it came here as a rotating short block from the US complete with some rust in the bores due to a slow transit time and the lack of oil to comply with air freight conditions.