Quote:
Originally Posted by BonzoHansen
it's really an evolution stemming from the racing stuff and the LT5.
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More the racing stuff, honestly. GM got it right with the LS1 and later iterations like the LS2 and LS3. That is, they managed to give it good low and mid range power with the ability to still peak at high RPMs. L98 had the TQ, but no revs or HP; Lt1 had hp and revs, but no low end - LS motors have it all, plus they don't need pricey aftermarket rotating parts to not blow apart at high revs. And they respond just as well as the Gen 1 and 2 SBC motors when it comes to adding power, so that is the real story.
LT5 is an interesting anomaly by GM - Lotus designed it and GM shoehorned it into the original ZR-1 Corvette. While it was fast for the early 90's, where most fast cars ran high 13's at 100mph; every part was incompatble with any other engine and only high buck builds really did it justice - most notably the 620hp Lingenfelter iteration. The LT4 motor in a C4 was just as fast as a ZR-1; a buddy had one new and it ran 13.0 all day dead stock.