Ok4thGen

Just spend the time and find the car you want.

ANY car can be made to what you want it too be.

Yes the Ls1's are a faster car out of the box.

kind of like the tpi l98 3rd gens are slower then the lt1's just a newer style motor.

Both have there perks,

LT1's Definatly have the win when it comes to reliability and in my opinion ease to work on.

Lt1's have been put in numerous cars now.

id look for the color and a4 or m6 what you want.

LTBlackBird

ewww, not easy to work on, have you ever installed headers or even done plugs and wires on an LT1? A LOT easier on LS1's, but parts are cheaper. As for the LT1, it wasnt underrated as much as the LS1, but it was underrated, look at the Corvette, identical engines but one has 300 and the other 285?? Like i said, it really depends on how many miles you want on the car itself, both engines are very reliable. Also, just so you don't get scared off, 99% of LT1's have some sort of an oil leak, just something about LT1's. Now LS1's have o-rings so they dont leak, but almost every single LT1 has a small leak, no matter the mileage, nothing bad, just something not to be scared off from

Chevamaro

What he said.

Personally, I'd go for the LT1 unless I planned to do a lot of racing. While a little quicker, the nose and interior of LS1s leave me cold. I love the design of the '93-'96 model years. Mechanically, there are plusses and minuses to each.

urbaNHunter44

Lol guys, yes the LT1 was underrated. Silly noobs. Tell me the difference between the '97 SS (rated at 305) and the '97 Z28 (rated at 285). A silly hood, some suspension and an intake that loops over itself restricting flow, and HEAT SOAKS itself roflmao go look at some stock dyno numbers on dynojets and do some backwards math, LT1s make about 305 fwhp. The differences between the years are the cats and a slight cam change, however the cam got smaller and the power ratings increased.

As for the cars, buy an LT1 and mod the **** out of it

LTBlackBird

Also, not against anyone, but on average LT1 owners are a lot smarter and a lot more down-to-earth then most LS1 owners, there are too many cocky LS1 owners thinking there cars are the ****. I prefer this site so much more then LS1tech because of that fact right there, not that there aren't nice LS1 owners, but most of them are really cocky, well not most, just a lot

jah1542

I've seen plenty of stock LT1 dyno sheets showing 260-270 (not saying its average, but I've seen them). That makes 275-285 stock numbers obviously underrated.

To the original poster:
My buddy picked up a ~70k mile '98 Trans Am 3 and a half years ago for $15K. I would think you could easily find a 60-70k mile '98-'99 for $12k or less.

By our butt-meters after driving each others cars:
Him: Jesus, that thing feels fast! (talking about my '94Z)
And his car pulls INSANELY hard after about 4,000 rpm. It's crazy. The two engines both make very respectable power, but feel totally different. The LT1 feels very strong down low, but runs out of air at higher rpms, where the LS1 starts to really kick some ***. Down low, the LS1 doesn't really feel much faster (IMO), but up high, it's a night and day difference. For me personally, I prefer the LT1 because I think it sounds better, and I like the throttle response and torquey feeling around town. But the top-end of the LS1 is addicting

Ok4thGen

Many Long tube header installs and plugs and wires arent a big issue either.

hell ive done two intake remove and reinstalls here in the last couple weeks, easy as cake to fix the leak on the back of the intake.


Like i said it was ALL my personal opinion after working on both kinds of cars.

to each and there own i dont think a large majority of ls1 people do there own work compared to lt1 people.

wdtiger

hahaha... that's funny. Car-racial profiling.

LTBlackBird

Yea, it really depends on the equipment available to you, mainly a lift. I admire those who have put on LT's without one. As for the LS1 owners, I too agree, normally they have a bit more money to spend so they don't do it themselves compared to LT1 owners who normally do there work because of budget reasons, another reason they bought the LT1. I prefer to be in a room of LT1 owners then a room of LS1 owners

GRNcamaro

hey hey hey we all own camaros here no need to start seperating us by engine types here lol i know a few ls1 owners and they know alot about there cars. the ls1 is a stronger motor mostly becuase it breaths beter every motor before there were lessons learned from all you have to do is make and lt1 breath beter and if you look at the lt4 this shows that its mostly poor breathing cuase an lt4 puts out 330 hp about the same as ls1 . and the leaks are really becuase of 2 factors the cars are older and leaks acure from age and chevys poor gaskets its not just lt1 its all engines in that time frame or earlier

oh and the reason the corvette got a higher hp rating of 305 over the f-body 265-275hp is mostly becuase of 2 things the intake system on the vett was less resticitve and the exaust was the big factor also less restricitive

Ray86IROC

That was the official reason, better intake and exhaust. However most LT1 Vettes dyno around the same rwhp as the Fbodies, just as with the LS1s the LT1s put out within 5-10 hp of each other in both the Fbody and Vette.... Biggest difference is the LT1 Fbody was only downrated 15-25 hp, the LS1s were downrated like 40-45...

LTBlackBird

Yea, I knew that the LS1 was under rated quite a bit more then the LT1. As for the LS1 people compared to the LT1 people, its not the car that does it, its the hype surrounding it. I know plenty of very smart LS1 owners and I like to be around them, and yes there are some cocky LT1 owners, but again, there are a lot of punk LS1 owners thinking they are invinsible because of those 3 symbols...L S 1

GRNcamaro

I don’t know I haven’t look at dyno numbers off f-bodies and camaros but if you look at a vet intake its much like the one on the ls1 and is a straight shot into the throttle body un like the wining and turning of the f bodies intake the same as goes for the exuast of the car on the vet is a strait shot right out the back you look at the camaro it twists and turns all the way out the car and then it has to go over the rear axle I don’t know how true this is but I was told that every 90 degree turn an exuast system takes steals about 3-4 hp like I said I don’t know if its true but I was also told on big rigs they try not to put turns that add up to 180 for the same reason so I would imagine its true I know turning exuast systems is bad for flow I wouldn’t be surprise if gm over rated or under rated one of the cars

JimboManJones

Isn't another reason LS1s are faster, don't they use 1.7 rockers stock? Lt1s only have 1.5? I know going from 1.5 to 1.7 will give you a nice increase in power.

I am sorry if this is false info, but for some reason I thought that the ls1 got 1.7? And sorry if this is hijacking.

pitbull14218

I would like to hear some more... this sound interesting i like this topic i made, Well all i no is i have 0 credit, i am young thats why, but i love camaros and i will get one some how.... so i need to be a lil cheap, but i live at home with my mom and don't pay many bills so i could afford one as long as i can get a loan, so i am deciding if i want an LS1 or an LT1 i like the newer ones, i like the older ones, i want fast!