SSRich

I know i was wondering how it would do against the chevrolet 302. I have always heard that the 302 was a badddd motor and i wonder if the LS3 would be as good as the 302.

What really happened to the 302??

I have heard a bunch of different things, They became illegal for to much power, Ford pattoned the 302, Chevy just went to the LT1.

MarcR94v6

Not sure what an older, scarcely used engine has to do with the LS3. I know you're just comparing, but why? Wasn't it only used in the Trans Am Racing series where they had to be 5.0L?

You make silly posts, my friend.

Chrome383Z

302 was in the Z28 due to the displacement limitation in the racing series. It was a nice little motor...

But it's not even comparable to a LS1 let alone the upcoming LS3.

ChevEE

I think this is where we need to remember that "there is no replacement for displacement"

sselie

Perhaps an interesting comparison might be the LS3 with the Camaro 302 Concept which was rolled out for the 2000 Sema show.
http://www.auto-power-girl.com/speci...o_concept-1134

5 liters and 435 HP. Scott has brought this car to Bowling Green in the past and it is a total beaSSt!

Best regardSS,

Elie

jg95z28

Really? Then why is it the 302 in its day bested the bigger 350 and even some 396 big blocks?

The 302 was a high reving motor designed for a specific reason... dominating the road courses of the <5.0L sedan class of Trans Am. It was a race motor disguised as a street motor. It is also based off of 50+ year old technology.

The LS3 is a modern production street motor. It is not designed to live past 6500 rpm for a great length of time as the 302 was. However as a modern LSX based motor, it is more efficient and more reliable.

Its almost like comparing a model T with a C6 Corvette... night and day.

Sparkz28ss

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...oid=2032373760
.... ......anyone want to turn their stock Ls1 that high?

....most people dont know the ways of the DZ302, just keep thinking that Ls1 is God

skorpion317

This has to be one of the dumbest questions I've ever seen.

I don't know why you'd compare the LS3 to the DZ302. One is a state of the art, large-displacement fuel-injected V8, built for street use, while the other is a 40 year old carbeureted small-displacement V8 built for 1960's race use.

The 302 went away because Chevy stopped competing in the Trans-Am series. They didn't need a low-production race motor in the Camaro anymore. They didn't become illegal because they made too much power. Ford didn't patent all 302 cubic-inch engines. Chevy put the LT-1 (the '70s version) into the Camaro because it was what they had available at the time.

toegead93

[QUOTE=jg95z28;4715340]Really? Then why is it the 302 in its day bested the bigger 350 and even some 396 big blocks?QUOTE]

Maybe we're talking different engines, but my friends 1987 5.0 Z28 was no match for my 1987 5.7 IROC. Stock for stock his car could never dream of hanging with the IROC. But I think you guys might be talking about much older engines ...not sure.

Capn Pete

You could almost say it's like comparing an LS1/2/6 with the LS7 ... the LS7 just has much higher end parts into it, vs. the other "mass produced" LSx's. The 302, iirc, had a forged crank, forged rods (not sure about pistons ), ~12:1 compression, and a SOLID lifter cam . It was built to rev, and keep revving .

skorpion317

[QUOTE=toegead93;4715435]Your friend's '87 Z28 had a 305 ci V8 that was never designed with performance in mind. The 302 ci V8 in the original Z/28s was, literally, a race motor stuffed into a street car. They are completely different, unrelated engines.

jg95z28

Actually in 1970 SCCA changed the rules allowing GM to use a destroked LT-1 350 in the <5.0L class, thus killing the need for a single purpose based race motor in a production model.

True. Plus Chevy used a 302 in Trans Am before Ford. Ford was still running the 289 in 1967. It wasn't until Mark Donohue dominated the 1968 season in a Z/28 that Ford looked to even the playing field with their version of a 302.

wildpaws

I watched an interesting show the other night about the Trans Am Sedan Series. After Penske/Donohue cleaned Ford's clock with the 302 Z/28, Ford quickly started development on their own 302. As a starting point Holman-Moody (Ford race engine builders) went to a nearby Chevy dealer and ordered a complete 302 motor as parts rather than a crate moter, then put it together to see what it would do. Without doing anything special they said it dynoed close to 500HP and realized they had their work cut out for them. I can see no way to compare the present engines with the old 302, they are entirely different creatures for entirely different purposes. And while I'm sure that driving a new Camaro with whatever V-8s are finally available will be exciting with great performance (and they may be just as fast/faster), they still won't be anything like my 69 302 was with it's solid lifters, high lift cam, big Holley four barrel all exiting through chambered exhausts. The 302 Z/28 engine "spoke" performance just idling, acceleration created wonderful sounds. Back in 69 I used to get pulled over for traffic stops when under the speed limit just because it sounded like it was doing something.
Clyde

MarineReconZ28

That would have been so badass to have that car back in '69...

wildpaws

It was!! I really enjoyed it and always regretted selling it, but I did not miss the 4-6mpg in town or the 12-13mpg on the highway even though gas was only 60-70 cents a gallon. I'm looking forward to the 09/10 Camaro, I think it will be a lot of fun also, just different than my old Z/28.
Clyde