I left here about 2 years ago, according to my little "last visited" thingie up on the right. You see, that is when I sold my '89 IROC-Z Conv. and got a '00 Mazda Miata.

At this point, the miata has been supercharged and all kinds of other stuff. It is a great little car, and certainly faster than my camaro ever was....

BUT, I really miss having the V8. The torque, the noise, everything. So, I'm really starting to consider coming back. The only thing I cant decide is if I want to pick up a relatively inexpensive LT1, or shell out for the LS1. Any suggestions on that?

It will wind up my daily driver, since if I get it I'd be selling my miata (my current daily driver). So I guess it needs to be fairly mod-friendly. I dont need to be able to make insane power with it... just enough to put a big grin on my face. And by the way, it is good to be back on the forums.

 

If I was to do it over again, I would have saved up some more change and found an LS1 equipped f-body.

 

Welcome back. I'd go with a '99 and up (prefereably an '01).

 

can you guys give me reasons why?
I mean, I certainly understand the appeal of the LS1 over the LT1, but its also a pretty good chunk more money (though, being winter, I can get some surprisingly good deals).

And, why the particular years?

 

The obvious appeal with the LS1 is that it comes faster out of the box as compared to the earlier LT1. Don't get me wrong, I love my car but if I had an extra 4 grand in my pocket I would have bought an LS1. Still, the LT1s are very affordable, the aftermarket support is great, and they are very mod. friendly as well.

 

ok, now this is a silly question.. but how are they in the snow?
I'm driving around in the snow with my miata and its fine... now that I've added snow tires (I tried going on all-seasons last year and it was an absolute nightmare).

Will a good set of snows work as well for the camaro? I know my 3rd gen was an absolute disaster if it even LOOKED like it was gonna snow

 

I've heard that with a good set of snow tires and some sand bags in the rear, the f-bodies can be made to handle well in the snow. Have you run your Miata at the track or dyno at all? That car must be a little rocket with the supercharger on it.

 

Drop an LS1 into the Miata! If they can do it with a Ford 5.0, why not!? Besides, that Miata would really move with a 400hp LS6/LS2

 

I drove my '02 Z28 in the snow for 2 winters (the first two winters I owned it) and made by just fine. Ran the factory Goodyear Eagle RSA's the first year, then true "snow tires" the second year ... definitely made an improvement, but I never got stuck even w/all-seasons. No sand bags in the trunk either.

LS1 or LT1? I'm biased, obviously, but one of my LT1 buddies is frustrated 'cause he's spent hundreds in mods on his car already, yet the best time slip he has so far is a 14.5. Another buddy with a 6-speed '97 Z28 ran a 13.7 @ 100 mph bone stock!

BUT, the LS1's are good for 13's right outta the box, and they respond really well to mods, and mod-for-mod against an LT1, you'll always be ahead.

'98-'00 used the original "LS1" intake manifold. '01/'02 switched to using the LS6 intake (significant improvement) as well as a revised camshaft profile (apparently the 6.0L truck cam? ). Also, from '00-'02, they eliminated the EGR system. Those are the only real "key" differences. The rest are all much more minor.

Good luck with whichever decision you make. Just glad to have ya back on the good side.

 

thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate all the input/feedback. I'll be sure to post again if/when I pick one up

 

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