i was thinking about getting an LS1 and was wondering if i should stay away from any particular year? i don't know if they changed much from year to year or not. i was actually mainly looking for 98's or 99's due to the price but didn't know if the 99' or 2000's have something better in terms of durability than the first year LS1's, 98.

 

i dont know for sure, but my 98 ss was dramatically faster than a 2000 w/ headers exhaust, off road y pipe, and a couple of other aftermarket bolt ons. my ss omly has borla cb exhaust, and an mti airlid. but i may just be lucky, or a better driver

 

you'll get a boatload of responses on this post, most will talk about a few minor differences, such as LS6 intake, etc, etc...

the short answer to your question is: NO, they're all the same.

BTW, some will say 01 and 02 dyno higher than the other years. that may be true in some cases, but look at my dyno results for my 99 (in sig) with my insignificant mods. looks pretty good to me...

 

accross the board they are the same however the dealer told me that 00 and up came with a better valve body due to some minor problems they were having with the old one but that has nothing to do with the engine

 

It must be luck of the draw. My '00 was .4 faster than any of the '98-'02 LS1 camaros at the track last week. I don't think there is an answer here, the RWHP and track times seem to show a huge spread.

Brian

 

i was planning on building the motor either way but i just did not know what route to go. i think there is a place that shows the difference between every year camaro but i can't remember where. i think i can get too it from this site too but my memory is failing me.

 

they're so close, any difference is insignificant.

My 2000 A4, bone-stock (I'm talking factory everything) ran a 13.49.

 

ok the motors are basically the same 98-00 in 01-02 the cars got the ls6 intake
if your getting a M6 then this where the difference is the 98-00 hydralics and clutch sucked big time
this was updated in 01-02 cars

 

whats the difference in the clutch setups? can the 98 to 00 be converted into the newer style? also, if i was to build this engine, do you recommend an auto anyways?

 

How much do you plan on modding the car? The 1998 LS1s got the largest injectors which would help if you were going to run a small shot of juice. 1998-99s also got the crappiest exhaust manifolds, which may not be a big deal if you are going to do headers. The 1998 F-body got a metal fuel tank which is heavier, less safe and often replaced. The 1998 also is notorious for having the most conservative PCM tune and lowest dyno numbers. The 2001-02 cars got the LS6 manifold, but a smaller cam, so you would see bigger increases with a LS6 intake install on an earlier model. The 01-02s also got a better clutch and slave cylinder. The auto trannies are pretty much the same through all years and is a good option for a dedicated drag car, or commuter vehicle. A stall convertor makes a huge difference! If you are going to go mod-crazy, the year won't really matter. Leaving it stockish, I would go with the 2001-02s.

 

There's no "non vented opti" on the LS1. I finally settled on a 01 WS6 A4 b/c it was so hard to find an M6 for sale that didn't look like it had been beat on. I'm really happy with it, especially the A4 b/c I moved and there are lots of hills and I understand that they get ice in the winter.

Also-I thought that 98s had the same size injectors as 01 and 02 but bigger than 99 or 00. 00 have the smallest I remember.

 

The cam in the 01-02 f-bodies is the same as the cam in the base model corvettes. Chances are if he is going to be modding the car he'll change the cam anyways.

 

LS1Maniac: The 2001-02 F-bodys got the 5.3 "truck cam" which bolstered torque across the board, but had a smaller pattern than the prior cams. There is a real nice chart with all the cam profiles for F-bodys and Corvettes on LS1tech. I have seen this info cited by many sources and tend to believe it. Not flaming, just passing info. I wouldn't even bother with a small cam unless my car was a daily driver. There is too much horsepower to be lost. A good street/strip cam would be the TR224, but since I don't drive my car much, I went with something a "little" bigger.

 

well, i planned on modding it pretty good. i was going to just build the lt1 but i think the ls1 would be more fun. what i had planned was eagle steel crank, h-rods, forged pistons, a fairly large cam(not a daily driver), headwork etc. i am not planning on putting $20,000 in the motor but a reliable powerful engine is what was planned.

 

Well if you are going to do internal work and the full supporting mods, it wouldn't matter what year. You will be upgrading the clutch, PCM, etc anyway. If I were you, I'd look for a 1998 since it will be cheapest. The LS6 block has a much better PCV system from what I understand, but you can also modify the valley pan on the LS1 while you have it apart to improve it. A good heads/cam package on top of the forged pistons and rods will only set you back about $4000 if you can do the work yourself. Add on ALL the bolt-ons and you will still be under $10K easy. Have you thought about a stroker or all-bore setup? If the car isn't a daily driver, you could get one of the current huge cams and be at the 440-450 rwhp level on stock displacement. Good luck!