Everyone is talking about how much hp each motor can handle. when i think of durability I like to know how many miles the motor can go in NORMAL driving conditions. With that being said I would think the LS1 would last just a bit longer because of the better technology all the way around. You dont have to worry about the ignition at all with an LS1, LS1 supposidly has a better firing order which reduces bearing wear, LS1 has a better cooling system so no overheating issues... like i said better technology. And while some LS1s have piston slap, I believe GM has solved that problem mostly if not entirely because I only heard of this happening in the early production years. I have an LT1 and while I like it.. it is still 1950s technology with a few tweeks.

 

If you wanna say that, all engines are basically the same design from the 1800s with a little "tweeking"...

 

ok so an LT1 is based from 50 years of design but theres not reason to dare assume that the design of the LS1 is not predicated on the same information. Thats not to say that major companies dont make mistakes, but i doubt a company as HUGE as GM would gamble on ANY aspect of an engine configuration.

Also, i doubt that many members of this bored have any intentions of keeping their LT1s or LS1s stock, so it is reasonable to talk about overall potential HP as a point of refference to each. The idea of normal driving conditions is pretty subjective from person to person, but i get what you are saying for the most part, turbo_Z

 

Bottom end: What about the fact that an LS1 has a smaller bore and a longer stroke.... making for more wear on the pistons and cyl walls? Thats no good.

Top end: The LS1 valvetrain sucks... dropping a valve and toasting a shortblock is a pricey adventure on one of those cars too. Changing an opti isn't fun, but it was a lot nicer than changing a shortblock would have been.

Some LT1s leak oil, but just as many LS1s burn the stuff.... which would you prefer?

 

The Opti-Spark its self is not a bad thing, its where they mounted it to the engine right under the water pump that has caused so many problems. As soon as the waterpump starts weaking out of the weep hole, it won't be long before coolant gets in the opti-spark. Then you start having problems.

I'd do perfer the LS1 ignition setup with coil packs for every cylinder.

 

yeah my lt1 seems to have a better shifter clutch feel than my ls1

 

i have told you guys about this allready..this kid at my school last year..i guess he was kinda my friend, i just talked to him at school and stuff..he had a 97 LT1 after totaling his 95..he got it with like 122K miles, after he installed his cut-out, he would start it up..let it idle for about 5 seconds, than rev that thing to like 6K+ RPM's in park..no joke..the first time he did it i just about **** a brick! i was like omg dude your a dumbass..he used to do it all the time, i'm not sure the exact RPM..but it was well into redline...and to this day it's still holding up to his abuse. Now i have an LS1..and i would never think of revving that thing to redline in neutral..heck, i wouldnt do that to any engine..but i dont think my LS1 would last long with that kid. Also, is it just me?? Or does it seem that LT1's rev alot quicker than LS1's?? It seemed like he would just blip the throttle, and his tach would jump to like 4.5K RPM...It seems that it revs quicker to me..

 

ask rob raymer about how weak a stock ls1 is.theres nothing more to argue.


amazing how this is analyzed and argued over and over and over.people just dont want to see the truth.

 

We had two LS1s around here blown up last year on the spray that I heard of. I have only known one guy to blow up an LT1 and he was supercharged.

 

I dont know but, I chose iron over aluminum Personally I think its much more reliable, True where they put the optispark was a totally brainless move but off the subject I just smoked a 02 Z28 no more than an hour ago on Camp Penelton with my LT1

 

I had an 96 ta,97ta ws6 with lots of bolt ons.I now own a pretty modded up 99taws6 and just bought a 96z28 vert for the wife and me.

Non of my cars ever saw warranty work.The ls1 only went in for some minor dash cracking.

The 97 taws6 did get the intake manifold leak but I fixed it myself but I hear it came back on the next owner.

I didn't have any opti problems with my lt1s.The ls1 does have some piston slap but it goes away when engine is warm.No big deal and most of oil burning was lousy pcv valve.They have a new valve that I have and it don't go thru much oil.Some I guess had bad rings..mine seems fine.

And buddies have ls1 cars and pretty good mileage..but not compared to some lt1 cars.Ls1 have crappy stock valve springs..they can bend up pushrods and stuff if you do the dreaded 3 to 2 shift when racing.But springs are cheap enough to change out.I am not a big fan of the ls1 clutch but they seem to work ok now.I like how the lt1 has the slave outside the tranny the ls1 has internal slave..pain to get to it.

The optispark is a stupid design.There are some ways to mod it up now but don't think any of them is too cheap.The ls1 ignition works good.
You can change plugs ,wires and even cam easily in ls1.You don't have to pull intake to change cam in ls1.Ls1 don't have intake manifold leaks.

Ls1 bottom end is very strong..crank is strong..both engines have crap pistons..and so so rings..seen lt1 blown up with 8psi procharger.It was on there like a week.Both engines aren't great for nitrous again becuause of crappy hypercrap pistons.Neither use forged pistons.

Both cars have garbage rear ends.Early trannies might be a bit better on the lt1 but my ls1 don' t have the annoying neutral rattle of my lt1 cars.My new lt1 is auto.Old lt1 were m6's.

So both good engines but each have a few weak areas.

 

Hmm, what makes someone resurrect a thread that's over 7 months old

As for the thread itself, the opinions here are too biased. What are most LT1 guys gonna say? That their motor is superior. What are LS1 guys gonna say? That thier motor is superior. If you put this thread in the LS1 tech section here your gonna get three pages of LS1 guys claiming thier motors are stronger.

LS1's just havn't been around long enough yet to see how durable they will be. There are some 98's with over 100k miles but not enought to base an opinion. In a few more years we'll know how good the motor holds on average at 120K + miles.

 

I have yet to hear of a stock bottom-end LT1 making anywhere near 775rwhp/865rwtq.
Here's an LS1 doing just that (w/ 120k+ miles too): http://www.quartermileperformance.co...ormulation.asp

I dunno, maybe an LT1 could do it but nobody has tried hard enough yet?

And I'm not saying this is the norm for LS1s but that according to QMP, it can be done.

Of course...they could be full of s**t

 

My LT1 ingested a piece of metal (long story) at 114K, and that did a piston in. I'm the original owner, so I know the car from day 1. I decided to yank her out and do a 383.

When the shop tore the motor down, they were shocked at how good it looked. At 114K, the motor would have still been in spec without being bored at all. Bearings, rings, cylinder bore and taper, etc all looked great.

I drive a car HARD. Went through the first clutch in under 50K. Broke the synchronizer in 3rd gear whoopin' a modded Mustang about the same time. The car has never seen the track, but has done a zillion 0-60 and 0-100s, hit the rev limiter about 1000 times. Let's see, I think I fried 6 sets of tires in that 114K miles.

The LT1 is tough. I had to cheat to break it

 

actually, if you want to get on the subject of how hard cars are pushing bottom end... i wish i could give you the exact numbers on the guy from florida. his numbers are UNGODLY, running all motor on a stock bottom end. a friend of mine in town knows who he is, so i'll ask him about it... but that's an LT1...

the durability of each engine whether bone stock or heavily modified could be debated forever just like which motor is better overall. the fact is that LT1's have been tested tough over 50 years, and LS1's have a long way to go to reach that peak. the LS1 is a great motor, and i don't know any LT1 guys who will say that LS1's are pieces of ****. but i know plenty of LS1 guys who will tell you that the LT1 winds up being a better motor... if for nothing else, the cast iron block. the aluminum block was just a bad idea... that's the only reason for the 6-bolt main.

LS1's are bad ***. if you want a quick dose of big HP numbers, pick up an LS1. rag the **** out of it... and watch it break down after a while... in the meantime, the LT1 will keep grinding strong thru all of it's abuse. people are talking about... well, wait till we see a higher milage LS1. my girlfriend's LS1 has 82,000 on it. i know a guy who has put 150,000 on his LS1. i've worked on my girl's car too many times to count... and the guy with 150K... his first year of modding, he spent as much down time on his car as he did up time.

i've seen too many LS1's break down or blow up and hardly seen any LT1's have problems. sure ignition is better on the LS1... but, nothing is perfect. both motors have flaws, everything has problems. a perfectly driven car with perfect maintenance will last a long *** time no matter what...

but somebody tell me what these cars were built for? modding, stomping on the accelerator... peeling out, drag racing... muscle cars are built to have the **** driven out of them. mod it, race it... have fun with it. do what you want to do with it... but when it comes to what they were built for, modding 'em, racing 'em... i'm always gonna stick with the LT1. i've worked on a ****load of LS1's... i've modded LS1's... and i've done the same for LT1's. there's a ton of LS1's here... and no matter how bad *** the numbers they throw down on just a few mods, i'm still gonna stick with the LT1. in the long run, it's just a tougher motor. ask the guy here in abilene who has a vette... after all his mods and ****, on the dyno, he beat out another LS1 that had the m2 cam... he put down 407RWHP... stock heads... his car is a beast, and on the bottle... it's sickening. but even he will tell you all day long that he misses his LT1... and if only his block was cast iron... nothin' would stop him.

- jay