CrippleFightin

I used to have a 98 T/A ram air. Personally I liked it better than my 97 T/A. It was quicker and seemer to respond better to the mods I put on it. I miss it soooooo much.....

But I still love my 97 just not as much as the 98.

CrippleFightin

Oh yeah and just like the other guy said....my 98 was not even near as reliable as my 97. I have been beating the **** out of my 97 and I havent had any problems, but the 98.....thats another story. The tranny broke 3 times and finally the rear end broke....after that I got rid of it.....wont say what for cuz I'll get roasted, but I quickly traded the un-named car in and got the 97 T/A.

Dmx4ever3

OH NO YOU GOTTA TELL US WHY YOU GOT RID OF IT I WANNA KNOW PM ME AND TELL ME PLZ

FastZinTennessee

I don't like LS1s. I don't like the attitude some of their owners have, and I don't want to be grouped with them. I don't like piston slap. I don't like oil consumption. I don't like having to worry if my motor is going to survive. There are three blown up LS1s around here currently.

My motor is apart now because of a blown headgasket, but that's due to the electric water pump not getting energized, not the design of the motor. The LT1 is very reliable.

John

JZ 97 SS 1500

For big hp, stick to LT1, you won't lift the heads. If you want big hp and somewhat reliable out of an LS1, you have to go to the iron block, or fork lots of $$$ for the C5R block.

Jose

RTICWOLF

In my honest opinion, the LS1 guys (and gals) are afraid of the LT1. When you say to someone, my car has an LT1, everyone knows what you got under the hood. If you say LS1, they go "what is that"? The LT1 has been around a lot longer and I too agree it is far more reliable, even considering the Opti. I have 109k and the motor is rock solid and very happy . I too have the original Opti, water-pump, alternator, power steering, A/C, etc.

I have two buddies with the LS1 (one Z28 and one Ram Air T/A) and they both have had numerous issues with the above parts, and that is at just over 25k miles! They both cannot believe I have 109k miles and the car still runs as good as it does. They both also comment they like the "muscle car" sound that my LT1 has over theirs.

Give it a few years, there will probably be LS1 guys taking out their engines and putting in LT1's or LT4's.......

IrocManiac

I would say LS1 > LT1. They are two different motors in almost all respects. I personally like the LS1 better, it has a LOT more power right outta the box and its high end power too. It gets better mileage, runs smoother, they are not as strong as the LT1 so if you drive them horridly hard it only stands to reason something may break. (They're bad about bending rods). They respond better to mods (at least my friends have) and the LS1 firebird/TA's look better than the LT1 Firebird/TA's.

They are both great, I went with an LT1 car because insurance is much cheaper for a 21 year old on a 95 then a 98, 99 or 2000+. My LT1 pulls like a freight train to redline, everytime I get on it I can't believe it pulls that hard, its the hardest pulling (mostly stock, I have a catback) LT1 I've ever been in. You can't go wrong either way, check on insurance diffs, I don't know how old you are, also figure out what you're gonna wanna use it for. Daily driver? weekend toy? etc..

treyZ28

LS1 is just simply better in almost every non subjective category.

subjectivly- well duh, this is LT1 tech

LS1 is faster, smoother, smaller, lighter, easier to work on, and mods (outside of internal mods) are almost the same price. Alum driveshaft, awsome ignition, better firing order, evenely spaced ports on the heads, better shaped combustion chambers and more crap than i care to mention.

but hey if you want a manley horn and exhuast note

Ls1 is almost a perfected motor.

GaryH

hmm, okay well I might be talking out my *** here, but I'm going LT1 in mine for two reasons...the first being obviously the LT1 is going to be cheaper initally. Second being that I like the idea of the cast iron block. I figured it I wanted to do nitrous down the road, I'd be better off without the aluminum block :P

-GaryH

Chris 96 WS6

I have a suggestion...don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen dude. Sure, I know all sorts of LS1 guys who are just scared to death of the LT1

Some of these arguments are just silly and based on stereotypes, myths, and anecdotal evidence.

Fact is the LS1 is a newer design (LT1 uses a basic design that dates back to 1955), benefits from all kinds of new design technologies, makes gobs more power stock, the heads are absolutely works of art from a flow standpoint. Aluminum blocks don't seem to be a big barrier for big HP either. As an LT1 owner I am not into touting the reliability of the engine compared to the LS1. I think our water pump and Opti = we should not be talking reliability to anyone...pot...kettle...black.

Don't get me wrong, if you spend big dollars you can level the playing field, especially when you get into the forced induction arena, but for basic bolt ons or heads/cam jobs, the LS1 is going to be ahead every time. I love my car but if I were shopping for another one today I would be test driving LS1s.

Black_Z28

If I would have the chance to do it over again I wouldn't have bought a LT1. Actually I woundn't have bought a Fbody at all. I still wish I would have bought a GN.

GaryH

GNs are pretty bloody fast...but but...I don't think the T56 bolts up the them :P LT1, LS1, six to one... it's the trans that I wanted.

Tekprodave

I love these discussions but yeah, kinda been beat to death. It depends what your goals are. I bought mine as a late model bang for the buck drag car and it's suiting my purpose much better than an LS1 would. But both are good. And like the song goes, "love the one you're with".

UnbelievabLS1

John, the only reason you've gotten attitude from some owners is because you have a lil bit of an attitude yourself.

Where do you get this piston slap, oil consumption, and motor survival crap at? Do you just know that many thousands of LS1 owners who are having these exact problems. Dude, those problems are totally isolated to just a handful of cars, it's not happening on every LS1 out there. I've never experienced any of the problems you speak of, and my car has 81K VERY HARD miles on it.

And what about the 3 blown up LS1's that you know of. OK, let's talk about those. Number 1 would be Carl, simple answer, bad set-up all the way around. A heads and cam set-up, along with a nitrous kit and an inexperienced driver. Blown motor waiting to happen in my opinion.

Number 2 is Eddies car. A cammed, bolt-on + N20 car. His motor letting go was nothing more than bad luck. It's very unfortunate what happened to Eddies car, but you say it like all this in only happening to LS1's. Should I start counting all the LT1's that I know of right now that are down?

And who is this 3rd mystery person with the blown LS1? It seems I would know about it, considering I know most every LS1 in our area. Who is it, and how did it happen?

You speak of the LT1 as if nothing could ever happen to it, and you drive it for 200,000 miles and be perfectly fine. Well, maybe you could, but do you honestly think you couldn't do the same in as LS1? Because if you do, then you better put your Dremel down, and step away from the heads buddy, cause you're not thinking right now! Hell, you can make any car last forever, it all just depends on who the owner is, and how he'she takes care of their car.

To sum it up, both the LT1 and LS1 have their good and bad points, but in the end, the LS1 will always be the far superior motor, if not for the amazing engineering that went into it, then for the shear power it makes in stock form. IMHO, dollar for dollar, the LS1 will always come out on top.

LWillmann

I bought mine because of price, but I think that if I were to do it over, I would go for an LS1..

The LT1 is certainly a fine engine, but I agree that the LS1 is simply a superior design, and implementation all the way around.

Plus, I like the newer Firebird and T/A noses better than the LT1 cars have...