Tuning the GM LS1 and best performance parts.

"All you need to know about performance parts and tuning the GM LS1 engine!"

In this article we examine the options for your LS1 tuning and show the greatest mods that work. GM LS1 are fantastic to work on and with carefully picked modified tuning mods like remapping, turbo kits and camshafts you will dramatically improve your driving opportunities.

The LS1 or Generation III as it's known was very solidly built and with the right mods can make a significant amount of power.

It is a big lazy V8 and if you tighten up the fuelling and timing you can make some significant power from this popular block.

Most tuners make larger power gains on the LS1 than they do on the LS2 or LS3 primarily because it was built and designed for solidity and reliability rather than performance.

Best LS1 modifications

The best LS1 upgrades on an engine are usually the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular LS1 upgrades, they need to be cost effective.

The cam profile plays a big part in the engines power output so cam upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake & exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen cam profile, so large torque gains are on offer for cam upgrades.

Fast road camshafts usually boost the bhp over the rev range, you may lose a little low down bhp but the high end rpm power will be better.

Competition camshafts, boost the high end rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Motorsport and race camshaft makes it harder when in heavy traffic.

You should ideally optimize your torque band to your usage of the car so for a car used daily stick with a shorter duration LS1 camshaft

Different LS1 engines respond better to more or less aggressive camshaft durations than others.

The ecu map and fuel pump and injectors also will make differences on the torque gains you'll achieve.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

Stage 1 modifications: Sports exhaust manifold, Fast road camshaft, Intake headers, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Panel air filters, Remaps/piggy back ECU.

Stage 2 modifications: induction kit, fuel pump upgrades, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Ported and polished head, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injectors.

Stage 3 modifications: Competition cam, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Twin charging conversions, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves).

A remap helps fully realize the full potential of all the modifications you've fitted to your LS1.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your mileage will differs on the modifications you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Forcing air and fuel into the LS1 engine is the whole point to any engine tuning job.

Intake manifold flow the air from the filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

The shape and rate of flow of the Air Intake manifolds can make a large difference to to fuel mixing and power on the LS1.

Many mass produced engine plenum chambers are needing a performance upgrade, although some manufacturers provide decently flowing plenum chambers.

Fitting big valve kits, carrying out port work and head flowing will also lift torque, the fantastic side effect is it will afford you increasing the torque increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your LS1

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes impressive power gains.

When an engine has a turbocharger mods are going to make more power and you will discover turbocharged engines will have more solid components.

However every engines will have power limits

Discover these limitations and fit more solid crank and pistons to handle the power.

We see many people spending a loads of money on turbocharger upgrades on the LS1 only to suffer the indignity of watching the motor go up in smoke just after it's used in anger.

Big upgraded turbo units often experience low end lag, and smaller turbo units spool up much more quickly but do not have the peak end power band gains.

In recent times the choice of turbo units is always improving and we now see variable vane turbo units, allowing the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust flow into 2 channels and feed these at differently designed vanes in the turbocharger. They also improve the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there is a limit in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the LS1 when considerably more air is being drawn into the engine.

Going up you'll find 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped performance at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large performance gains, although more challenging to configure. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Fuelling

When you improve the performance you will need to look at to the fuel delivery.

More performance needs more fuel. Most tuners we speak with say to over specify your injector capacity.

The rule of thumb is to add another 20% when buying an injector, this accounts for injector deterioration and allows you some spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Exhaust

Only look to increase your exhaust if your current exhaust is actually causing a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the flow rate is fine even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Do not go with the widest exhaust you can get this will reduce the exhaust flow rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Typically exhaust restrictions are in the catalyst installed, so adding a better flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

History of the Engine

The Generation III V8 was an all new from the ground up design, which replaced the Gen I and Gen II engine families in 2002 and 1995 respectively. The coil was relocated to the plug, and the aluminium engines were as strong as iron blocks making it an ideal base for your tuning project.

• 345 hp (257 kW) at 5,600 rpm and 350 lbft (475 Nm) at 4,400 rpm
• 350 hp (261 kW) at 5,600 rpm and 365 lbft (495 Nm)at 4,400 rpm
• Engine versions included VT,VX, VU,WH, VY, WK, VZOHV 2 valves per cylinder with a 90° V8 layout With the following displacements offered
• 4,806 cc (293.3 cu in)
• 5,327 cc (325.1 cu in)
• 5,665 cc (345.7 cu in)
• 5,967 cc (364.1 cu in)

Weak spots, Issues & problem areas on the LS1

The LS1 engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the LS1, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your LS1 engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our LS1 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

We need your help improving this article, so please send us your feedback in the comments box below and pass on any tips, points or facts we have wrong or have not covered.

We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which parts were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our LS1 guides and tips are kept up to date.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under GM. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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