Tuning LS2 and best LS2 performance parts.

"All you need to know about tuning and performance parts on the GM LS2 engine!"

Now we shall detail the best approach to LS2 tuning and summarise the greatest modifications for your car. GM LS2 are good project engines and with the right tuning mods like ECU maps, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will positively maximize your driving enjoyment.

History of the Engine

• 400 bhp (298 kW) at 6000 rpm and 400 lbft (542 Nm) at 4400 rpm
• 390 bhp (291 kW) (2008–2009) and 400 lbft (542 Nm) of torque

Best LS2 parts

The ultimate LS2 parts on an engine are typically the ones that give the best power gain for you spend.

We won't be swayed by popular LS2 parts, they need to be cost effective.

Significant gains on the LS2 can be made from camshaft upgrades. Altering the camshaft profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the torque and power output.

Fast road camshafts usually boost the bhp throughout the rpm range, you may sacrifice a little low down power but the higher rpm power will be higher.

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

A Competition camshaft is not great driving in heavy traffic.

You should ideally match your power band to your preferences so for a typical daily driver stick with a mild fast road LS2 camshaft

Different LS2 engines respond better to more or less aggressive camshaft durations so view each engine as unique.

The ECU mapping and injectors and fuel pump also have an effect on the torque gains you'll make.

A longer valve duration 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.

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

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

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

Mapping should help to fully realize the full potential of all the modifications you've fitted to your LS2.

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 usually rely on the modifications you've done and the condition of your engine.

It is vital to any engine performance tuning job to feed more fuel and air into the LS2 engine

Intake headers take the air during the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be sucked into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Shape and flow rate of the Intake can make a substantial improvement to fuel engine efficiency on the LS2.

We often see intake manifold are begging for aftermarket parts, although a few manufacturers provide decently flowing intake manifold.

Big valve conversions on the LS2, getting port matching and head flowing will also boost bhp, & more importantly will raise potential for raising the bhp 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 LS2

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

If the engine has forced induction mods are simpler to install and most turbo engines already contain more solid components.

However you'll find engines will have power limits

It is important to find these limits and upgrade to better quality components to cope with the power.

We've seen people spending a lot of money on turbo charger upgrades on the LS2 only to suffer the indignity of watching the engine block go up in smoke soon after it's finished.

Big turbos commonly suffer a bottom end lag, and small turbos spool up quickly but do not have the top end bhp gains.

In recent times the choice of turbochargers is always developing and we are seeing variable vane turbochargers, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

Twin scroll turbochargers divert the exhaust gases into two channels and push these at differently profiled vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is common that there is a limitation in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the LS2 when a lot more air is being sucked into the engine.

We note 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited performance at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large power gains, although more difficult to setup. We have this in depth look at twinchargers if you want to read more.

Fuelling

When you improve the torque you will need to look at to the fuelling.

More torque needs more fuel. Most tuners we speak with say to be generous with your injector capacity.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% to the flow rate when buying an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and allows 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

You may need to boost your exhaust if your current exhaust is actually creating a flow problem.

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

Don't go with the largest exhaust you can find this will slow up 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 traced to the filters installed, so adding a freer flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Weak spots, Issues & problem areas on the LS2

The LS2 engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the LS2, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your LS2 engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our LS2 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 tuning 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 LS2 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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