Mar 04 , 2024
LS Engine: The New Era of Hot Rod Engines
When the time finally came for the small block Chevy to abdicate its title as the premier hot rod engine of its era, it passed the crown off to a very worthy successor that has proven to be even more of a winner than its all-new-for-1955 parent.
Why the LS Stands Out
A lot of the same factors that brought glory to its predecessor also apply to the LS. It’s not that there aren’t many very worthy rivals vying for attention out there. The high-winding Ford Coyote is something that comes to mind, but there is a big difference between the LS and its Michigan-grown cousins of today.
That difference is, in a word, affordability. It is very easy to acquire an LS for transplanting into a screaming highway-based rocket ship. It is a lot less easy to find a built Coyote or a Bearcat that you can use for the same purpose.
Integration and Installation Challenges
Once you have obtained any one of these 21st century road banshees, you still have to make them fit into your engine compartment and run the seemingly-endless spaghetti loops of wiring that make them go bye-bye in a hurry. Here again, the LS noses out its competitors. Hooking one up to an ECU and doing a Frankenstein to get the whole shebang tied in to an existing circa-1962 wiring harness is the real trick. We won’t even talk about fuel system plumbing.
Legacy and Cost-Effectiveness
The true legacy of the small block Chevy is not that it was the best possible engine for a hot rod, but that it was the best possible engine for a hot rod at a particular price point. Due to widespread parts availability and interchangeability, you could, and still can, find parts for your Chevy easier and cheaper than you can for anything else. The same factors now push the LS up the list of desirability for hot rod modifications. You can simply get more for less on an LS.
Smeding Performance and the LS Engine
At Smeding Performance, they are dedicated to the proposition that they can build you a howling LS engine with an all-new block, crank, rods, pistons, cam, heads, and more. They can back it up with a warranty that proves their confidence in their own workmanship and do it for a price that will make you glad that GM did such a fine job of carrying on the best tradition of one of the most magnificent engines ever built.