| LS1, LT1, LS3 | | | | A highlight of LT1 engine is that it employs |
| Title: General Motors' 15-Year Legacy of | | | | reverse flow cooling, sending coolant to the |
| Performance Dominance Continues | | | | cylinder heads first, which enables the LT1 to run |
| While the driver provides the soul of a car, the | | | | more ignition advance and a high-for-its-time 10.4:1 |
| engine is its heart. The performance car market | | | | compression ratio for greater horsepower. |
| has been dominated the last 15 years by a series | | | | However, LT1 engines did not remain in service |
| of V8 engines made by General Motors. Beginning | | | | for long. The entire LT family of engines (LT1, the |
| with the LT1, which debuted in the 1992 | | | | High-Output LT4 and the L99 "baby LT1") had to |
| Chevrolet Corvette, followed by the LS1 in 1997 | | | | make way for the next generation LS1. |
| and now the LS3, GM has been on a streak of | | | | The 5.7 liter LS1 engine debuted in the 1997 |
| successful performance V8 engines that is | | | | Corvette and went on to be listed on Ward's 10 |
| unmatched. The 5.7 liter LT1 engine is closely | | | | Best Engines the same year. The LS1 represents |
| related to the original Small Block Chevy V8 | | | | a clean-sheet approach-it shares nothing in |
| (dating back to 1955), but with several key | | | | common with the original Small Block V8 or LT1. |
| improvements. It is best known as the | | | | Over the LS1's lifespan, it made its way into |
| powerplant for the 1992-1996 Corvette and the | | | | thousands of Corvettes, Camaros, Trans Ams, |
| Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird from | | | | and the 2004 Pontiac GTO. It also formed the |
| 1993-1997, but also made its way into the Impala | | | | basis for the Vortec line of GM truck engines. The |
| SS and even Caprice police package cars. The | | | | 350 horsepower LS1 featured all-aluminum |
| LT1 in Corvette form made 300 horsepower, | | | | construction, with a composite plastic intake |
| which was an amazing number in the early 90s. | | | | manifold, single bore throttle body, and high-flow |
| Several technological improvements made this | | | | cylinder heads that re-wrote the book on |
| possible, such as a new set of high-flow alimunum | | | | aftermarket performance in the late 1990s. |
| cylincer heads and a short runner intake manifold. | | | | |