The iconic American-made LS engine showcases the full potential of the V8 engine with raw performance and reliability. American-made V8 engines, unlike Japan's huge success with inline six-cylinder and four-cylinder engines, had a huge impact on the sports car and muscle car markets.
Any car fan is fascinated by the sound the V8 engine makes when accelerating. Throughout history, the V8 has become a symbol of status and strength due to its famous roar. General Motors calls its third- and fourth-generation V8 gasoline engines LS. Any LS engine sold by General Motors has an aluminum block, however, most trucks come with a cast iron block.
This beast of an engine started in 1997 and continues into 2020. Many American cars have used this engine for years. In 1992, General Motors brought two Chevrolet Corvette C4 cars with different engines to a proving ground.
They decided to use a simple pushrod V8 engine after discovering that it performed better than the more modern and advanced DOHC (dual overhead cam) engines. After several years of research and development, General Motors has finally released the all-new LS1. This engine can output 350 horsepower. The use of aluminum materials makes the LS1 engine significantly lighter than previous engines.
In addition, LS1 has better cooling performance, making it better thermally efficient, and we all know that thermal efficiency means higher reliability and power. But not long after creating this engine, GM released another LS with upgrades and enhancements. The second LS engine, known as LS6, shares the same architecture as the LS1, but it is more powerful and reliable than the LS1. The LS6 features a larger intake pipe, higher compression ratio, more aggressive camshaft, and more reliability.
At first, this engine produced 385 horsepower and 385 pound-feet of torque, but the output was later changed to 400 horsepower. Some time after releasing the LS6, General Motors released another version of the LS engine. The new fourth-generation Chevrolet V8 engine incorporates more modern technologies such as variable valve timing and active fuel management. The newly built fourth-generation LS2 has 400 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque, and its displacement has been increased to 6 liters.
In 2005, General Motors decided to put the LS2 under the hood of the fifth-generation Pontiac GTO. They also built a transverse V8 called the LS4. One of the main reasons the LS is so well-known in automotive culture is its exceptional reliability. Thanks to GM's use of aluminum, the LS is both light and strong.
Like cast iron, aluminum can withstand high pressures, but unlike iron, aluminum is significantly lighter. Although some LS engines are built from cast iron, most are built from aluminum. When General Motors designed the all-new LS9, they had nothing but maximum performance in mind. The LS9 is a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine that produces 638 horsepower and 604 pound-feet of torque at 3,800 rpm.
The LS9 debuted in the 2009 Corvette ZR1 and is one of the most successful sports cars made in the United States. The LS9 is equipped with an Eaton four-blade Roots-type supercharger, which has a better compression ratio than the previous engine.