When General Motors introduced the LS1 engine in 1997, it marked the beginning of a revolution for fans of traditional V8 muscle.

The design was so advanced that GM classified it as its third generation of engine architecture. It undeniably is one of the most advanced pushrod based engines ever produced and proved its mettle powering Corvettes both on the street and the track. GM also made the engine available without a car and the crate LS1 was embraced by enthusiasts, finding its way into everything from updated muscle cars to street rods.

Since its introduction,industrious hot rodders and even a few hardware manufacturers have been finding ways to increase the LS1's advertised 320 horsepower and 345 pounds/feet of torque. One of the leaders in that category has unquestionably been COMP Cams® and its associated companies. COMP's engineers have developed several cam and spring packages for just about every scenario you can imagine.

If you want nitrous for your LS1, ZEX™ has your answer. And FAST™ can supply everything from injectors, to fuel rails, to throttle bodies and more, specifically designed to enhance the LS1's performance. One of the most innovative products had to be the three-piece LSX™ manifold that intake guru Keith Wilson helped COMP engineers design. Given the level of aftermarket support it enjoys, the LS1 (as well as the higher-performance LS6 sister engine) has become a favorite of anyone who enjoys performance in extreme measures. Now, GM has introduced its newest pushrod wonder, the LS2.

Based on LS1 and LS6 architecture, GM designates it a fourth generation small block but in many ways it's more evolution than revolution.

There are several differences, but for most of us the biggest is increases in the two big C's: cubic inches and compression. GM punched out the bores from the LS1's 3.90 inches to an even 4.00 while stroke stayed the same at 3.62 inches to wind up with a final displacement of 364 cubic inches. (That's 6.0 liters for those of you who paid attention when the metric system was taught in grade school.)

GM also used the efficient LS6 heads along with flat-top pistons to produce the 10.9:1 compression ratio that hasn't been seen on production cars since the days of leaded fuel and polyester shirts. The end result is one of GM's most powerful, most efficient engines ever made to the tune of 400 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 395 pound/feet of torque at 4,000. If you are a car guy, this is some pretty good news. Even better news is the fact that there aralready plenty of hop-up parts available since much of what worked on the LS1 and LS6 will also work on the new LS2.

Mike Bond of COMP Cams® was able to get an early production model of the LS2 in his shop for dyno testing and quickly found that although the LS2 is a great engine, it can be improved significantly when it comes to power production. "It's not that much different from an LS1 with LS6 heads on it," he explains. "There are some differences, but most of them are where the sensors are located, new oil galleries and things like that. Most of the things like camshafts, rocker arms, springs and such are the same so the tricks we've found to get more power out of the old LS1 will work here too."

GM's main reason for redesigning the LS1 wasn't to create a bigger small block, or even to make more horsepower, it came from the company's desire to implement its new displacement-on demand technology in production vehicles.

It does this by utilizing special lifters for those cylinders that are capable of "shutting down" so that the intake valve doesn't open. The system is designed to be seamless so that the driver doesn't even notice what mode the engine is in, and GM says the result is an eight-percent gain in fuel savings. But for now only GM's Vortec engines (which share the same block design) utilize the DOD system, which leaves the LS2 for raw performance.

Bond, for one, thinks there is plenty of potential to be found there. "It is definitely a real efficient engine, and it makes real good power," he says. "If it has a weakness it's in the springs, just like the LS1. On a stock engine the power usually starts flattening out around 6,200 rpm. If you are wanting to spin more rpms you definitely need to put some better springs and pushrods in it. I'd also recommend titanium retainers to lighten up the valve train. They had originally said the LS2 would have the sodium-filled valves used in the LS6, but they ended up using solid valves, which are heavier.

Gains were to be found when the LSX™ was added to a completely stock engine as well as a highly modified engine. "At first the LSX™ and the stock manifold made about the same power down low," he says. "And then, right at 3,800 rpm is where it takes off. On a stock LS2 the LSX™ is worth 20 horsepower in the upper range. And that's a pretty consistent improvement. From about 4,000 rpm all the way to the redline the LSX™ manifold is about 20 horsepower better." "It made even better gains on a modified LS2.

I tried it on an engine after I had added our full valve train, one of our cams, Dynatech headers and ported GM heads and it was worth an extra 30 horsepower versus all the same stuff with the stock intake. That was also without the intake ported to match the heads because I wanted to keep the comparison between the stock manifold and the LSX™ as fair as I could. On previous tests, I've found porting the LSX™ to match the intake port on the cylinder heads (which is easily done thanks to the LSX™'s three-piece design) consistently makes at least eight more horsepower." P&P