LSA supercharged LS3 or N/A LS7?
 

So I'm looking at my options for an engine in the Camaro. I've decided not to bother with the LS1 that I have in the car now and just go ahead and build the big engine now and get it over and done with and I'll be happy.

My options that I'm considering are a LSA supercharger on a LS3 or a N/A LS7.

Pros to the LS3/LSA: LS3 block is about $1400 cheaper than a LS7 block.

I can buy the LSA supercharger core for $300 from work then put the new coupler in the snout for $50 and have a good supercharger.

Cons: added weight of the supercharger and related cooler parts.

Added cost of air to liquid cooler and pump stuff.

I will need to cut the firewall again and redo it to fit the supercharger (not a big deal as I'm not super excited about how the one that I have now fits the engine and I wanted to redo parts of it anyways).

Pros to the LS7: Less weight and more C.I.

I already have some of the dry sump parts and accy. drive parts

Cons: More expensive block and rotating assembly because of the dry sump and bore size.

Higher failure rate due to head valve guide issues unless aftermarket heads and the cylinder liners tend to crack more often with over 600 hp and lots of track days.

So what kinda opinions do you guys have about it? I'm kinda :EmoteClueless: on what I want to do at this point engine wise.

What about doing a stroker LS3 setup? The LS7 heads are kinda prone to failure and stroking the LS3 will get you the same cubic inches in a cheaper block.

i went ls7 ....fix the heads and boom your fine , never heard of any liner failures before ...plus its cool to say ls7 ...titanium rods

I was looking into a stoker LS3 as well. I wanted to keep it under a 4" stoke just to keep from beating it to death with reving it over 7k often.

The LS7 cracked liner deal I found on corvette forum doing a search for LS7 stuff. They all agreed that keeping it under 600 flywheel they will live but much over that they have had some cracked liners with the guys that track them.

What's your plan for the car AJ? If it's a once in a while track day driving Miss Daisy, take your pick. If you want to get serious and put that 7" set back to good use go for the LS7. Don't forget about the LS7 (dry sump) tax. It's a killer.

If you keep your foot out of it and under 6800 rpms, a well built 416 would get you 98% there. I'm thinking about that for my next project.

Mine is an LS3 418\LS9\katech oil squirter\CNC LS9 Heads from Thomson Automotive. The dyno at 10.9 psi is only 842 hp and 818 ft/lbs torque. I still haven't tested at 15 psi yet or E85.

Jeff

LS3 with supercharger IMO.

Do you think I should move the engine back more? Don't tempt me lol. The front of the block is at wheel centerline, I could always make the snout of the waterpump be at wheel centerline.

I'm really hard on my cars when I autocross or track them. My C5Z lived on the 7000 redline I had set on the weekends. That's the part about the LS7 that bothers me, to much detonation (hopefully none, but you never know) at high RPM and the cylinder liners are toast. I think I'm going to go with a LS3 block and do a dry sump 416. That will get me in the 620-650 hp range with good drivability and still be a track beast.

I've had a few of both setups.

Bang for the buck, it is hard to beat an LS3/L92 block with their large bore diameter, and dirt-cheap high-flowing cylinder heads. They do really well under boost, too. You can also build a stout NA LS3, easily reaching 500 rwhp if you build it right.

I'm going LS7 this time around, just because I wanted to do one in a '69 Camaro for a long time now. You also can avoid the dry-sump complexity if you just start with the block, and build the engine using a normal wet-sump 4.00 stroker crank. I'm using Callies CompStar crank and rods in my LS7, with some ported LS7 heads (Mast). It will still rev to 7K, I've had built LS engines in the past do so with a wet sump. I priced crate engines, and found it was actually a little less expensive to have a custom LS7 built, with all forged internals. Texas Speed & Performance did mine. They even drill the block for a normal oil dipstick.

Tony

Doing an LS7 stroked to 441 as we speak. Callie Compstar with wiseco forged Pistons. PRC heads from Texas speed. Going WS

Did LS7 with forged diamond pistons and TSP Cam in my last car. Also coverted to WS. It's was a beast

Ls7
 

My vote is with Tony and John ... If I were to do it all over again I'd likely choose to save a little money and built a sick NA LS7 rather than the very pricey supercharged LS7 I now currently have.

But then again, the smile you get from 800 hp is priceless

Cheers
Steve

If the car will see a lot of track time I would go LS7 and keep the dry sump or better yet go to an external dry sump pump. Managing the heat soak on a blown engine is very difficult to do for a car that sees 20-30 minute track sessions. The innercoolers are generally not efficient and there's very few electric pumps available to flow enough water to cool the intake charge well enough. If the LS7 heads scare you (I've never had a problem) then you can always use the LS3 heads on the LS7 block. If you want to keep the LS7 heads have the concentricity of the guide to the seats checked and set the springs up properly and you'll be fine.

I guess I'l just keep collecting LS7 parts as I have been and go from there. See what kinda deals I can find on Corvette forum with parts.

Guys are always getting rid of ls7 parts on ls1tech.

I'd go LS7 with upgraded parts. Yes, the liners tend to crack (so I've heard from several sources). I think you'll be happier with the extra cubes.

I for sure love the LS7, I've worked on a lot of C6Z's and my 2015 z/28 had it. Always a blast to drive.