[DavidBoren]

Ok. I see where you are coming from. For most, the pursuit of large horsepower numbers trumps everything else.

I am not amongst this crowd.

I have no real need or overwhelming desire to necessarily best the performance of the LS2. A streetable 400ft/lb motor is more than adequate for my ambitions.

I would like for my particular design to outperform the LS2 based solely on pride, because I would forever convince myself that I am smarter than GM's engineering team. But I don't NEED more than what a bone stock LS2 has to offer.

I chose the smallest possible displacement using stock GM bore and stroke options that still allowed me to use the 4" crank. I chose the smallest bore diameter GM offers, on purpose, to test something that I think SHOULD work.

After choosing the small bore block and 4" stroke, I saw that made six liters of displacement. In finding out that my chosen combination was just five measly cubic inches from the LS2, I then decided to use it (the LS2) as my base for comparison.

I found that the LS7's redline is higher than the LS2, so I can still match or exceed the LS2's redline using a LS7 crank. No worries there.

I found that I can have the 5.3 heads ported to match or exceed the flow of the LS2 heads. So no worries there, either.

If my proposed undersquare configuration does prove to be better than the LS2, cool. Yay me.

If it doesn't. Then oh well, I am left with a stroked 5.3L, making it six liters, with a forged rotating assembly, and ported heads. That's not too bad for a "failed" project.

In fact, that is the beginnings of a wonderful boosted motor success story.

I know that I have been preaching about all things being equal, but they aren't going to be. I am going to use a more aggressive cam than the LS2 has. It is the most aggressive vvt cam from comp cams. Oh yeah, my undersquare six liter motor is going to have variable valve timing. My redline will actually be higher than the LS2. My heads will flow more than the stock LS2 heads. Given that displacement and compression are equal, but my engine having a better cam (with vvt), better head flow, AND a higher redline... It is literally impossible for me to not match or exceed the performance of the LS2.