Pros and Cons of LS Engine
Modern technology has changed the automobile industry completely. With high-performance engines and fast cars, a new era has begun. General Motors have contributed a lot to this new generation of fast cars by manufacturing LS engines in the late ’90s. Chevy Ls Engines have huge demand and supply and one of the largest manufactured engines in the whole world. Let’s see detailed information about the pros and cons of LS Engine. But first, you need to know about the different versions of LS engines.
Table of Content for Pros and Cons of LS Engine
- All About LS Engines
- Pros of LS Engine
- Cons of LS Engine
- Conclusion
All About LS Engines
Over the past 2 decades, LS engines have upgraded from Gen III to Gen V. Gen III consists of LS1 and LS6 engines. Gen IV has LS2, lS4, LS7, LS9 (supercharged), and LSA (supercharged) engines. Whereas Gen V changes to LT engines with more advanced technology.
The output power for the first LS1 engine was 345HP. It has upgraded to 638HP in LS9 Engine. There has been a drastic change in engine manufacturing by General Motors. The Y-Block design of engines leads to a rigid engine structure. Not only it added some extraordinary benefits to the performance of the engine. But it also leads to some drawbacks which we will discuss in the later section.
Pros of LS Engine
Let’s discuss the reasons behind the massive demand and popularity of Chevy Engine. Here are some of the following:-
Powerful Engines
LS Engines have a Y-Block design with better back-end strength. Thus, providing more power to the cars. With output power ranging from 345HP to more than 600HP, Ls engines offer powerful engines for cars and trucks.
Small block Design and Reduced Weight
One of the most basic yet worthy changes that General Motors did with Chevy Engines is the engine design change and the weight change. With size reduction and weight reduction, the cost of manufacturing engines gets reduced, small car buyers get benefit from more powerful engines, high speed, and more heavy loads can be picked up by the trucks.
Affordable Engines
Chevy Engines shows vast features but the best part is that it is not so costly too. Because of the high demand and supply all over the world and its less size and weight, the price of the engine has been reduced to a great extent. No quality has compromised with a deduction in price.
Easy Availability
The manufacturing of Chevy LS Engines is in abundance. Whatever you need, even if it is Gen III Chevy Engine or Gen IV Chevy Engine, you don’t need to worry about the availability of these engines. The production of Ls Engine is the largest in the United States.
Aftermarket of LS Engine
Ls engines have a huge market for their upgrades and spare parts. They are cheap and easily available in the market. Turbo kits for engines, boosters, camshaft, etc, come in a range of prices with different models.
Highly Durable
Chevy LS Engines are highly durable as compared to other engines in the market. The manufacturers of Chevy Engine make sure that your engine lasts for years without any serious issues with it. You can also add some upgrades to help your engine run more smoothly.
Displacement of Ls Engine
Ls Engines offers variable displacement options. Car engines have 5.3ltrs, 5.7ltrs, 6ltrs, 6.2ltrs, and 7ltrs displacement while truck engines have 4.8ltrs and 5.3ltrs displacements. The generation of high power from the engine with such displacement leads to more fuel usage.
Cons of LS Engine
With a vast number of features in LS Engines, there are some drawbacks of buying Ls Engines too. You need to take care of few things that might save you from spending extra money.
Here are some drawbacks of Ls Engines:-
Pump Cavitation
A major drawback of LS Engines is the oil-pump cavitation. Generally, it happens when the pressure drops quickly creating air space or bubbles in the oil. Due to sudden high pressure, these air spaces get collapsed and cause the pump to damage.
If you ever hear unusual noises from the car, visit the car repair shop instantly as your oil pump may be damaged. Don’t avoid the car noises to prevent yourself from heavy money loss.
Bad Piston Seals
Piston Rings are used for covering up the gap between the piston and the walls of the cylinder. If the sealing is not done properly, consumption of oil will be increased, and that can even lead to engine damage.
Camshaft Maintenance
During the repairing and cleaning of the engine, the camshaft removal and repairing is quite a challenging task. It is because of the position of the camshaft. If you want to replace or repair a camshaft, you need to remove the engine first.
Pushrod Setup
Engines manufacturing companies like Chevrolet are still using pushrod setup to design their LS Engines. The main reason behind it is that it is very suitable and reliable for packing and swapping of engines. But, it has some drawbacks too.
Pushrod setup requires more parts in a mechanical system of valve trains. So, if any part gets damaged, more friction will be created and that will limit the possible rpm range.
Different Variation in Models
As there are various models of LS Engines, maintenance and repairing is a complex task. A variety of Auto repair tools is required by the shop owners in order to repair different engines. Upgrades for each model are also different that becomes a headache for them.
Conclusion
LS Engines are one of the most reliable engines with a variety of models and a lot of features. Affordability, strength, power, displacement options, etc, are some of the features that make Ls Engines most popular around the globe. But with such advancement, there are some drawbacks that we discussed. You can take care of some of them by not avoiding unusual noises in your car.
Hope you find relevant information about the pros and cons of LS Engine.
