![\"Drag](\"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/GM_Heritage_Center_-_095_-_Chevrolet_Engines_-_DOHC.jpg\")
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An LS crate engine is already a powerful powerplant; however, like Tim Taylor, we\u2019re always looking for ways to make more power in our rides. Whether we\u2019ve got a little subcompact with a four-banger, or a road bound passenger liner, we\u2019re always looking to eke out those last few horsepower. If you\u2019ve got an LS crate engine either installed or waiting to be installed and you want to massage it a little to get a few more ponies, you\u2019ve come to the right place. How much extra power you can get will depend on two main factors: which engine you have and how much you\u2019re willing to do and spend.<\/p>\n
Special Order<\/strong><\/p>\n Most people aren\u2019t aware that they can buy GM crate engines, including the LS Series engines, special ordered. Sure, you can go out and buy one completely pre-built (mostly completely pre-built) like GM part number 19244096<\/a>, an LS327 with one horsepower per cubic inch. This is a complete engine with an intake manifold minus the carburetor.<\/p>\n You could also go to a third party site, such as Jeg\u2019s or Edelbrock and order one off the shelf. However, Edelbrock also offers DIY (Do It Yourself) crate engine kits<\/a>. This allows the buyer to peruse a catalog of available parts and order what they want. Don\u2019t get me wrong, this doesn\u2019t mean that you can order Melling rings and oil pump, Weiand intake, Holley carb, Fel-Pro gaskets, and TRW\/Moog internals. What it means is that you can choose between a few different kits that are available to more closely suit your needs. These kits are great for people like me that enjoy assembling their own engines.<\/p>\n Add a Turbo or Supercharger to Your LS Crate Engine<\/strong><\/p>\n Turbocharging and supercharging<\/a> are ways of forcing more air into the combustion chamber. Both are excellent ways to stuff more air into the engine and make more power. Back in my day, superchargers were known as \u201cblowers\u201d though, and they were pretty big. Today, they\u2019re small enough to fit under most hoods without having to modify the hood much, if at all. Both versions are belt-driven and start increasing boost as soon as you stomp the accelerator.<\/p>\n Turbochargers<\/a> are, in my opinion, a little easier to work with. They use exhaust gasses to turn the impellers that stuff air through the intake and into the combustion chamber. The only problem is what is known as \u201cturbo lag.\u201d Technology has gotten to the point where lag is minimal, but it\u2019s still there. This is because the engine needs to get up to speed before enough exhaust is hitting the turbo impeller to get it to full speed. The supercharger starts making boost as soon as you hit the gas and the boost increases (to a point) as the engine speed increases.<\/p>\n Let It Breathe<\/strong><\/p>\n An engine that can\u2019t breathe can\u2019t produce power. Whether or not you plan on having a turbocharger or supercharger, you\u2019re still going to need something that allows the engine to breathe better than stock exhaust manifolds or even stock headers. I\u2019m an old guy, so I prefer old-school products like Hooker, Hedman, and Blackjack. However, a quick perusal of a catalog such as Jeg\u2019s<\/a> shows that there are far more options to the drag racer and street king these days. Headers can be a pain to install, so many of the newer offerings come with the port pipes installed to the flange, but the individual pipes and collector still need to be welded. This allows you to fit them much easier. I can remember more than one exhaust bolt that had to be removed and tapped because the angle was a pain to get to.<\/p>\n Going with a Carb? Make Sure It\u2019s Big Enough to Do the Trick<\/strong><\/p>\n Hot Rodding purists tend to raise their noses when the topic of fuel injection comes up. For purists, an engine bay without a carb just looks empty. Going with a carb gives you more control over how much air and fuel enter the intake and combustion chamber. They\u2019re also easier to install<\/a>. Even better, to me, is that you don\u2019t need a computer to manage it, just your ears and nose. Also, since they have jets that can be changed quite easily, it isn\u2019t terribly difficult to \u201cswitch\u201d from a street machine to a strip burner. If you\u2019re still up in the air about your induction system, check this out<\/a>.<\/p>\n What Else Can You Do to Bump Up the Power?<\/strong><\/p>\n First off, get rid of the stock ignition system, no matter what it is. It\u2019s not going to deliver the heat you need to generate max power. For milder applications, go with something like an Accel ignition system. If you\u2019re going for monster power, you\u2019re going to want MSD. Both companies sell ignition systems that give you fairly precise control over the spark curve, even while driving. This makes fine tuning the engine much easier.<\/p>\n These are pretty much all that can be done to an LS crate engine to make it create more power without digging into the guts of the engine itself. From what I\u2019ve heard, that\u2019s one of the main reasons people buy crate engines\u2014not having to dig into the internals. Hey, whatever floats your boat; I prefer to get my hands dirty and put everything together myself. However, looking over the various pages listing GM Performance Crate Engines, I can tell that that\u2019s not really necessary anymore as they offer a huge selection of sizes and outputs and you can, with a little work, tailor your engine to your needs and desires. See ya on the track, friends!<\/p>\n ———————————————————————————————————————————————<\/p>\n So You Want to Be A Drag Racer: Buying, Building, Wrenching and Racing<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The allure of the drag strip is easy to understand \u2013 a place where \u00a0it takes less than 10 seconds to make a stand, prove your skill, speed, and nerve.\u00a0 But the road to the races can be intimidating.\u00a0 The Burnout wants to make that road a lot smoother for aspiring racers, whether it\u2019s through building a new car, modding a used one, or taking that ride all the way up to the burnout box and beyond.\u00a0 This series is a work in progress, an ever expanding comprehensive guide to all the things that take drag racing from concept to reality.<\/em><\/p>\n Want to chat about this on social media? Use #RJDragRace on Facebook or Twitter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An LS crate engine is already very powerful, but just in case you’re looking for more power, here are some cost effective ways to get more horsepower.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":7566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3448,3465,5008,17,11,9],"tags":[716,961,1233,810,1234],"class_list":["post-7563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-race-101","category-drag-racing","category-engine","category-guest-column","category-how-tos","category-tech-tips","tag-carburetor","tag-drag-race-101","tag-ls-crate-engine","tag-supercharger","tag-turbocharger"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/GM_Heritage_Center_-_095_-_Chevrolet_Engines_-_DOHC.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-1XZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7563"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27702,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7563\/revisions\/27702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}