What's the big deal with LS swaps? Aren't LS engines made by GM, and I thought we should avoid most GM products like the plague? But I see that some folks are putting LS engines in Porsche bodies and a plethora of other bodies? What makes the LS engine so great? Is it a GM anomaly?
GM vehicles are terrible. Let's just get that out the way.
However, the LS series engines are an excellent way to make big power without spending big money. They also are basic, big block pushrod V8 engines. Very low tech and very reliable, not to mention easy to work on. If your mechanic can't figure out how to service an LS motor, you need a new mechanic.
The biggest issue with these engines is they go into GM cars that fall apart around them. I've seen LS motors go 500k easy when maintained and cared for. I've opened up many at 150k miles to discover the cross hatches in the engine are still clearly visible, an indicator of little wear.
To put the performance bargain into perspective, the LS3 motor I swapped into my 1998 Camaro Z28 had a few light upgrades and made 525HP out of the crate before I touched a thing. That motor retails for just shy of $10k, which may sound like a lot. However, consider that an equivalent Ford motor would be twice that and far more complex to work on and you can see that it is a bargain for what you get.
They also can be shoehorned into just about any vehicle. I've seen LS1 swaps into Honda Civics which don't have a lot of room. Even Mazda Miatas have had LS swaps done. And LS motors are designed to be run hard. GM claims to have them bench tested to run a lifespan of 300k miles, and I've seen a lot of them go even further. But not in GM vehicles because everything else in the car goes south as we all know.
Bottom line: LS engines can take a beating, are cheap to buy, cheap to run, are long lived, make great power, and are easy to work on. That is why so many people like to swap them into their vehicles.
GM small block V8s have a great history even if most of their current vehicles are junk. The LS is a readily available way to make a lot of power right out of a crate, and it can be fit into just about anything with a bit of tweaking.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-1012-1954-nash-metropolitan/
1. With no overhead cams and being v8's, LS engines fit into a lot of places that used to have more "modern" V6 and flat 6 engines - they are small for the displacement/horsepower. Not too heavy, as well.
2. I've rarely seen any of these LS swaps go into a daily driver/high yearly mileage vehicle- they go into "weekend toys". Reliability is not such a big deal when you do 10,000 miles a decade instead of 15K a year,
LS engines are some of my favorite engines of all time and are ideal for engine swaps. They are relatively simple, true and tried push-rod V8 engines that have port injection (only) - no direct injection - without any overhead cams or variable valve timing or cylinder deactivation as long as you stick with the LS-series (not the LT-series which are in performance GM vehicles today). You are not dealing with overhead cams - the engine has one camshaft. And you can get 400+ hp from the crate engine. Also, being a pushrod engine they sit lower. Some of these engines (LS1, LS2, LS3) - as far as GM engines go - were fairly reliable and can go 200,000+ miles with maintenance. Of course GM found ways to mess some of them up with varying issues (LS6, LS7, LS9, LSA). If I were building a hypothetical Frankenstein car I would go with a naturally aspirated LS engine (probably LS3). Those LS engines were much better than the vehicles they went in.
I would say it started because the LS was a very successful engine.
You can usually shoehorn one into an application where there was a GM V6 before (which was just a SBC with two cylinders lopped off anyway), and get a huge boost in power, and the electronics are mostly the same.
There is now such a vast ecosystem around these engines, that it makes it accessible to anybody. There's a huge body of knowledge surrounding them, documentation about putting them into a myriad of different vehicles, aftermarket parts and mods selection, and of course popular appeal and mass production have brought the costs down a lot.
before AFM, GM made very good powertrains.
Key word is most. When Saturn was still around they actually had mostly pretty decent cars and excellent services. They also cut off pontiac which made the first and last gens of the GTO, I mean it's a rebranded Holden commodore but whatever. The gen 3 3800 motors are pretty bulletproof for just being as they are. Had a 2001 grand prix that I put 40k miles on when it was at 200k prior.
As for LS swap, the way I see it is that it's a pretty cheap and efficient way to infuse 21st century power and tech into just an outdated and or just to beef up the power output. It's also been commonly known here in cali that you can do one for as low as $1500 so it's "obtainable" if you are just looking for a weekend project and to wrench on. I'm sure @Mod_Man can explain way more than me though.
