You’ve been very patient – you saw the LSX454R in our PRI coverage [1] from last year, and you got a bad case of the do-wants. Rated at 750 horsepower and 680 pound-feet of torque, it’s the most powerful small-block V8 crate engine GM Performance Parts [2] has ever offered, and as of next week, it can finally be yours.
Why the wait? Aside from the first production engine, auctioned off for charity at Barrett-Jackson, these haven’t been available, even to those with the $23,200 MSRP in hand. Part of it can be attributed to the unprecedented validation process this engine underwent, intended to prove that it could handle three full seasons of racing without breaking a sweat.
[3]
GM’s Dr. Jamie Meyer told us that production engines for passenger cars and trucks endure a thousand-hour regimen on the dyno, while crate engines are typically proven through a 50 hour torture test before getting the stamp of approval. This engine is intended for a very different, very specific purpose, and the validation process reflects that.
“GM engineers developed a unique schedule to validate the LSX454R to the equivalent of 600 drag-strip passes when maintained with regular maintenance schedules and run to Chevrolet’s prescribed operationg parameters for the engine,” explains development engineer Steve Felix. Dr Meyer adds that this includes burnouts, making it a true representation of what three years at 200 passes down the 1320 annually will do to an engine.
[4]LSX454R Key Specifications:
- LSX Bowtie block
- LSX-DR 11-degree cylinder heads, 316cc rectangular intake runners, 430 CFM at .800 lift
- Six-bolt head retention
- 13.1:1 compression ratio
- DR intake with two rows of cast-in injector/nitrous bosses
- Mechanical roller camshaft with .738/.738 lift, 250/270 duration at .050
- LSX 8-bolt crankshaft flange
- Holley 1,150 CFM Dominator carburetor