Well cover the details shortly, but for now, all you really need to know is this: GM Performance Parts new LSX 454 is the most powerful crate engine in the history of Chevrolet. Rated at 620 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque, it has the muscle to excel in any high-performance role, be it ruling the street, stealing the show, conquering the quarter-mile, or reigning on the road course. Unveiled at last falls SEMA show and priced between $12,000 and $14,000 (depending upon dealer), the LSX 454 (PN 19166972) is now available at participating GMPP dealers nationwide.
Vette recently spent an afternoon with GMPP Marketing Manager Dr. Jamie Meyer, the prime mover behind this incredible new crate engine. We asked him everything there is to know about the LSX 454 and the parts that comprise it.
Vette Magazine: Dr. Meyer, thank you for your time. Please tell us about the LSX 454 crate engine.
Dr. Jamie Meyer: First, Chris, thank you for the opportunity to sit down with vette magazine and spend some time with your readers. GM Performance Parts has a long history of helping Corvette owners personalize and modify their vehicles with top-shelf, premium parts. The LSX 454 crate engine is a very exciting new product for us. It offers the unmatched torque of a big-block with the high-rpm potential of a cammed-up small block. Its a very important addition to our already impressive lineup of crate engines.
VM: What makes the LSX 454 the first true all-aftermarket engine offered from GMPP?
JM: Traditionally, a GMPP crate engine has at least some production GM Powertrain components incorporated into its design. But the LSX 454 was designed from the ground up as a completely one-off crate engine that is distinctly different than a production LS engine. With no limit to vehicle design, engine weight, cost limitations, or other production confinements, our engineers were tasked with developing an entirely new level of performance, and were able to take the LS architecture to a place that production engines were never intended [to go].
VM: In what key areas does the LSX 454 differ from a production LS-series engine?
JM: The LSX portfolio picks up on the basic LS7 design and incorporates a whole new perspective of engine building. The block [an LSX Bow Tie block, 9.26-inch deck, PN 19243172] took more than a year in development before we could confidently put the LSX trademark on it. [Unlike production LS-series engines,] its cast iron, and that material was chosen because it would keep the end cost low to the consumer, while offering a level of strength that no aluminum block can match. Remember, this block as an individual component sells for under $2,000, yet we have made more than 50 pulls on our twin-turbo test engine past 2,050 hp.
Vette readers also need to know that the LSX 454 is so much more than just a killer block. We filled it with an entirely new LSX rotating assembly. Only the finest forged components: crank, steel rods, and aluminum pistons--all branded with the GMPP LSX trademark--have made it through our brutal 50-hour durability process.
You can have your LSX 454 with our new LSX carbureted intake or with the LS7 fuel-injected intake. By midyear, you will see a GMPP LS Controller and Harness kit available for this combination.
When its all assembled, the LSX 454 weighs 568 pounds--thats 128 pounds more than the LS7. That weight gets you an engine tested to GM production-car standards that puts out 620 hp and 590 lb-ft. Redline is a very conservative 6,500 rpm.