Your first, in-depth look at what will power Corvettes into the next century.
by Hib Halverson
Electronic Version, copyright 1996, 1997 by Shark Communications
Adapted from material published on the Vettenet and ZR1 net mail lists in August 1996 and from a printed version in the August, 1996 issue of Corvette Fever magazine
Before the 1997 Corvette was even in dealers, it had been reported for a year or more that the all-new platform, known to insiders as "C5," would be the first General Motors Corporation product to use a new family of medium-displacement V8 engines. Though the car did not debut on the show circuit until January 6, 1997 and in dealers on March 6. 1997, way back on June 11, 1996 in Los Angeles, GM confirmed the engine rumor with a preliminary to the C5 launch: a press show spotlighting its engine.
My first reaction back then was that what’s known as "RPO LS1, 5.7L SFI V8," is an outstanding design, engineering and manufacturing exercise destined to be yet another landmark in the history of America’s Sports Car. My second reaction? A snicker at the show biz that clouded the engine’s debut.
It is not unusual to introduce a new Corvette engine before its car. In 1988, media got a comprehensive technical seminar on the LT5 nine months before it was shown the ZR1. Of course, this is now; and that was then.
A major deficiency of this June 11 show and Chevrolet’s other LS1 publicity efforts around the country in the summer of 1996 was that 1) they failed to adequately address the most striking feature of LS1: its pushrod valve gear and 2) they came wrapped in a spoof of medical TV shows. The Corvette community contains many potential C5 customers who were not served well by this program because its information value was degraded by its need to entertain.
The quality and timeliness of the in-depth, LS1, technical information reaching the Chevrolet enthusiast was further blunted by only average coverage to date from Corvette media and Chevrolet’s decision to let Hot Rod magazine break the LS1 story ahead of all other publications. The stories that finally made it into print in the Corvette media were either too brief, poorly researched or lacked depth because their editors felt preempted by Chevrolet’s leaking the story.
These shortcomings of these processes are why you have The Idaho Unofficial Corvette and Corvette Surfing WWW sites. Like a beacon of reality, we’re going to cut through the smoke to the hard-core, gearhead story behind this stunning, new engine.
The LS1 press kit said, "Based on a timeless design by former Chevrolet Chief Engineer Ed Cole, the ‘Gen III’ 5.7-liter V8 marks a bright new chapter in the highly respected lineage that GM small blocks have established in more than 40 years."
I think Chevrolet understated its case.
LS1 is brilliant.
Rather than just a chapter in engine history; it’s more like a whole new book!
What it is not is: "based on" Ed Cole’s legendary Small-Block. LS1’s greatness comes from being a clean-sheet-of-paper design. The only major feature it has in common with the Small-Block is a bore center-to-center measurement of 4.40 inches and we believe that exists for marketing reasons rather than an engineering case.
For the rest of the write up
http://www.idavette.net/hib/ls1c.html