1997 Chevy Corvette C5 - American Car - Power Output

The biggest advantage the LS1 has over its progenitors is that it goes into the best Corvette chassis yet devised. Like the LS1 itself, there are few components yet available to modify the C5 Vette, but that's hardly a compromise of any great consequence. Lingenfelter installed larger anti-roll bars, his own cat-back stainless steel exhaust system, and replaced the standard wheels with a set of Speedline magnesium wheels (17x8.5 front, 18x9.5 rear). The most significant change made to Lingenfelter's test car was the replacement of the original run-flat Goodyear Eagle F1 GS EMT tires with a set of won't-run-when-flat Michelin Pilot SX rubber in 245/45ZR17 up front and 275/40ZR18 in the rear. Everything else on the car, including all suspension settings, was left stock.

Lingenfelter is taken with the C5. "There are things that make it difficult [to modify]. But I wouldn't say there's a weak spot. We're impressed with it. There are some things that are hard to work with. As time goes on, it will get better. I really like the new Corvette. It's a big improvement. A lot of ZR-1 owners want to put their engine in that chassis. I don't know if it would fit."

After a drive in the Lingenfelter LS1 Corvette, only the most addle-minded, die-hard, ZR-1 fanatic will still want to perform such an engine transplant. This is a wonderful engine with so much torque you could pull a John Deere combine around the fields surrounding Decatur and yet so flexible that it zings to its 6200-rpm redline like it's a Ferrari.

During our short exposure to the car, it seems Lingenfelter had little to worry about. Except for the almost bottomless well of twist available and the speed with which the engine revs, the experience of driving the car on-road was indistinguishable from other C5s we've experienced. On the track, that's another story.

MT's timers recorded a light-bending 4.0-second 0-60-mph clocking, and the quarter mile was consumed in just 12.2 seconds at 118.6 mph. That's quicker-much quicker-than any time we've ever recorded for a standard ZR-1 and in the lofty company of the more brutal Dodge Viper GTS and vastly more expensive Porsche 911 Turbo. And frankly, the eminently practical C5 is challenged only by the smaller and stiffer-riding Porsche for daily-use friendliness.

Despite its displacement and output growth, the 370-inch LS1 feels as smooth as any stock LS1 we've driven. As much credit for this must go to GM Powertrain's basic design as to Lingenfelter's careful assembly. The LS1's deep-skirt block design extends past the bearing caps and each of those caps is secured by four main bolts. This is a rigid and robust structure, and it's likely capable of power outputs even well beyond Lingenfelter's first effort.

Still, there are areas where the car can be improved. The rear-mounted Borg-Warner T56 six-speed manual transmission has throws that would count as three-point shots in the NBA, and the clutch, which feels strained with the standard LS1, very much needs fortification with the Lingenfelter 370 turning it. As it stands now, as good as the car is with the six-speed, it may even be better lashed by propshaft to GM's wonderful 4L60-E four-speed automatic-especially if that automatic has been treated to a few classic performance tweaks of its own.

Tuners enjoy a big edge over the factory engineers who must comply with a dizzying array of government and corporate edicts. "For instance," Lingenfelter states, "one of the advantages we have is that we don't have to work under the same constraints on intake and exhaust noise. In fact, our customers often seek out such noise, while back at Chevrolet they have to build a car to please everyone." In addition, tuners don't have to meet corporate fuel-economy standards, and their warranty concerns are limited in cars that are weekend playthings.