Test 4: NA vs BTR Stage IV Blower Cam on an SC LSX
Test 5: Effect of LSA on a Supercharged LSX
Test 6: Effect of LSA on a Stroker LS3
Test 7: Carb vs EFI Cam on a 417 LS3 Stroker
Chapter 4: Headers and Exhaust
Test 1: Stock Exhaust Manifolds vs Shorty Headers on an LS3
Test 2: Shorty vs Long-Tubes on a Modified LS3
Test 3: 1¾-inch vs 1⅞-inch on a Mild LS3
Test 4: 1¾ and 1⅞ vs 1⅞ Steps on an LS7
Test 5: 1¾ vs 1⅞ SC B15 LSX
Test 6: Effect of Collector Length on a 6.0 LS3 Hybrid
Test 7: Shorty vs 1⅞ Hooker KB SC LS3
Chapter 5: Supercharging
Test 1: Kenne Bell ZL1 Upgrade at 13 and 18 psi
Test 2: Effect of Boost (Pulley Swap) on a Whipple Supercharged B15 LSX at 16 vs 23 psi
Test 3: 408 LS3 Hybrid Stroker: NA vs Vortech YSi at 13.5 psi
Test 4: LSX 376 B15-NA vs Magnuson TVS at 10.2 psi
Test 5: NA 427 LSX vs Procharger F1A at 17 psi
Test 6: 417 Stroker: NA vs Whipple 3.3 at 22 psi
Test 7: LS3 and Stroker: NA vs Vortech at 7.7 and 13.3 psi
Test 8: 427 LS3 Stroker: NA vs Kenne Bell 3.6 at 21 and 26 psi
Chapter 6: Turbocharging
Test 1: Effect of Ignition Timing on a Turbo 4.8/LS3 Hybrid
Test 2: 6.0 LS3 Hybrid: NA vs Single Turbo at 6.8 and 9.8 psi
Test 3: Turbo Cam: LS9 vs BTR Stage II 4.8/LS3 Hybrid
Test 4: Turbo Sizing: Big vs Small 76-mm
Test 5: Effect of Boost on a Turbo LSX B15 (14.6 vs 19.5 psi)
Test 6: 4.8 LS3 Hybrid: NA vs Single Turbo at 9.8 psi
Test 7: Turbo LS: Effect of Snow Water/Methanol Injection
Chapter 7: Nitrous Oxide
Test 1: Modified LS3: NA vs Nitrous Using 100- and 150-hp Shots
Test 2: 408 Hybrid Stroker: NA vs Zex Wet EFI Nitrous Using 100-hp Shot
Test 3: Mild LS3: NA vs Nitrous Works Using 100-hp Shot
Test 4: LS3-Headed 6.0L: NA vs Nitrous Using 100-hp Shot
Test 5: LS3 Stroker: NA vs Nitrous Using 150-hp Shot
Test 6: Stock LS3: NA vs Zex Nitrous Using a 200-hp shot
Test 7: Cam-Only LS7: NA vs Nitrous Express Using 125- and 175-hp Shots
Test 8: 468 LS7 Stroker: NA vs NOS Nitrous Using a 250-hp Shot
Chapter 8: Engine Builds
Test 1: LS3 Chevy Performance Crate Engine
Test 2: 600-hp Short-Stroke LS3
Test 3: Stock LS3 vs 416 LS3 Stroker
Test 4: LS3 vs 408 LS3 Hybrid Stroker
Test 5: Supercharged GM B15 LSX 376
Test 6: Stock vs 468 LS3 Stroker
Test 7: LS7-Headed 427 LSX
Test 8: RHS 495 LS7 Stroker
Source Guide
It is hard to believe that all of this dyno madness started with a phone call to then-editor of Turbo magazine, Kipp Kington. Who would have guessed that a simple story about his adventures at the Silver State Open Road race would send Richard Holdener on a completely different career path? Much to the dismay of his parents, the advertising degree was not utilized in some fancy office on Madison avenue. Instead, he decided to follow his passion for all things automotive.
First as a reader then as a writer, Holdener was fascinated by genuine testing. Forget all the advertising (and now Internet) hype about a product; he said “Let’s put it on the dyno and see how she does!” For his first day on staff, he was the guy pushing for dyno testing and acceleration testing the performance potential of products. As you might imagine, this type of verification was met with some resistance from advertisers. According to Holdener, “The readers deserved to know what works and what doesn’t.”
If you want to find Richard Holdener, look no further than on the dyno at Westech Performance. For more than 25 years, he has worked as a technical editor for a wide range of automotive magazines, both on staff and in a freelance capacity. Richard has specialized in direct back-to-back dyno testing of performance products. He is the crazy guy who compared every factory LS cam, 20 different LS intake manifolds, and dyno (and flow) tested no less than 30 different LS cylinder heads. He is also the guy who performed the Big Bang Theory test, where they cranked up the boost on a stock LS short-block to find out how much power it could withstand. He is the reason so many 1,000-hp stock, short-block LS engines exist.
Unfortunately, you can also thank him for the price increase on LS engines from the wrecking yard, as after the results of the Big Bang Theory, guys were swarming the wrecking yards gathering all the LS motors they could to install turbos. Always looking to illustrate what really works, Holdener even went so far as to design his own adjustable intake manifolds for testing (see Chapter X [intake]). Whether it’s blown, built, or boosted, everything from stock LS3 crate engines to 8,000-rpm, short-stroke screamers, Holdener has built and tested it on the dyno.
In addition to this (his 10th) book on LS3 and LS7 Performance, Holdener has also written several other books on dyno verification. These include Dyno-Proven GM LS1 thru LS7 Performance Parts, Building 4.6L/5.4L Ford Horsepower on the Dyno, High-Performance Ford Focus Builder’s Handbook, How To Build Honda Horsepower, and 5.0L Ford Dyno Tests. Holdener currently contributes to all the major automotive magazines, including Hot Rod, Car Craft, Super Chevy, Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords, Power & Performance News, and GM High Tech.
Even the competition has to agree that Chevy’s LS engine family is more than just a worthy successor to the original small-block; it’s one hell of an engine. The Blue Oval boys were jumping up and down about their new 5.0 Coyote, but (as usual) they were still behind the eight ball in terms of displacement and power output. Although the new four-valve 5.0 modular engine offered reasonable high-RPM power, it was decidedly lacking in low-speed power compared to the LS3. Credit the extra displacement offered by 6.2 liters of displacement (7.0 liters on the LS7) for all that wonderful torque.
High-RPM power is all well and good, but the vast majority of spirited (street) driving comes lower in the rev range. Besides, in the LS (3 or 7) there is no choice between low-speed and high-RPM power, as the GM engines offer both. Toss in the fact that the LS3 and LS7 featured lightweight, all-aluminum construction, composite intakes, and even variable cam timing, and you have a traditional small-block with all the technology of a DOHC Ford engine, without the penalties in size, weight, and complexity.
In the original muscle car era,