LS1 vs. LS2 Vs. LS3
 

Hey guys,

Been lurking for a long time and been going through a lot of old threads to try (unsuccessfully) to answer my own question, so I now ask you:

Bang for the buck, including availability of used engines, price of performance upgrades, which is the best buy for a conversion, the LS1,2, or 3? Of course, lower price is best.

Background: I am the original owner of my 1990 with A/C and no PS (was a base model with the A/C added). My Miata has 185K miles and I have been wanting to do a major performance upgrade to the car for decades. But, for one reason or another I never pulled the trigger. But now the time seems right.

I had considered going the turbo route, but that will require $7+ grand for the parts (including drive train upgrades) so that closes the gap, somewhat, on a V8 swap, which I what I have really wanted since I first saw an early prototype scorpion kit (that dates me some!!).

To be honest, my goal would be to get gently used parts (if possible) and do some performance upgrades on the engine before it is installed. Smog is not an issue in this equation. I had considered going the ford 5.0 route (made into a 331 or 347) but the LS platform, I think, would be optimal.

So, what are your thoughts?

Hey welcome to the forum!

If price is the main consideration no question LS1 is by far the best way to go between the 3. There were far more of them built than 2s or 3s and since they are older there are more of their donor cars being parted out all the time. But you must know that from watching prices of engines on LS1tech and ebay.

All 3 are capable of the same HP for probably about the same money by the time you mod an LS1 to LS3 HP. I see it as pretty much comparing apples to apples really. You should ask Pat what his process was to make the decision. He had a perfectly good LS1 that he sold to buy and LS2. Check out his build thread:

https://www.v8miata.net/build-thread...-carolina-794/

I'm looking forward to seeing your build come together!!

Thank you for your welcome and guidance. Looks like I have some more reading ahead!!

Oh yeah I spent many hours reading every thing I could get my hands on before I started. No sense repeating someone elses misakes!!

The best threads out there are here:
McCully Racing Motors- Our Builds...we're doing our part to help empowering Miatas one car at a time...

Flyin' Miata : Build diaries

You might find my blog in my sig helpful - but more likely not...:-)

Have you seen the Gearz build videos? I have watched them many many times and always find them helpful. If you have not seen them watch these links in order:









I'm going to skip a bunch here because it is all body work but you have to see how it plays out. So this jumps way ahead and you will see he put $10000 worth of body work on the car.



And now for the good stuff that will really get you fired up!!




Enjoy!!

First let me say that I was unaware that there were that many Gearz - Miata episodes. Glad for the links & will watch them this week! I dunno, I did have what looked like a nreasonable LS1, but I got cold feet since it appeared to have sat in the sun a LOT with some UV breakdown of the intake manifold and the actual bodies of the coils. Not the motor's fault - I just jumped too soon on my first LSx. I've just like the idea of the bigger displacement LS2 - maybe because I drove a 6.6L '79 Trans Am back in the day in high school... who knows :)

The LS2 I bought is pretty well documented to be around 19k miles, so I too wanted to go with lower mileage setup. Time will tell if my buying decision was worth a darn or not. I will say this, F Parts on EBay stands behind their take-out engines. I called yesterday about a clutch concern I spotted & they refunded me the cost of a kit within the hour - no questions asked! I even volunteered pics, but they declined my offer. Awesome customer service and shipping service!!

Found a GREAT link for you. This is everything and then some you would ever want to know about LS engines.

Pirate4x4.Com - The largest off roading and 4x4 website in the world.

Notice about half way down the page there is specs and usage of LS1, 2 and 3. I take back what I said about cost being apples to apples above. For the cost of a cam, tune and if needed injectors you can easily build an 2000 or newer LS1 to beat the LS2 and LS3 less than buying the newer engines.

For the price have you looked into a lq9/4? Yea they are heavier by like 80 pounds but usually cheaper.

Thanks guys. Doing more reading.....