Originally Posted by iceboy
well i already have a a 300whp turbo car that eats gas so i really wanted to go with a mildly modded all motor car to keep gas consumption down but still have some suprising power out of it...what would have to be done to the ls bottom end? its not all about the vtc valce cover...prolly wouldnt even have it lol
If you want an ls/vtec setup to be reliable you need a few things. The poor rod/stroke ratio of the LS is not conducive to high revs, so basically anything inside the block that moves should be replaced with stronger parts. Mainly, some good rod bolts (like ARP), because the stock ls rod bolts are not made to handle high rpm. You also need a GSR or ITR water pump, oil pump, oil pan, and windage tray. Also a block girdle would be highly recommended. See how all of this adds up?
I still think a mild turbo setup would be your best option. There are several guys on HAN that have built a full turbo kit for their cars for around $1000. You can run 220-230whp without putting much stress on your engine if you don't rev it to 8,000rpm all day. And if tuned properly, you can still get over 30mpg.