Read a few articles in Super Chevy the other day that I found useful, figured I'd share for those that missed the issue.

Stock LS3 Camaro SS was thrown on the Dyno: 358 rwhp & 361 rwtq
BBK CAI was installed, and put back on the dyno: 368 rwhp & 366 rwtq
BBK Shorties were installed and car put back on the rollers: 376 rwhp & 371 rwtq
Shorties were swapped for some BBK LT's, back on the dyno: 392 rwhp & 384 rwtq

Pretty impressive overa for just CAI and LT's, +34 rwhp gain and + 23 rwtq. Didn't think the shorties would do as well as they did either.


Another article that was interesting is "Super Chevy" built two identifcal SBC motors, one as a 355ci and the other as a stroker 383ci motor. Apart from the different crank and different pistons on the 383 that was necessary to keep the Static compression the same, the motors were identical in every way.

The 355ci motor made 441hp @ 5,900 rpm's and 438tq @ 4,500 rpm's
The 383ci motor made 480hp @ 5,700 rpm's and 497tq @ 4,300 rpm's
What was impressive was the area under curve that the 383 provided when compared to the 355. The 383 ran out of breath alot sooner though.

 

I didn't think shorties or CAI would make much of a difference, good info there. And that's cool about the stroker vs 355. Thanks for posting up.

 

Very cool info, I'm also surprised and impressed with how well the shorties did. The 355/stroker comparo seems consistent with what I've seen with strokers over the years, more power and especially torque at lower RPM's.

 

Good info. I'll have to look for the article.

I think the shorties only picking up 8hp/5tq shows how efficient the cast oem manifolds are. I assume it has a stock LS3 204/211 551/522 117 cam but it confirms to me that the shorties are not a very good bang for the buck considering that LT's are not much more $$$. I imagine with some tuning the LT gains would continue to walk away from the shorties.

Rick

 

That's right rick, the Camaro was still on the stock tune! There is so much left on the table, very very potent little mill that LS3 motor is (as are most LS motors) with just a few bolt ons.

I kinda wish they would of thrown the stock airbox back on after having put the LT's on, just to see what the car would put down with only the LT's and nothing else. Also 10 rwhp is pretty decent for a CAI.

 

I agree, but it's good to know, for the guys in Cali who can't legally run LT's that if they spent some coin on some shorties it wouldn't be a total waste.

 

There's an interesting article in Engine Masters where they take a 383ci SBC and do stick it on a dyno and proceed to do SEVEN cam changes all in succession and post the dyno results. There's really too much info to pass on but it's a good read for those that are interested.
One thing that struck me as interesting is the Torque pretty much stayed the same with all seven cam's, just the HP fluctuated wildly, and of course the RPM's at which max #'s were reached.

 

Spoolin - did they ditch the cats when they went from stock manifolds to shorties or from the shorties to LT's?

 

Andy & Pat at ADM Performance are both really good friends of mine and with a tune, the LS3 with LT's, ADM intake, catted exhaust, and that's it are gaining 50whp and 55lbft...So those numbers are not unheard of! Good info though...

 

With the Shorties they kept the stock Cats and cat back. With the LT's, I'm pretty sure they went with some aftermarket High flow cats from BBK. I'll have to double check that but I remember reading that they couldn't re-use the stock cats and pipes because of the added length of the LT's so the BBK LT kit came with some other cats, etc...
they retained the stock cat back on both set-ups however.