LS376/525 Engine

[Dr. David]

Just wondering if anyone wants to offer advice and expertise on the Chevrolet High Performance Division LS376/525 crate motor?
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By-Fx-pJoRg"]Chevrolet Performance Raises the Bar with the LS 376/525 engine! - YouTube[/ame]
Not super-HP, but 525 HP seems more than adequate to move an SLC or LMP-1 down the road. Comes with a two-year warranty and available at your local Chevrolet dealer or through Jegs or Summit with free shipping.
Any thoughts or experiences?
Thanks,
David

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

David,
the 525 has the ASA camshaft from what I have been told.
Its a pretty lumpy cam shaft which will be fine on track but maybe a bit much for a civilised street car.

I think one of our SLC customers already has one in an SLC with a LS3 with the ASA camshaft ...essentially the 525 spec....Pretty cool sounding engine.
There are two other SLC owners with cars being readied to ship from RCR with 525's too...

 

[Mike]

Low rpm-street driving will not be a pleasurable experience. The LS376 (485hp) motor bucks a little at/below 2k rpm. If your driving style lives at about 2.3k rpm plus, maybe not an issue for you. The standard crate LS3 idles and runs like a production car. Your results may vary.

 

[Jack]

With the ASA cam, The driveability can be improved at low RPM by using a long throttle pedal ratio. This won't effect the rheostat, only pedal travel. Long pedal travel works pretty good on Wayne's car. Nothing extraordinary to do. It does sound great!

 

[Alex]

I have one. Low rpm drivability is fine, I don't have any issues. If it starts to buck just stay in a lower gear or clutch in and roll. The GMPP ECU tune is a POS, but will run out of the box (as long as you don't reverse the O2s, then it won't run out of the box :drunk: ).

It has a nice sound and lope to it, I like it.

Don't expect it to be under-rated. I make about 530-540hp with headers, intake and tune. If you took it as provided, with manifolds and with their as-provided tune, expect less than 500hp.

Don't buy it thinking because it's been assembled by GM it was done right. I've read LOTS of problems with LS crate engines on LS1tech. Shane can tell you his nightamres with them. mine has been okay, mechanically, but I get a bit nervous around it because of what we found when installing it (shit in the valve covers, water pump bolts were only one finger tight, flex plate was torqued to about 30ft-lbs, etc...). Also, the warranty is a joke - from reading on LS1tech it sounds like you'll be in for a fight to the death if you have an issue with it.

Long story short - it's not a horrible engine, it's not a great engine, it's middle of the road. That's why for my 917 I spent another 10k with Katech to get better build quality and another 100hp. Next build I'll also be going with a custom built engine rather than a crate.

 

[Cam]

Wayne M put this cam in his ls376-480hp so basically the same idle as the 376-525. I heard it when I was in FL.

It was a tad lopier than the 480 but barely noticeable. I wish I had that option back when i built. I'd like to add the cam, If I pull the engine.

I've had zero issues with the 376-480 in 8000 hard miles, other than the front main seal that was pulled out by my stupid vintage air a/c belt.