I'll always go with the Big Block!

"No replacement for displacement" is what I've always been told.

BBC for the win! I am a die hard big block guy mainly because of my age being almost 50 and grew up with BBC muscle cars, boats, and trucks. The biggest trend on boat racing is still BBC...as usual. LS engines are the daily driver standard GM came up with to survive the EPA gas and oil regulation issues about MPH. I have never owned an LS in any of my 20 plus hot rods over last 25 years (and still own 7 of them) but considered it for sure after MSD and Holley made it possible to put a carb on one around 2012. You are a guru Rich for sure and my BBC favoritism is shared by every top fuel dragster, super gas drag boat, and all SS GM 58-74 muscle cars. Trucks fortunately have a BBC option until 2013 which spanned 55 years(2009 was offical official announcement of last year made but loyal guys preordered 3 years worth of more to be made). GM's final BBC ZZ632 BBC makes 1,000 HP and 850TQ without power adders under 6,000 RPM. Never heard of an LS that did that! Thanks for your never ending sharing of the hard work you do to find real world answers! 👍

"Nothing beats the torque of a big block chevy". Stroked Buick 455...hold my beer

This video proves why I love my big blocks. For a towing application, I want it all down low. My race car might wind to the moon,, but when I'm towing, I want it right now at 2500 rpm.

Yeah the LS might be the "better" more modern engine, but I will stick to my 454 with an Edelbrock carb on top and SM465 4 speed behind it. We have several trucks around here, and the only one that will outpull the 81 with the 454 is the 74 GMC with a 455 Olds swapped into it. And the best part...I can work on the damn thing with basic hand tools out in the barn, instead of having to take it to the shop where I have computer access to diagnose it

Love the channel so far. Very informative. I’ve been building engines for 30 years now and I am trying I get better with these newer LS based engines. They are amazing. So much potential.

Done building my 1999 Chevy 464 Vortech. Its built strong from GM. Factory Aligned honed main bores. Factory forged rods align honed with Boron steel riod bolts. Factory Priority main oil feed system. 4 -bolt mains on all 5 caps. Factory 3/8" diameter Tubular pushrods. Looked up the 454 Vortech Heads they actually flow decent. Like Pontiac V8 Ram Air 3 did !

The stock injectors in those 454's are leaky garbage after a few years, one of the best mods is replacing them and the stock distributor. I have driven about 500,000 miles with that 7.4 454, it is amazing how much headers, injectors, a tune, and some good plugs and wires wake them up.

it looks like a 25% increase in displacement yields about 33% increase in power...thats a good return

Awesome video Rich , keep up the great work , great information for the people who are car lovers , and passionate about building their cars themselves , thanks !

Pontiac V8 guy myself. 454 Big Block Chevy just needs a stouter camshaft profile and not much more. Wipe LS for torque and Hp. All LS Has Dinky Crankshaft Thrust Bearings the #1 weak area and impossible to improve any. An Engineering Flaw they all have. Big Block Chevy Has a Large crankshaft thrust bearing. Pontiac 455 has an even larger crankshaft thrust. Important when putting continous Heavy loads on a V8 Towing or Racing. Will not fail hard use and abuse 454 BBC or Pontiac 455. Worked on Grain Trucks with 427 Tall Deck BBC and pulled 80,000 lbs loaded no sweat. Worked on Firetrucks with a 454 BBC Tall Deck with water tanks built in pumper tankers weighed 100,000 lbs. 454 BBC Pulled effortlessly. No failures any BBC.

Love the video. Can't wait for part 2.

Small block towing: downshift and high revs uphill. Big block towing: lug and grunt up the hills in high gear, much less drama.

Good ft-lbs is good but good ft-lbs with gas mileage is key for a daily driver truck 😎

VERY VERY happy to see some focus on torque. for street bbc I've been trying balance low speed torque with really good horsepower... so glad you focused on torque

I’m currently towing with a 2003 Chevy 2500 HD, it does a great job for my needs. 👍🏻

I've got a 97 GMC suburban 2500 with the 454 I love the beast, just towed my travel trailer from Montana 9 hours and 4 mountain passes. Did perfect!!

I know. Holy grail, gonna drop the cash, we aren’t going to go pull one from the yard, and if we did who’s gonna put it in a tow rig. BUT, a 427 LS7 comparison would be cool to throw into the mix as far as torque vs mileage.

I would be interested to see how a 6.0 compares to a Vortec 8100, the architecture changes to the big block pretty much made it a giant LS engine, even down to things like the firing order.

I just ask this question and now there is a vid !! Heck yeah!!

Thanks got having us!

Great video as usual!

At work we have a 97 c3500 single cab dually with a 11 ft dump box that has a 454 and a manual. Great old reliable workhorse. My company pickup is a 14 Sierra 3500 single rear wheel with a 6.0L. I'll take that 6.0 any time. That's an awesome powerplant.

I think its important to mention that not only does the 454 make more torque, it makes it a lot lower in the rpm range where it is needed for towing

Thanks Richard! I'm hung up on this exact question with my 84 C10 street/strip build (not towing). Everyone I ask (mostly) says big block!

The 8.1 is a monster. They used to slam those in early 2000s A class RVs. Most that should've had a diesel engine but that 8.1 moves them like a feather.

A 454 can be a good towing/ racing motor while an LS is mainly made for street racing

im back for the big block - thanks 4 the vid

Keep these videos coming. Got work Richard

Hurray, finally a short video, but i remember the results of this comparison in an earlier video.

Cool video. Looking forward to part 2 comparing a stroked LS to a 454.

the LS was not able to replace the BBC until the 6L80E transmission came along

LTs KZfaq has been doing a 4.8L vs Big Block build comparison lately also. So this is pretty good supporting data that can run along w his premise.

6.0 + 706’s + longtubes + truck Norris cam + cross ram intake = towing monster

Richard out here giving us all the information. I just picked up a 6.0 for my C6 that had a 5.3, can't wait to get that extra 50 lbs down low!

Richard great video for us truck torque junkies. Waiting for a video featuring the 8.1L. Last I checked I didn't see it in any of your videos. I'm thinking about swapping my 2002 6.0L for a early 2000s 8.1L for more torque for towing. Donor truck would have an Allison trans as well which has better gearing than my 4L80E for towing.

I'd still rather "start" with the 454.

@Richard Holdener, I'd like to see some combos and testing of a 454 in a attempt to bring MPG of the big block more in line with LS engines. That's always one of the arguments of BBC versus LS engines. Is there a way to get 20+ MPG out of a 454 and retain the HP and torque synonymous with the BBC? Now that is a challenge!

BOOST MATTERS!! (I like this one Richard)

All depends on how much space is available in the engine bay. I have a 454 for one of my older pickups, but in another project a BBC is tighter than I want to deal with. One or more of each engine would be cool.

I liked the 496 they put in Topkicks with MPFI. It pulled better than the Ford V10 at about the same MPG, maybe because of the 6 speed Allsion. It also sounded better.

Can't wait to see the BIG BANG BBC test.

Man, I swear read my mind! This is right in my wheel house! I’m building a 403 for my single cab Silverado. I’m loosing my mind trying to pick a daily driver cam for it! I don’t want to throw away all my torque with to much cam. Can’t wait to see how the 408 stacks up to the 454!

I think you Should do a 454lsx vs 454 bbc of same build quality and show the difference of the two and how the newer generation differs from the older ones , I know it’s not easy to come by a 454lsx but would be a killer video to showcase the lsx

I swapped an 87 vintage 454 out of my 76 C10 for a 6.0 because the 454 was a dog and got around 4mpg with a great running Qjet. I buy the entire truck, around here they are rusted bad so a 6.0 powered 2500 is usually $500 or less. I have six of them now, and seven 5.3s too.

great video. I wish there was at least a brief comparison with the 8.1 though

Gotta love that big block 6mpg flooring it or put putin.

"BOOSTED STROKER" - Daytrade Scottie.. now that'll raise some eyebrows.

Sill at idle to 2000rpm not a lot of turbos going to make up ft-lbs versus displacement because the turbo won't be working much yet. Would take a very small turbo with some big gates to get the low end up without being a huge restriction later on.

I have a 94 k2500 with a tbi 454, and a 2018 chevey 3500 with a 6.0. Both are stock. I have pulled the 12k skid steer that I use at work with both trucks. My k2500 pulls that skid and trailer so much better than my 3500hd. My k2500 will pull it at 75mph on the interstate in overdrive. While my 3500 screams at 4k in 4th gear to keep the same speed.

Great comparison Richard, I love these kind of comparisons. It would be a cool experiment to see if one added a small turbo, very small, on these STOCK ls engines to see if it could raise the low rpm velocity and therefore low end torque production, like they do on the modern small 3 and 4 cylinders. Something with less then 10 lbs boost for towing. The mpg issue will always be a problem for any tow engine. Your not likely to ever see the mileage of a 454 get close to an LS, that’s Richards argument when he says “better” the ls design is so much more efficient. In the same way, your never going to see that low down torque production in the LS, pretty much for the same reason, the port flow on the modern engines is so good, you don’t see high velocity at low rpm like you do on the older designed bbc heads. Small ports with big cubes creates very high velocity at low rpm, that’s why “peanut port” truck heads make so much low rpm grunt and run out of steam above 4000rpm. All those cubes and the old inefficient heads need lots of fuel and air to run. The new stuff is so much better, but small cubes and big ports can’t create the grunt down low, it needs the rpm to get the flow velocity up.

To me bigger is always better for engines which is why I rebuilt a 460 Ford out to 521 inches in my 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis daily driver.

Love to see what the Ford super duty 534 SD V8. 8.8 liter. Marine twin turbos version would do with a little tinkering do!

Hey at PRI AFR introduced G3 hemi heads, you should bug them to get a set for test on the channel!

Been pointed out in LSX Engine builds by Hotrod Magazine and Car Craft LS X Weak area is the tiny crankshaft thrust bearings.

Always interesting how much more engine it takes with a gasser to make torque, good video for these engines nonetheless.

"Nothing beats a LS motor, Except a Big Block Chevy" - Steve Brule on engine masters. as a lover of all things big block, i agree. the best truck motor I have ever see was the HT502 peanut port crate engine. its advertised at 406HP @ 4200 and 541ft/lbs at 3700. it has 8.75:1 compression so it can run 85 octane fuel. sure the LS makes more HP at a higher RPM, but Truck guys pulling a trailer are not running above 4500 RPM, unless they are down shifting while pulling a trailer and climbing a hill. you cant beat a BBC for truck engine with out going to a diesel.

Hey Richard 😊 You asked for other engines, I tried to find it in you videos (you have A LOT of videos🤣), and I could not find a video of a Mazda FE engine. I am going to put a FE engine in my 1977 Mazda 929 H/T, and are curious to what you can do to it NA (it is supposedly good for turbocharging too, but I prefere NA, and really do not need a ton of power in my lightweight Mazda, 150hp pluss is where I want to go😊).

WHAT A GREAT COMPARISON. COULD SOMEONE LINK ME TO PART TWO WITH THE MODIFIED ENGINES PLEASE

Good info.

Richard, can you please do something with the Ford V10? I'm sure there are a bunch of people that want to see it. Compare it with the big block!

Would have been intresting to see 6.2l and 7.0l with truck cams as well

Would love to see a small turbo LS build just for curiosity's sake... Would be interesting to see an LS setup that made max boost around 2500-2800. Somthing similar to the boost characteristics of an OEM turbo engine

Wuz up Richard been watching your channel for a while now but whenever you can may you do a video on which is better between a 454sbc vs a 454bbc

Not GM, but still trucky. I've towed with a manual trans 300 powered Ford, an auto 351 and an auto 460. All EFI. Those 300s are sleepers for sure. It would run rings around the 351 towing. The big block....well, it's a 460. It could tow its own gas station. And probably should.

When I tow my TT I'm at 2800 rpm in 3rd with 33inch tires and 3.73 on my 4.8 4l60e sierra. Thats on the sweet spot of that 454 although with the extra torque over my 4.8 I could run it in D

This is my kind of content!

Bring on the 400+ inch stroker LS info!

Looking forward to the boost pt. 2

I would have liked to see how the ls 5.7 and the 8.1 compares in the mix.

Would be great to get one of the new HD 6.6 gas gm engines on the dyno to see how they build TQ vs the LQ4 6.0! Maybe a 454 LSX would be nice to see built for TQ

Not as a Ford vs Chevy, but seeing the 3.5 Ecoboost in this list would be awesome

a 402 or 408 or 416 with an aloominium block and aloominium heads is light weight. It'll fit in a Nash Metropolitan too. With a factory intake and a factory Vette pan, you could mount it low and probably still close the hood. You might not tow with a Nash Metropolitan, but you could. And you'd be cool.

As always awesome video!!! I have had all of these engines, all are great for the applications needed. I currently have 2 6.0L's, and one L92 6.2L! I like them better than the 454, for my application.

I daily drive a 2500 454. It just does everything so effortlessly. Doesn't get excited, just lets out a kinda mildly grumpy sound and rolls out.

Blessed be those with strokers

You have my attention. I’m fairly LS resistant, but currently trying to decide between a turbo 383 SBC and a N/A 540 BBC for my vintage “work” 4x4 truck. And by work truck I mean play truck. Don’t tell my wife.

I'd love to see how the new 6.6 L8T compares

I currently have a 6.2/8speed. I would be curious to see the low end (2,000-4,500rpm) dyno results vs a modern 6.0. I feel like my 6.2 has the edge, other than running premium fuel.

Dude that 454 is putting out diesel torque😳

8.1 @Richard Holdner we want 8.1 😁

Would like to see low rpm torque results from a peanut port stroker 454 compared to std oval port.

Like my daddy always said, "THERE IS NO REPLACEMENT FOR DISPLACEMENT SON!"

Would be interesting to see a 5.2, 5.9, and 8.0 v10 magnum run on the dyno.

This is exactly the videos I was looking for. Ready for part 2! My Mk 4 454 is going to be looking for a new home in the next couple of months. The 6.0l is well on its way.

Big Block is still king! LS only makes more power stock. Once modified Big Block still king

What's a good aftermarket ecm for the L29? Maybe one with trans controller for 4L80

Right on

Richard, to really put a point on this you should pull up the Cadillac 500 torque numbers. I think it can beat the BBC in ft-lbs/CID.

is there a cam you would recommend for low end torque production in the l29/gen vi? im looking for something for a 4x4 and for pulling trailers.

I would like to see how the new lt8 stacks up

I don’t understand why anyone would even think a standard ls would come close to what the big block offers in Torque-I guess growing up w/big blocks gives me the advantage of knowing from experience-they do cost a lot more to build tho

I love big NA cubes for low-end torque, but in my car I can only fit a 9.240 deck. Not crazy about core-shift and improper valve angles. 🤷‍♂️

Love big blocks but the 6.0 mpg vs that 7.4 mpg but Also who's running around constantly over 4500 rpm

Wish it was a 8.1 vortec vs a 6.0!!

The 454 has a lot less compression too!

Answers my question.... Now to find a 90s model 3/4 ton suburban in nc

Lsx 454 vs gen6 454 I wonder if they would be really close to the same torque? I'm guessing they would be but who knows.

How does the 454 compare to the 8.1?