LS and LT engines have powered every single generation of the Corvette since the C5, with the exception of the Z06 variant of the eighth generation Corvette, which is powered by an unrelated small-block engine, the Chevrolet Gemini small-block engine. This can sometimes be misleading, as not all engine RPO codes in the three generations begin with LT or LS. The Regular Production Option (RPO) code of the engine, LS, has since been used to generally refer to all Gen III and Gen IV engines, however, Gen V engines are generally referred to as 'LT' small-blocks. The 'LS' nomenclature originally came from the first engine of the Gen III engines, the LS1, which was fitted in the Chevrolet Corvette (C5). Various small-block V8s were and still are available as crate engines. Spanning three generations, a new, sixth generation is expected to enter production soon. First introduced in 1997, the family is a continuation of the earlier Chevrolet small-block engine (first- and second-generations), of which over 100 million have been produced altogether, and is also considered to be one of the most popular V8 engines ever. The General Motors LS-based small-block engines are a family of V8 and V6 engines designed and manufactured by American automotive company General Motors.
Chevrolet small-block engine (first and second generation)
