Manoli Katakis 
The General Motors LS swap is a hot rodding practice that, thankfully, remains the tried-and-true practice to fit mountains of power in a tight space. But to raise eyebrows at an event such as, say, the SEMA Show, a simple LS swap won’t do. So to get creative, the madmen at Race Cast Engineering offer a line of LS V12 engines. Yes – a small block with twelve cylinders. The soundtrack, which can be heard in the video below, delivers an equal mix of both the roar of an American muscle car and the howl of an exotic supercar that is truly unique.
The LS V12 comes by way of Australia, where the country occasionally out does even us Americans when it comes to our passion for high octane and high horsepower. The engine has been paraded in a few vehicles during the SEMA Show over the years, and for the 2019 SEMA Show the V12 will find itself in the engine bay of a new vehicle project from high-end kit company Factory Five.
According to the video, the LS V12 demonstrates its ferocity by unleashing 755 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque on pump gas. The latter of which appears to be readily available at any point in time, and that’s the wonderful beauty of displacement. Yet despite all of the rotational mass, the LS V12 can spin up to a screaming 7,100 RPM. However, a more potent version is available, with over 1,000 hp by way a more aggressive cam and some hotter tuning. According to the video, this is the base output of this engine platform, with potential to go much, much higher.
The LS V12 is actually based on the iron block version of the engine architecture, rather than the aluminum block that engines such as the LS7 utilized. The iron small block was common in highly abundant pickup trucks, and is said to withstand loads of power. Total displacement comes in at an incredible 9.5 liters, with a 4.125 inch bore and 3.62 inch stroke.
The Race Cast Engineering LS V12 is available to order right now, but the engine itself costs nearly as much as 2020 C8 Corvette, with a fully dressed motor commanding a whopping $55,200 USD, with a 1,000 horsepower upgrade available for $5,000 and a weight-saving alloy block available for another $5,000. However the kit that features the components for an engine builder to do it themselves runs at a more reasonable $29,300 USD. A small price to pay for the ultimate LS swap? We’ll let you be the judge of that.
