I serve on the Horsepower Wars rules committee and wear quite a few other hats, so not only did I help write the rules, but I also hear the feedback. In my opinion, when both side are unhappy, that’s when you know you have done your job. In years past, I don’t know if that was always the case. As you read this, know that we have already completely filmed and completed LS vs Coyote 3 (while all the content is forthcoming)…and that said, I already have some things I would change if we were to do this over again. Which, thankfully, we are not. Yes, we will do other engine shootouts, but just not this one.

Sometimes, the rules are made based on what we think is fair to determine a winner. Often, the rules are designed to keep an even playing field so that one team doesn’t show up with a knife to a gunfight. We’ll discuss this more in Episode 2 of LS vs Coyote 3. In the meantime, here are the different rules constraints that we considered for Horsepower Wars LS vs Coyote 3:

• Platform: Although an LT is not technically an LS, we wanted to see what the Gen V platform would do against the Gen 3 Coyote. However, for practicality, we elected to use port injection.
• Power Adder: we felt a turbo would be the most fair comparison, but that it needed to be limited so that we didn’t have two 2,500hp race engines – which were not representative of what the spirit of Horsepower Wars is supposed to be (ie, not relatable). With an unlimited format, the winner is simply who survives. Constraints cause an even playing field where execution, creativity, and brains matter more than who spent the most. We also did not want to create some sort of boost limit, as that would inevitably benefit one engine and hurt another.
• Engine size: this was a tough one and perhaps the most debated subject, as the LS/LT platform’s strength is its ability to dramatically increase its cubic inches with larger bore factory blocks and aftermarket blocks. In the last version, we allowed it but this season wanted to limit cubic inches. That said, we did not choose to allow the Coyote to use a Predator 5.2L block or bore/stroke. We felt that limiting the LT to 5.3L and factory bore/stroke, but allowing the Coyote to move up to 5.2L would have stacked the deck in favor of the Coyote. A fairer comparison would have been limiting cubic inches only, and allowing the LT to run a larger bore and shorter stroke – but custom billet cranks are again outside the realm of what is relatable and the spirit of the show.
• Budget: there’s an endless debate on HP per cubic inch and HP per dollar that will never be settled. So we didn’t try. We didn’t want to see someone lose because they couldn’t afford better heads. The goal was to build realistic combinations and let the chips fall where they may. We do intend to be 100% transparent about how much these builds would cost.

I hope this answers some questions, as I’m sure we will run into this again on the C10 Shootout. But please know, our goal is to create an interesting and entertaining matchup. That’s it. There’s no one secretly rooting for one team or another, trying to build rules to suit one team. Each person that is involved in the rules has built and tuned an engine before. A few of us have (or had) NHRA licenses as well and have served on drag racing rules committees. We are fallible human beings, of course, and will take what we learned from this year. But we are proud of this year’s competition, and really hope you enjoy it.

Horsepower Wars would like to thanks its sponsors for making this possible including Summit Racing, Holley (Holley EFI, Simpson, etc), Manley Performance, Diamond Racing Pistons, COMP Cams, Moroso Performance Products, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Cometic Gaskets, AMSOIL, Vibrant Performance, HPT Turbochargers, ICT Billet, ATI Performance, Meziere Enterprises, AFCO Racing, Optima Batteries, Old World Industries/Peak, Strange Engineering, SPAL, Auto Metal Direct, and Wiles Driveshaft.