TPI Specialties has the recipe to turn any LS1
into a 448- horsepower monster.

By Dave Emanuel

    When the LS1-powered Corvette first set tire to pavement, the event was accompanied by much hand-wringing and teeth gnashing. Certainly, the new powerplant showed tremendous promise, but the specter of Captain Smogalert and the OBD II police department residing inside every Powertrain Control Module (PCM) brought visions of doom. Tight monitoring of LS1 performance parameters foreshadowed an engine that could not be modified to produce much more than its factory rated 345 horsepower.
   Never one to let major obstacles stand in his way, Myron Cottrell of TPI Specialties, took his conventional, "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" approach. He reasoned that by judiciously developing performance-enhancing equipment specifically for the LS1, he could significantly raise horsepower and slip by unnoticed by Captain Smogalert and his patrolmen.
   In spite of its sophisticated engine control system, which includes electronic throttle operation, (also known as "drive by wire") the LS1 is still an internal combustion engine and as such, the key to increasing horsepower is enhancement of air processing capability. That's most effectively accomplished by minimizing external intake