The amount of horsepower that can be extracted from an LS/LT engine is nothing short of extraordinary. To get some of these monsterous numbers, one would think that you would need one-off engine components for durability. However, this is not the case as aftermarket performance companies are stepping up and designing off the shelf parts that can take an insane amount of abuse.

An excellent example of this type of technology being put to work is the Diamond Racing Pistons LS2K pistons. These slugs are on the shelf and are rated for 2,000 horsepower right out of the box. Diamond collaborated with some of the top drag racing teams when designing and developing their LS2K series. When it came time for Late Model Engines (LME) to build some serious LT engines, it was no surprise that Bryan Neelan the owner of LME used Diamond Racing for their piston needs. Neelen actually worked with Diamond on this pistion design for the Gen-V platform that is based off of their LS2K pistons.

Tim King of TK Performance out of Ohio reached out to LME for an engine for his C7 Corvette. After some discussion, the plan was to build an LT engine using the factory block with a custom twin-turbo setup. LME started by sleeving the factory block. The new sleeves measure 4.070-inch bore, and Callies billet crank has a 4-inch stroke putting the engine at 416 cubic-inches. A set of Callies billet rods were used in conjunction with the LT Dimond Pistons.

According to Neelen, the Competition Induction Designs (CID) LME CNC ported heads are another important key to this build. Neelen explains, “The exhaust port on our LME CNC ported CID heads are light years ahead of anything you can do with a factory ported head in terms of volume and flow capabilities. The added flow plus the head sealing capabilities made for a perfect combination.”

This type of build is nothing new for the LME crew. Neelen said, “This is out standard bottom end package. The engine is 10.5 to 1 compression, solid roller, a typlical 1,500 horsepower plus build. This is not a one-off crazy build. It’s an engine that someone could call us and place an order.”

The driving force behind the engine is two monster 76mm Precision turbos that are set at 28-pounds of boost. The 416 cranked out an impressive 1,831 horsepower and 1,326 lb-ft of torque at the wheels and pulled to 7,250 RPM. It’s crazy to think that just a few years ago, 1,000 horsepower street car was a significant achievement. While it’s still relevant, we live in an age where 2,000 horsepower is the new 1,000. Thanks to companies like Diamond Racing, CDI, and LME, these numbers will only continue to get even more impressive.