LQ4 or LQ9

[ma.racing]

i would go lq4 sens your building it and just bore .030 and 4in stroke that bad boy na but for real lq4 if your building its cheaper and you plan on goin with new internals anyway

[Sleaper]

I was wondering a bit myself.


I just recently found a pretty cheap LQ9 longblock out of an '06 Escalade that I should be going to pick up tomorrow.


At this point I'm not sure if I want to go with forged internals or not (my wallets not that deep at the moment). But, if this was a route one was to take, it seems that you'd end up with the same results whether it is an LQ4 or an LQ9 that you began with, correct? I've been assuming same iron block?
(this would also bring up a related question, which is the best route to go for forged internals?)

Also, I thought I remember reading somewhere that after '05 something was changed in them, possibly the rods? Anything else? Can anyone confirm with details?

And, what head castings were paired up with these engines throughout the years? As far as I know, 862's and 317's. Any others? Differences? Which is the preferrable casting?

Thanks in advance for the input.

It depends on what direction you want your build to go. If you go NA, then you would want a higher CR. If you FI, then you would TYPICALLY want a lower CR. If you are going to buy forged internals, then it won't matter if you get a LQ4 or LQ9. If you go FI, then you might want to bore it .030 over and stroke it to get a low compression 408. This is becoming fairly common and making some BIG numbers. Anything 01+ should come with 317's. 317's have the largest stock combustion chambers (72cc) out of all the stock heads. 243's are nice since they have good flow but give you a bump in CR if you are looking to go NA.

What are your HP goals? What power adders are looking to do (Nitrous, Turbo, Scharger)? Daily driver or mostly track use? The answer to these questions is a must to figure out the right direction to go.

[SCIV]

If you want 800hp, then you will need to go forged, so pick up a LQ4. Cheaper than a LQ9 and more abundant so less cash outlay to start with. Stock crank is plenty strong, so just get new rods & pistons.