Mopar’s Hellcrate proved there’s a market for 700-horsepower crate engines, so General Motors, which had an equivalent lump in the C7 ZR1, decided to take the Hellcrate head-on. It seems GM’s 755-hp, 715-pound-feet LT5 may not have been a match for Dodge’s hellspawn, though, as GM has quietly pulled its most powerful crate engine off the market.
As first observed in Motor Trend, the product page for the 6.2-liter, supercharged LT5 on Chevrolet Performance’s website is now headed by “discontinued product.” It hasn’t even been three years since Chevy revealed the crate LT5 in a SEMA-bound Chevelle, and now, it’s dead for reasons not yet clear.
Despite besting the base, non-Redeye Hellcrate‘s output and dimensions—as well as coming in slightly cheaper at a hair under 19 grand versus the Mopar’s more than 20—the LT5 simply lacked the same whimsical pizazz. After all, people are more likely to click on a video with “Hellcat swap” in the title than whatever kind of dentist’s drill an LT5 is.
On top of that, GM V8s are famous for offering cheap performance; the LS and LT have a healthy aftermarket that can get you past 700 horsepower for less than an LT5 costs. For reference, here’s a 725-hp LSX for 17 flat. It just wasn’t quite the performance bargain people expected of a GM V8.
GM wouldn’t ever directly acknowledge losing out to its crosstown rival in the crate engine market, but we have reached out for an explanation of the LT5’s discontinuation anyway. In any case, the LT5’s demise leaves Chevy’s 572-cubic-inch big-block as its most powerful crate engine and the supercharged LT4 as its lieutenant. Neither quite fill the hole the LT5 left, though if the ex-ZR1 engine’s early cancelation is anything to go by, that wasn’t a big one in the first place.
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