We Dyno'd a $400 Junkyard 5.3

The 5.3-liter LS is the best-kept secret in cheap horsepower. Pulled from a million trucks and SUVs, it turns up in junkyards for a few hundred dollars. And it responds to modern parts like almost nothing else at the price.

Our test engine cost four hundred dollars. A cam, a set of springs, a tune, and a good exhaust later, it made 512 horsepower to the wheels on the dyno. That is real, repeatable, budget power.

The People's Horsepower

This is why the LS swap took over. For the cost of a decent set of wheels, you can put modern, reliable power into almost anything. It is the great equalizer of the hobby.

Four hundred dollars in. Five hundred and twelve horsepower out.