No matter what happens to the LS over the next decade, it's here to stay and will quickly replace the traditional small-block Chevy. I believe that the trend from Mouse to LS engines is happening much faster than many in the industry realized until recently.
Being a grizzly old veteran comes with a certain degree of street cred, but sometimes the young punks have too much game. Even the '03 Yankees, '08 Patriots, Jennifer Aniston, and the guy who lost the last presidential election would be hard-pressed to disagree. The concept of young talent sticking it to their more experienced competition is what Mast Motorsports is all about. Not only is the company a newcomer to the aftermarket scene, but it's also run by a band of enthusiasts and engineers with trim midsections and full heads of hair. Considering that Mast Motorsports specializes in LS-series motors-which are typically pushed to the limits by racers with trim midsections and full heads of hair-being young certainly isn't a bad thing.
Founded by Horace Mast, the company offers a full line of Gen IV crate engines, ECMs, and wiring harnesses with drop-in-and-go simplicity. Additionally, Mast has developed custom motor mounts, headers, and crossmembers for most Bow Tie muscle cars to make it stupid-easy to drop an LS motor into classic Chevy iron. For readers considering an LS1 swap for their muscle car, we had Horace tell all. We also used the opportunity to learn about the latest in Gen III and Gen IV technology. With GM continually refining these innovative motors and squeezing more and more power out of them, it's time to get up to speed on what's arguably the greatest motor ever built.
Mission Statement
"Mast Motorsports is an engineering-based engine controls, crate engine, and design company with many objectives. One is to design and engineer innovative, high-quality, exhilarating products for our customers. Another is to bring the most advanced products and engine technologies to the aftermarket. Recognizing the need for an EFI system that offered OEM-caliber drivability and flexibility, our engineers collaborated to bring this control package to the aftermarket as one of our first products. The objective was to offer EFI systems and crate engines that lacked the headaches normally involved with EFI retrofits and conversions, while integrating OEM-quality controls for accessories and drivability in one complete package. These are high-output powerplants that are tame and reliable enough to be driven daily while making enough power to be raced competitively.
"EFI conversions used to consist of buying an engine from an engine builder, chasing down half-complete EFI systems from another source, and then getting it tuned by a third-party that would have the customer either mail in their controller for tuning or rely on a calibration developed on a chassis dyno. With our system, you spend a fraction of the time required to get an engine running properly with excellent drivability.
"At Mast Motorsports, the cam lobe profiles, cam cores, pistons, valvetrain components, block machining, short-block blueprinting and assembly, ECM and wiring harnesses production, engine calibration, and engine testing are all done under one roof. The aftermarket seems to like the idea of getting a high-performance powertrain solution that has been engineered from top to bottom by one company.
"The concept of calibrated EFI systems that require no tuning has been quite a hit for our customers, while the high-end calibration capability of the M-90 ECM has been well received by customers undertaking custom setups that require further calibration. Since our inception, other markets took notice of our capabilities, and we have now expanded into powertrain manufacturing for several sectors of the automotive, airboat, off-road, and marine markets.
"Additionally, customer demand has required us to enter the drop-in short-block market. Our no-compromise engineering approach to high performance is something new to this sector of the aftermarket. Our biggest compliments have been from customers who are happy with the ease of installation, drivability, and power of their high-output project car as well our ability to provide everything necessary for their LS swap."