Episode 4 of Horsepower Wars Season 4, presented by Summit Racing, just dropped, and we couldn’t help but check in to see what the Bow Tie bunch has up its sleeve, so forgive us for soiling your screen with Chevy hardware. While Fast Forward Race Engines sharpened its scalpel on Ford’s jewel-like 5.0-liter Coyote, Late Model Engines is charged with trying to wring race-car glory out of a Gen V L83 5.3-liter truck motor. Yes, the same engine you’ll find under the hood of your least favorite neighbor’s Silverado.

To their credit, LME did what they could. They stuffed in Diamond pistons, a Manley forged crank, titanium valves, and CNC-ported heads. They even re-engineered the oiling system and ditched GM’s plastic lifter trays, because nothing screams confidence like plastic holding your valvetrain together at 9,000 rpm. Still, it’s hard not to ignore how many gymnastics this LT build requires just to hang with a mostly stock-dimension Coyote.

Meanwhile, over in Ford country, the Coyote is found in trucks as well, but once you start modding it, it’s the same as a Mustang 5.0-liter. FFRE is playing to the Coyote’s natural strengths: revs, airflow, and durability.

A Coyote doesn’t need oversized valves shoehorned into undersized bores to make serious steam. Its DOHC architecture, high-flow heads, and factory-friendly bore spacing mean it loves to breathe, and boost only makes that advantage more pronounced.

Let’s give credit where it’s due: 608 naturally aspirated horsepower from a 5.3L is nothing to sneeze at. But look closer and you’ll see why this combo feels like it’s working overtime. High 12.5:1 compression, exotic valvetrain hardware, and a custom cam pushing 0.648-inch lift just to chase the Coyote’s wheelhouse of 8,500 to 9,000 rpm.

On The Edge

To get there, LME pushed pushrod valvetrain technology to the absolute edge with conical springs, titanium valves, tie-bar lifters, and aggressive ramp rates all working in concert to convince this engine to spin like a Coyote does from the factory. On the dyno, that gamble might pay off in a glory pull. But stretch that abuse across a drag-and-drive competition with highway miles, heat soak, and repeat passes? That’s where this pickup powerplant might finally show its limitations.

By contrast, it isn’t necessary to push the Coyote to the brink for it to spin to the moon. With dual overhead cams and four-valve heads, it thrives in the stratosphere. Ford’s engineers designed it to do exactly what this contest demands: spin hard, flow big, and make reliable power on pump gas or race fuel. FFRE simply refined a superior platform without reinventing it.

One of the more telling differences here is the bill of materials. The LT’s parts list reads like a racing parts fever dream, including aggressive porting, custom pistons, massive titanium valves, conical springs, upgraded lifters, DI deletes, aftermarket timing covers, the works. None of it is cheap, and none of it’s optional if you want the little truck motor to live at 9,000 rpm.

Meanwhile, the Coyote can make four-digit power with mild cams, ported stock heads, stock-dimension valves, and off-the-shelf rods and pistons if you choose wisely. FFRE’s expertise ensures the Ford powerplant won’t just survive Horsepower Wars; it will thrive the way the shop’s 5.0-liter engines have in record-setting Mustangs.

Valiant Effort

In fairness, Bryan Neelen and the LME crew did impressive and creative work on the pushrod platform. The shop’s 5.3L is a jewel of precision machining and smart engineering. However, its bore size limits airflow, its architecture was never meant for big boost, and its valvetrain wasn’t meant to pull to the moon.

The Coyote, on the other hand, was bred on the racetrack and engineered for durability on the street. With FFRE playing on its strengths and mitigating its weaknesses, the 5.0-liter engine is poised to showcase why it delivers an amazing ratio of horsepower per cubic inch.

The Bow Tie team might talk about “rolling the dice” with compression and airflow tricks, but the Blue Oval gang doesn’t need luck. It just needs air and fuel. Besides, when the competition moves from the dyno room to the street and onto the drag strip, the smart money says the Coyote will soar while the LT’s high-strung pushrod valvetrain might just surrender.

Around our office, there’s always some debate about whether to use “L” or “-liter” when describing engine displacement. In this case, we stuck with 5.0-liter for the Coyote and 5.3L for the LT, because when all is said and done, it’s the Chevy that’s going to take the “L” in this competition.