Dropping weight isn’t all about crunches or cardio, sometimes it is a simple diet that does the trick. When it comes to automotive performance, less weight and more power is a winning combination. If you are thinking about putting your Camaro or Corvette on a diet, Concept Performance can help.

Unveiling the next generation of Concept Performance’s LTR engine block, Carlos Inocencio gave us the details on the platform. “It’s not quite half the weight of an iron LSX, but it’s very close to it. This will probably weigh about 120 pounds, the LSX weighs about 226 pounds. So the weight saving is significant.”

Cutting down the engine block weight by almost 50-percent while adding strength and potentially more performance is noteworthy. “This would be a great replacement for the Camaro and Corvette enthusiasts,” Carlos stressed.

“It’s set up for the six head bolt like Mast Motorsports, CID, and other manufacturers, but ours is the first six head bolt cast block.” This is certainly not the last time this LTR block will finish first either. There are plenty of other reasons to fall in love with this platform as well. “This block has provisions for accessories or you can put a plate on to delete it,” Carlos explained. “That’s one of the great advantages of this block, it is set up to accept every LT accessory.”

Features And Benefits

• Cross-braced lifter valley with individual drain backs
• Block deck features a heavy-duty 0.750-inch deck thickness
• Added stock to the front and rear valley walls
• Billet main caps
• ARP hardware
• Maximized crankshaft saddle radius
• Block weighs 120 pounds with main caps
• Six-bolt cylinder head pattern
• All OEM LT accessories work seamlessly with the LTR
• 100-percent American-made and finished product

“We suggest to bore at 4.185 inches,” said Carlos. “All of the cylinder sleeves are the extended versions. The Powerbore sleeves come out of Ohio, and the blocks are cast right here in Indianapolis.” Our crew was told the block is cast with a larger water jacket for bigger bore sizing and will have heavy-duty 0.750-inch deck thickness after machining.

If you are not sold yet, consider this current generation LTR is almost a Gen V style block. This means it has all the bracing through the valley, triple bracing through the sides of the block, and the skirt is super thick at 5/8-inch.

According to Carlos, the billet main cap design was changed to help with harmonics. “We machine a radius at the crank saddle where there used to be a sharp corner where the saddle met the skirt wall. Any place you have a sharp corner is a breaking point, so this helped with strength.”

Concept Performance also removed the bay-to-bay windage under the crank saddle. “It still has bay-to-bay windage under the main cap, just not under the crank saddle. This creates a strong point in the wall there,” Carlos said.

Finally, the hardware is all ARP hardware. You can find out more about the LTR block at www.conceptperformance.com.