Every Generation of General Motors LS Engine Ranked Worst to Best

1. LS4 – AKA “The Front-Wheel Drive Betrayal”

Let’s just get this out of the way: LS4 is the weird cousin at the family BBQ. It’s a decent 5.3L V8 on paper — compact, reliable, makes 290–303 hp — but then GM had the audacity to slap it into front-wheel-drive cars. Yes, really.

It lived inside the likes of the Chevy Impala SS, introducing torque steer and understeer into what should’ve been fun. Sure, the engine’s small size proved the LS series could fit anywhere... but come on, GM, at least give it AWD! And with the LS6 floating around for the same price, there’s just no reason to mess with this one unless you really, really like weird builds.