Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
They chose the Chevy motor because it's super compact.
Bull. Its only compact compared to a Modular Ford. Its about the same size/weight as a Ford Racing (Windsor based) engine, about the same size/weight as a Gen III Hemi, etc.
They picked it because its a good basic design (the LSx is soooooo much better than the traditional smallblock Chevy that its ridiculous, although the LS7 has some unique weaknesses because of the long stroke to get 7 liters displacement), hugely supported by the aftermarket, and they're familiar with it. The familiarity may be the biggest single reason for a builder to go with a particular design. In reality someone could achieve exactly the same thing they did with quite a few other v8 engine architectures. But maybe not for the same cost and in the same timeframe.