Very good question. For me and most of us it is all about $$ and time. We all would take more power if we could afford it and had the time for it. 400whp is a budget thing imo. Where 500whp typically means built engine, you went to that next level.

 

I went from 470whp to 550whp to 700+whp..I'm happy now

 

I still have nightmares from my ride in your car...

 

It was 80+ degrees out...you should feel the power at 70 degrees and below..the car runs so much harder and doesn't heat up under the hood that bad....remember the "temp outside"... Off topic Todd that lady hasn't called me...

 

I am glad that this thread has popped up. Reading some of the stuff here, it starts to feel that the fun begins only after 600whp...

 

Here's the deal. In my opinion anything more than about 450-500 crank hp is simply too fast for a public road. This has to do with the traction limits of the car, but also about the the fact that public roadways are, well, public. You can build up speed in high powered vehicles so fast, that you become a danger to yourself and people around you. I have said before, that a super-powered car has to be driven with such a light touch that part of the fun of driving is gone.

Beyond that it is all a matter of how much risk you are willing to take, which really boils down to how well you will be able to cope with the frustration if your motor blows or if your FI system doesn't work right and you need to take it apart several times over the course of several months, etc.

For me, I have come to know myself after owning 5 modded vehicles, and know that I have absolutely no tolerance for problems, "down time", failures, both big and small, etc. so I know I will never do super-level mods to an engine on this car. I need my car to work. Period.

Speed is definitely all relative. My last ride had 520lb-ft or torque and AWD. Yes the Z seemed slow at first. Now it doesn't so slow.

For a street Z, taking into consideration traction/control, the state of public roadways as they are, reliability, I think about 350rwhp is as high as I would go. That's still a 400+ hp engine.

 

yah, she hasnt called me back either...flaked

sorry, back on topic..yah, I'm sure in the winter it will be even crazier..or with PURE meth in your injection!!!!

 

I went from stock to modded NA... didnt really find that enough with the Z! Then I got the built motor and running 505whp!! The power is unbelieveable!!! Squealing and chirping has become just an everyday part of driving the car

and after all that money and work... im scared ****less that something is gonna break and then I wont have the cash to fix it all up... thats why I'm debating on switching back to an NA car and leaving it that way... (Exige)

but to each their own!! The power of a built TT'd Z is quite shocking!

 

yeah as much as i love having your own personalized car, I swear next time I'm just going to buy a fast as hell car from the start and do intake and exhaust sorta thing and that's it. So just minor mods. Cars are getting stupid fast these days straight from the factory.

 

I agree man thats what I'm doing...

 

Plenty of good advice and perspective above.

I would simply ask if you are going to road race/track it.
If you are, then build the motor and boost it to give you close to 500rwhp. More than that for the track you really do not need as much as you need outstanding suspension and handling mods and driver skill improvement to go fast.
If you are NOT going to take it to the circuit, then I would not build it, and instead would go for an FI application that delivers about 360-375 rwhp. Leave yourself some margin on those stock internals. That is still plenty fast, but not irresponsible for the street, much cheaper and if maintained and looked after intelligently should give you lots of reliable and fun use in the public domain. You cannot use more than that on the streets and will be frustrated at not being able to ...... and that can lead to moments of very bad judgment.

Once you get to built motors and more than 500rwhp your reliability/durability factors become very real considerations. You definitely need to be prepared, and to have the cash, to rebuild a motor if you are pushing 700+ type numbers. The stresses are simply incredible and the margins for error are slender. Loads of fun...but that is a big boy--big wallet---realm to play in.

Have fun with the project.

 

Thanks alot for the input guys, this def. is a hard decision and the hardest decision of all now is whether to choose Vortech SC or Greddy TT. I remember talking with Sharif in another post that I can run 2 MAPs for 2 boost levels, one for the track, and one that is safe for the street on the turbo but can't with a SC so I'll have to ask my self if I really need that. I did decide what ever I do I'm going to start small and work my way up since I'd never driven a RWD car with alot of power except for the auto C5 vette that my dad loaned me to drive after my accident and with the stages of traction control that thing had there was nothing to get used to except the pedal going from a 130hp Vibe to a 350hp vette, heh. So I'm thinking 380-400 is plenty enough to start out with since most of my friends drive V6 Mustangs setting on 22's (ugly as hell), one has the SRT Crossfire which he hates but is now stuck under, and the rest drive pickups so if my friends ever wanna race there's no real threat there and i think 400whp is plenty enough to have fun at the track for a novice like myself.