Quote:
Originally Posted by diV6
ok. lets put it this way. Your argument is saving money. If your buying a v6, your still buying a transmission, engine, and suspension your going to remove and replace. If you buy a v8, instead of removing the entire engine, replacing the whole transmission, and the entire suspension, you can simply replace the parts that need upgrading.
Instead of replacing the 6l50 transmission, you just get a mechanic to rebuild your 6l80 to your specs. Instead of buying a whole new engine, you just do a head and cam swap or add a turbo charger supercharger.
If your goal is to go fast for the lowest amount of money, buying a v6 is penny wise, dollar stupid in the long run. yes, you might save money on insurance as the insurance company sees a v6, but the insurance wont cover all the modifications you have done to your car either.
The 8k difference between the ls and a 1ss will be more used up in the additional cost of mods. Your plan might save you 8k up front, but it will cost you far more farther down the line to go slower than you could of if you got the v8 and modded it.
Additionaly, while there are turbo kits for the v6, the aftermarket is far larger for the lsx engines. The l99, due to its afm, has a more limited aftermarket.
If your goal is to build an extreme car, just for the track, with your own original engine, suspension, and transmission, look into the body in white program we heard about earlier.
The path you are considering is just not cost effective any way you look at it. The only advantage it has is that it lets you buy the camaro before you save up the 8k difference between the ls and the 1ss, and in the long run it will cost you more money.
The v6 is a great car. I am going to get one, but i wouldn't plan to use it as a foundation for a track car.
Look, im not trying to irritate you, but your plans here are just not the most cost effective way to go extremely fast.
Maybe I am misunderstanding you, it sounds like you eventually want to go extreme. If you want to go seriously extreme, see about a body in white. If you just want to somewhat extreme, like 500-650hp (I know there were off the record statements by gm that they had camaro prototypes with up to 650hp, so the ss suspension should be able handle that high) then go with the v8 as your starting point.
If you want to get to to 400, just buy the v8 from the start, its still the most effective way, and you'll have that speed before the warranty is up. Is the warranty 5 years? Thats a long time to be driving a 300hp car when what you want is 400hp.
This is my last post on this issue. I am not looking to irritate you. But TO ME, as i understand your intentions, it just doesn't make sense. If I were you, I would figure out my eventual performance goals, figure out what you would have to do to a v8 and a v6 model to get there, price out the mods and the cars, and figure which is cheapest. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I dont understand your plan. But seriously, when modding, don't do it ad hoc piece meal, do it with a plan.
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There's one variable that you aren't considering:
time. Over time, the car will change and slowly die. As parts are dying and need replacement, the owner has the option of installing the parts that GM offers, that the local shop has, or that some performance shop has. I'm saying that people who want to keep a Camaro from the time they're 22 to the time they're 52 are going to have a lot of parts breaking and a lot of part replacements for their future track beast. Making a track beast is very expensive, and it will be time-consuming. Let's pretend that money will be available over this 30-year period of time, and that it can be spent on the car. Just roll with it, and we'll see what we can do.
Many of the parts I propose changing would be installed on a V6 or a V8. I'm asking about the V6 because we already have a few V8 answers. Even the V8s are going to be recklessly expensive to upgrade, but the issue isn't money.
The issue is fun. 
If I can have a fun car now, and the car I really want—fast, custom, attractive—over time, then why shouldn't I? All of this time, I will be working, and much of that money will go toward my basic needs and life goals. Why can't some of the excess be for my car?
The goal of this thread is not to discuss how to spend money. This thread is not saying that getting a V6 to 450 hp and getting a V8 to the same number is going to cost remotely the same or even that the V6 is better. The goal of this thread is to discuss what aftermarket options V6 owners have.
All of these questions will be asked by someone on the site. Some of them have already been asked without answer. I want to get answers so that the guys that want to do one or more of the things that I'm considering have a choice. If one guy wants to install an iPod in the glove box and another wants to swap motors in 4 years, why can't I ask for both of them? Stop assuming that these mods will all be done to the same car. It is very possible that no V6 owners will go through this expense or shop time to make their cars compete with GT500s, but it would be great to know that aftermarket performance, cosmetic, and customization options are available.
If those parts are available or becoming available soon, it needs to be known that V6 owners want them.
I remember these arguments happening on the Cobalt forums. They still happen. The LS guys are pretty mad at the SS guys for always getting into their threads just to say that their car is inferior and that they should just trade it for a Cobalt SS. That's not always an option, and the guys who can afford Lingenfelter LS7-powered Camaro SSs will never in their lives understand the struggle of going paycheck to paycheck, dealing with expensive medical bills that empty bank accounts, or having to make money on the side. Those of you who profess to have survived this no longer experience it. Those of you who are in the situation know that they deserve, perhaps more than anyone else, to have an enjoyable ride to the jobs they hate but endure for their families. It is the sacrifices of those who struggle that should be rewarded in the simplest way, and sometimes all that takes is knowing that their 2010 Camaro that they bought used for a steal in 2013 can still beat a Mustang when it meets at a stoplight.
Remember, this thread isn't about the money. It's just about having fun in a V6. If one guy can have that fun with their iPod, and another guy wants it with an ECM tune, and another guy wants a full twin turbo setup, then let them have what they want! Don't tell them that their car is inferior. If the third guy really wanted the SS, I'm sure the goal would be to trade rather than buy an expensive forced induction kit. It is not our place to judge their reasons. Maybe they just want to take GM's high-feature V6 to the limit. Is that so horrible?
Let's try again. If I want to run with GT500s in a V6, what is going to need to be upgraded to make that happen? The LLT is a very advanced engine made with some of the best parts available. What parts are going to break? What parts are going to endure unnecessary stress? Is the ECM shared with other cars that have already been tuned? What sort of numbers have the internals been able to hit? How many of those V8 parts are going to also work on the V6? What has to be done to make them work? Let's get some answers.