Max power w/o forged internals?

[Mkn95u0]

Hello everyone...

I'm not sure if there is a post on this already or not, but i searched and was unsuccessful at finding anything this direct.

So I've talked to quite a few tune shops and personal one on one 'car enthusiast' and I have received all sorts of answers...

What is the maximum power you would be comfortable having with out doing forged internals (please specify if L99 or LS3, i'm more curious for L99 since that is what i have). I've heard all sorts of answers and they're all in different ball parks

Reason being, i don't want to max my motor out to the point i need forged internals or am going to floor it one day and have to worry about something breaking... I'm at about 445rwhp and 455ft lbs of torque according to my last dyno... I WANT to have 550-600 rwhp with the option of having it as a daily driver if needed / wanted, but like i said, i don't want forged internals so i want as high as i'm allowed with out...

What i've been told:
You're at the max with 445rwhp (i'm pretty confident this is not true).
You're at the max with 570rwhp with out going forged
" " -> 500rwhp
600rwhp
625rwhp - "and it is my daily driver" (heard but not seen)

my guess is somewhere in the 570rwhp range? i'm not very savy with this, i just pay shops to do the work, so please don't start calling me out about how stupid i am, or asking why i want more than i have.

What i have installed: Edelbrock e-force supercharger (3.875" Pulley), AEM Custom Cold Air intake, Borla Long tube headers, cat delete, resonator delete, flowmaster single chamber mufflers & tuned. 443rwhp, 455 ft-lbs torque

the cheaper way for me to get there I'm assuming with a smaller pulley 3.4" maybe & some copper plugs & tune I could estimate a possibility of 520rwhp i've been told. which i'm comfortable with if that's the case... but that's only going off 2 tune shops i've never dealt with.

So, how much rwhp do you have, can it be a daily driver, and what recommendations would you make at these numbers? I want to be able to get to these numbers before i get new sets of tires & wider rims.

[Supercharged SS]

Lots of guys driving around with 800 rwhp on stock internals. Not beating them at the track but driving around.


L99 you'll want to ditch the afm lifters when you crank up the HP.

[daveagogo1]

You could give way at any power level. That said many people are pushing your goals without forged internals. Even ZL1's are bare minimum kinda forged. Whatever you do use an experienced lsx tuner who ddoesn't just go for the highest number possible. As far as being a DD. Your cam choice will dictate alot of that. Might want to start looking into some serious supporting mods as well out back even though Jamie was blessed with unicorn urine and pixie dust in his stock rear that was nearly unbreakable.

[NJIOMSS]

Haha I thought the Unicorn Urine shortened the life of our rears?? Guess not.

On a serious note I thought this was a good opportunity to ask about suspension mods for modified cars since you're talking about some high hp with stock engine internals. In my case your run of the mill daily driver bolt-on SS with around 425rwhp. Does the same logic apply to the suspension on these cars? When would it be wise to start to upgrade the suspension? Just figured I would ask since the OP didn't really ask. (I know, search the Suspension Forum)

If you're going to have 500+rwhp I would think the suspension components would start to break if you were able to get some decent traction, no?

[Supercharged SS]

Originally Posted by daveagogo1

You could give way at any power level. That said many people are pushing your goals without forged internals. Even ZL1's are bare minimum kinda forged. Whatever you do use an experienced lsx tuner who ddoesn't just go for the highest number possible. As far as being a DD. Your cam choice will dictate alot of that. Might want to start looking into some serious supporting mods as well out back even though Jamie was blessed with unicorn urine and pixie dust in his stock rear that was nearly unbreakable.

Don't be hatin' on my unicorn piss 9 second car!!. The stock rear has been fine. Only issue was the pinion bearing was starting to wear after 300 passes. I can live with that. A little more pixie dust from JRE and its still going strong!!

[Supercharged SS]

Originally Posted by NJIOMSS

Haha I thought the Unicorn Urine shortened the life of our rears?? Guess not.

On a serious note I thought this was a good opportunity to ask about suspension mods for modified cars since you're talking about some high hp with stock engine internals. In my case your run of the mill daily driver bolt-on SS with around 425rwhp. Does the same logic apply to the suspension on these cars? When would it be wise to start to upgrade the suspension? Just figured I would ask since the OP didn't really ask. (I know, search the Suspension Forum)

If you're going to have 500+rwhp I would think the suspension components would start to break if you were able to get some decent traction, no?

I was at about 730 rwhp with all the stock suspension components. They never broke nor did they give me any problems. At 9.81 they started to hold the car back. The car wasn't holding the track anymore and was spinning like crazy but in an A6 car the suspension would be the last thing I addressed.

[NJIOMSS]

Wow wasn't expecting that answer with a racing history such as yours. I would have thought something would have broke before that. I haven't done much research on suspension yet, just engine mods. Thanks for your info Supercharged.

[Supercharged SS]

Originally Posted by NJIOMSS

Wow wasn't expecting that answer with a racing history such as yours. I would have thought something would have broke before that. I haven't done much research on suspension yet, just engine mods. Thanks for your info Supercharged.

No problem. My car doesn't break parts. It usually wears stuff out. The only thing that actually broke was a 3.5 year old 1000 HP axle. And that was due to ridiculous wheel hop and the car bottoming out. That was this April. Those axles had a ton of passes on them.

[Mkn95u0]

Originally Posted by NJIOMSS

Haha I thought the Unicorn Urine shortened the life of our rears?? Guess not.

On a serious note I thought this was a good opportunity to ask about suspension mods for modified cars since you're talking about some high hp with stock engine internals. In my case your run of the mill daily driver bolt-on SS with around 425rwhp. Does the same logic apply to the suspension on these cars? When would it be wise to start to upgrade the suspension? Just figured I would ask since the OP didn't really ask. (I know, search the Suspension Forum)

If you're going to have 500+rwhp I would think the suspension components would start to break if you were able to get some decent traction, no?

I fully support leading branched questions, so no worries.

so, now I'm getting even higher power ratings with out internals... Is the L99 and it's stock internals really capable of this with out any problems? I'm over here worried about 550ish rwhp and this seems pretty low now lol.

[Biscuitpie]

Originally Posted by NJIOMSS

Wow wasn't expecting that answer with a racing history such as yours. I would have thought something would have broke before that. I haven't done much research on suspension yet, just engine mods. Thanks for your info Supercharged.

If you have a stick it's a different story. I already broke an axle at my HP level and I wasn't even launching it at the time.

OP: 550WHP on these cars can almost be done NA (probably can be with a very aggressive set up but I haven't researched much), the internals can easily handle it.

[NJIOMSS]

There's a lot of variables to consider when it comes to engine failure too so I guess it would also come down to your relationship with your shop doing the work and their capabilities. I would have to trust my shop I selected to do that type of work. Well that and your driving habits Good luck with your build Mkn95u0.

[Supercharged SS]

Originally Posted by Mkn95u0

I fully support leading branched questions, so no worries.

so, now I'm getting even higher power ratings with out internals... Is the L99 and it's stock internals really capable of this with out any problems? I'm over here worried about 550ish rwhp and this seems pretty low now lol.

The lifters/valvetrain will be the downfall. The stock short block can handle much more. Most going over 550 rwhp do an ls3 conversion to do away with that weakness.

[Mkn95u0]

This is just burning a deeper hole in my pocket in the long run, but what suspension package did u go with? Honestly I've only ever heard of eibach, but never researched what suspension would do for me or how it would affect putting the power down...

I hate to admit it, but I am really here for the neighborhood / friend bragging numbers (not to mention my elementry school dream of having a powerful camaro)- I'm sure I'm not alone. But with that said, u probably why as to why I want to know max power with out going forged as to not destroy my bank account by building an actual full blow race car, but something that could be if my wife changes her mind about me tracking it

[Supercharged SS]

Originally Posted by Mkn95u0

This is just burning a deeper hole in my pocket in the long run, but what suspension package did u go with? Honestly I've only ever heard of eibach, but never researched what suspension would do for me or how it would affect putting the power down...

I hate to admit it, but I am really here for the neighborhood / friend bragging numbers (not to mention my elementry school dream of having a powerful camaro)- I'm sure I'm not alone. But with that said, u probably why as to why I want to know max power with out going forged as to not destroy my bank account by building an actual full blow race car, but something that could be if my wife changes her mind about me tracking it

No full blown race car here. Just a fast street car. I still have AC and everything else. Weighs in at 4217#.

I have the full Pfadt drag specific coil overs and ever other part they offer. It's being quite the chore dialing it in but once I nail it the car will fly!!


Drives great on the street as well.