brmiddle

New member here, picking up a ~110k mile 2000 WS6 manual next week. Car has long tubes, full exhaust with GMMG chambered exhaust, 3:73 gear, LS7 clutch and 80mm TB. It's tuned now and makes 365 whp.
Got a couple of ballpark quotes for H/C/I installed vs built 6.2 installed. The price of the 6.2 installed is roughly 2x as much as the top end package, both include everything down to the tuning. I don't mind spending the money on the 6.2, if it's that big of a difference.

So my question is, is it worth it for the extra power? I'm not going to do a power adder, I'm not doing this to drag race it constantly, I will make a pass or 3 to see where it's at. The car is mainly a fun car for weekends and I'm transitioning away from sport bikes and will enjoy it with the wife in the mountains. I'm not sure what the power levels will be with both and if it's worth the extra spend up front. Both choices are with local shops and not a drop in engine like a Blue Print engine or similar.

Thanks for reading and your opinions/suggestions, look forward to getting this car next week and starting down the rabbit hole...

RB04Av

I'd suggest, get the car, drive it for a bit, see how you like it. You may well find it would benefit from something else besides simply "more power". Gears come immediately to mind. Traction (LCARBs) would probably be the very first thing I'd want, to get it to hook up as much as it can. They're maybe $50 or so, plus installation.

brmiddle

Had the rear end done recently, now has 3.73 and Eaton truetrac. I'll do all of the suspension stuff regardless of engine, I can do all of that myself. I just have to depend on someone else for the engine work.

RB04Av

3.73 is just the stock gears. With the T-56 ratios, something around 2.6x in 1st, those cars benefit significantly from an upgrade.

Get the car. Drive it. You'll see.

brmiddle

I appreciate your help, it has a 3.42 gear stock, I'm specifically asking about engine combinations. I enjoy more power and will do one or the other, I'm trying to find out from the group if the juice is worth the squeeze.

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

6.2 will “feel” stronger than the HCI 5.7 just due to cubes, particularly in a canyon carver, or mountain runner. Torque out of a curve, or while pulling an incline is far more satisfying to me personally than an engine that makes more peak power. Having to find the room or space to wind the peakier engine out can be both frustrating AND dangerous. It’s tough to enjoy the 500 peak hp from the smaller engine, when you have to turn 7k rpm, or do 125mph. Torque and hence the cubes is the winner for me in a mountain/canyon car.
Add to this you’ll have a new engine that gives you a larger platform to build off of if you ever feel the need for more power with the 6.2…which you prolly will eventually…we all do.

brmiddle

That's sort of where my head is. My wallet prefers the cheaper option, but I worry about having to do it twice, if something lets go on the original engine. Thank you!

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

Where are you at BR?

brmiddle

Chattanooga

bthomas

iTrader: (1)

Your engine now is worth some coin as is too. That will offset the 6.2 swap some.

brmiddle

Hoping to do some swapping for the install labor!

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

PM sent…

Ls7colorado

iTrader: (3)

If I had the coin I'd do a 6.2 swap today, a 6.2 cam only will make similar or more power than a HCI 5.7 unless you buy top of the line stuff and spin it to 8000