neverstop

So I'm in the market for something with 700whp and...

I know this is a tough question to ask but I am looking at a low mileage c6 with a texas speed fully forged "top of the line" 402 ls2 (has 12k miles on it) and then a vortech setup with Methanol injection setup. has cnc ported ls2 heads, custom blower cam, FAST intake, RPM built stage 5 transmission, stage5 RPM differential, brand new twin disc clutch, etc.

The whole setup was professionally tuned by a top shop who took their time and it makes ~700whp. Seems like a setup that should be able to make 1000whp so not stressing it too bad?

It won't be my daily driver at all and I would only put maybe 4-6k miles on it MAX per year but I don't want to buy something that could be a constant project.

How long can a setup like this last with normal, aggressive street driving if owned by someone who rips it to redline from time to time but isn't an idiot? Is it possible for a setup like this to go 20k miles with just good maintenance and maybe a set of valve springs?

Jeffro_510

In my experience, I won't ever buy something that is already built ever again. Unless it is one of your great friends, and you know exactly how it was broken in, maintenance, how it was driven or beat on ect.

I bought a modded car 2 years ago, it was supposed to be well taken care of and had parts on it that were not even on it. At this point, I have replaced the RPM stage 5 diff, The heads, then the motor, then the supercharger. Also replaced starter, alternator, and battery (minor compared to the important stuff)

I have put about $15k back into car that was "ready to go", I am just finally finishing it up right now, and set to tune it soon.

I think anything can be reliable if properly taken care of, but everything breaks eventually.

Storx

I have a good friend of mine that bought a c5 corvette that was so called built by big name shop from this forum.. not saying any names.. that made mid 600's with turbo setup.. not supercharged and 3 months after he bought the car.. the rear-end went out.. then the driver side turbo went out.. and then almost a year later the passenger turbo went out.. turned out that the turbo's where not genuine garret turbo's that were installed by so called big name shop.. so both turbo's were recommended replaced and not rebuilt by reputable turbo repair shop.. with turbo's not being bought from the same shop...

Honestly if you want something that makes 700 hp and not going to drive it much each year.. buy a high mile car with good interior and build it yourself.. so you know whats all new and done to the car.. i have never really knew many people in my life that were willing to sell a perfectly well running built car.. typically people let go of cars that highly modified cause they are tired of working on it for some specific reason..

neverstop

wow....that is not the feedback I expected but is awesome, honest insight. thanks guys.

this guy is asking a price that is NOT cheap for his car, which is fine if it's all freshly built and going to last a few years without hassle but if I pay this much for a 2005 ls2 vette and have to constantly replace stuff that is already done then I would be beyond upset and considering possible recourse.

I'd prefer to buy a car that is already done to save time and money but I really really don't want to buy something that is going to need constant work and hassle, I'm just too busy with work to mess with it.


anyone in here driving something with >650whp that they've put 20k miles on that hasn't required constant work?

MARSC6

I wouldn't touch a modified car unless it was a good price and I knew the owner very well.

Stock cars can break before 20k miles. There is no guarantee anything will hold up.

ATLS2

The more I think about it, the more I realize that 650 is enough hp. Lol

high9s

I bought my 05 already built, I was handed $32,000 in parts receipts (not labor just parts) My car now has almost 50k miles making 640 rwhp on a stock bottom end. I can't (won't) drive a stock car, never have , never will.

If you build it yourself, (I used to do that) I don't have the time anymore. You NEVER get your money back, you have to enjoy the process of building it yourself.

I like to let someone else spend the money and take the hit, and then take it off their hands for a good price. Look at the posts above, not many people want to buy a modded car, it could be a crap shoot. It shrinks the prospective buyers pool quite a bit.

I know where my car came from, and who built it. The parts alone in my car are worth more than its blue book value, and someone else paid for it. Its not for everyone, but my car can do anything a stocker can do, from groceries to traffic without a hiccup. It is capable of 25mpg, and can still break traction in three gears. Do your homework and go with your gut feeling.

MARSC6

Thats crazy talk

croatbob

I wudnt touch a car with a Texas speed engine period.

neverstop

thanks guys.

I think maybe I should rephrase my question: is there anyone out here with a 650whp+ car that they feel is "reliable"?

if so, how many miles since build, basic setup, etc

would be much appreciated. just wondering if a c6 can even be built into a "reliable" 700whp.... if not then tempting to (gasp) go with a turbo supra or gt500 something different entirely.

Dealripper

My car is a daily driver it was built and tuned by ECS. I am currently at 867.5 RWHP and drive my car daily. I have no problems taking it on long trips. Jacksonville Fl, last year and this week to Little Rock Ar. I have over 15,000 miles on a built engine. With the proper components and a excellent tune you should not have any worries. Of course with any car if you run it hard enough there will wear and tear. You can check my setup in my sig.

Jeffro_510

I bought my 05 for $32k as well. Also got a folder full of reciepts. ECS built forged motor, ported polished 243s, RPM stage 3 differential.
2 months of owning it, the differential blew under normal driving conditions
A year later a freeze plug popped out of the passenger head. Turns out the heads were swapped out before i bought the car and heads were NOT torqued down properly to ARP head stud recommended torque. Must have been lifting the heads for awhile because the cylinder walls looked like crap and I ended up building a new block.
Motor had less than 10k miles on it when i got it.

So just because you get a folder of receipts, doesnt mean you are getting whats on those receipts, or that someone didnt do some parts swapping before you got it.

Now my car is all brand new, only 3 of us have touched anything on it. I know whats there, i know everything is torqued properly, i know the mileage, i know things are broken in properly, i know the maintenance thats been done.

BUILT>bought

neverstop

great insight guys, much appreciated. and that is outright amazing that you have 15k miles on a 850whp motor too, I can't imagine daily driving something like that but that's really awesome!

neverstop

this is really impressive high9's! how many total miles have you put on it at that power level? how many miles did the car have when you bought it? considering that is typically considered near the ragged edge of an ls2 I think that is bad ***.

high9s

I bought it with 30k miles on it, and put another 20k miles in less than 2 years. The car has been making this power for 30k miles. It is a mild tune, 93 pump no meth. Jeffro I hate those horror stories, I knew who built this car, how it was driven and where it has been.

My days of huge power are over, I used to say if it ain't broke fix it till it is. I learned no matter how fast a car is...you will eventually get used to it and then NEED to make it faster. Eventually (my last car) I was running C-16 with meth getting 4mpg. The trick is (for me) make it fast enough to be fun and low maintenance

The bottom end will eventually fail, and I will put a forged shortblock back in, go through the heads and for less than a year of car payments be good to go for a long time. My Clutch, rear, and trans are all good for way more power than this car makes, or ever will make.

I am not knocking guys making big power, if I came across that way. I just did it too long. I still love seeing and reading about what the limits are now, its impressive for sure.

Jeffro_510

Yea my story does suck. Im over it though. Just about finished with my car and ready to get it tuned.

Storx

Moral of the story is that you can have a Corvette reliable for 4k miles a year for a long time if properly built and taken care of correctly.. I have a compound turbo VW TDI that i drive daily as my current car tell i find another vette to replace my old C6 i no longer have and i have over 60K miles on the engine since I built it.. it puts out nearly 3 times the power of the original output and has been dead reliable..
Another example is a good friend of mine in the VW scene.. he has an VW MK1 Rabbit that he has had since a teenager that pretty much has been his dream car over the last 15 years and refuses to give it up over something newer for a daily.. he owns a performance shop and drives it daily to work and back home with no issues... the engine that is in it made 89hp back in 1983 and now makes over 1000hp to ALL WHEELS and has been reliable at these powers for the past 2 years.. he runs it around 450hp for daily driving to and from work.. his is the silverish blue car

Streetk14

A 700 rwhp car can be reliable, and you can find a well built one for sale if you're lucky. The key to my cars being very reliable has been doing my own labor, choosing the right parts (OEM when possible), and using moderation when it comes to power output. Taking good care of the car (maintenance, proper warm-up, etc.) and keeping an eye on things (AFR, etc.) probably helps too.

I sold my supercharged '08 last year, and the new owner hasn't had any problems that I'm aware of. Car made a little less than 710 rwhp on my local dyno, and closer to 740 rwhp when the new owner ran it at an other shop across the country. Stock bottom end LS3 with a cam and meth injection. Car was built and tuned by me.

When I owned it, I would drive it 200+ miles each way to 1/2 mile airstrip events, run a bunch of ~165 mph passes, then drive it home. Think I did that 4 times with that car with ZERO issues.

The only time the car ever left me stranded was when the stock transmission output shaft sheared off inside the diff. I had Rockland Standard build me a 30-spline trans (wanted ZR1 overdrives), and found a low-mileage C6Z diff for it. Also threw in a ZR1 clutch while it was apart. Other than melting a set of cats, that was the only failure the car ever had.

Maybe I'm just an exception, but it can be done. The problem with trying to buy a used car like this is that it can be hard to tell if things have been done right, and how the car has been treated. A car being built "professionally" doesn't mean much. I wouldn't buy somebody else's project, but I've found my standards tend to be a little different than most.

After hearing some horror stories, I hope that gives you the flip side of how things can go.

usmcpony

I bought my car with 780hp and 2000 miles cheaper than I would of bought the same car/color if it was stock. I have the build sheet and all receipts. The car cost $120,000 to build and I bought it for just over half that. This is the sickest car I've ever seen and I couldn't be happier. My car has ran 9.43 1/4 and is stupid fast on the street. If the car comes with receipts and the mods have low miles. I'd do it in a heart beat.

5 Liter Eater

I sure miss how reliable my car was at ~700ish with my old ECS kit.