well is it possible to gain 100 to 150 hp safely if not then i guess ill ave up for a 4th gen since thats the gen i gre up loving

 

Well a stock 4th gen is only like 180 HP and to make it faster you are going to need a new engine small or big block. The stock tranny might not be able to handle the new engine but it can be built oryou can put in a new oneto do so just like in any car. You can buy a well built 4th gen for a decent price.
I slept on a 86 with 454 big block and I had the money then, went for like 6000.
There is a lot more aftermarket choices and different routes you can go with in a 4th gen.

 

Safely depends on more than just throwing parts at it- your tune and driving style play a bigger role than anything.

100-150 whp gain is a big step and you're gonna be looking at one of these:

-turbo kit
-heavily built heads/cam NA setup
-nitrous

What you really need to think about is the transmission. You're looking at adding like 65% more power, and you can't expect the stock transmission to be overdesigned enough to handle that kinda power. I would at least consider a good input shaft and chain rebuild- I mean you're talking just under 400 whp (240whp + 150whp)- which is almost 500 crank

You're not going to get out of it any easier with a 4th gen- its going to take a ton of mods to double the horsepower of one of those engines to reach your goal- and you'll run into more of the same garbage- probably worse since the car is so much older.

 

I say turbo all the way. The benfit to the turbo istop end speed. A supercharger is nice because it is always there i.e no lag. With a v8 you don't have to worry about lag. If you do turbo you need it do it right with forged internals, upgraded fuel delivery (injectors, pump, lines), upgraded ignition (coils, wires, colder plugs), upgraded transmission and a great tune. I loved my wrx. After increasing the boost and tuning it would scream. Cruizing between vegas and california was a blast. A properly set up turbo will build speed like you wouldn't believe. That being said on my 56 ford f100 I will have a blower on it. Something sexy about a big blower on a v8 street rod.

 

I think reccomending all forged internals for a basic 400 whp turbo LSx is way overkill. The stock bottom end should be able to handle that all day long.

Not to mention- do you have any source that backs your claim about the need for new coils and wires? The 3800s run high 8s/ 9s on stock coils and wires- I don't see why the more advanced LSx COP system would be any worse.

 

No just experience with high boost motors. I witnessed quite a few destructions of chevy ls1's and lt1's at the drag strip in las vegas. Guys were running 150 shots of nitrous stock, but would end up replacing pistons, transmissions, ect. The majority of blown motors were from running lean. Lack of fuel and pop there gose the motor.I am just learning about the 3.8 motor and in this case the v8 monte. Every person that raced their ls1's and lt1's, without a motor failure, at the trackwith a power adder upgraded their ignition and fuel delivery system. These were guys who knew alot more about cars than me. Your statement prompted me to research these motors better so I can be better informed. I will try to read up more on the 3.8 and ls4 so I am talking about te same motor instead of the same family of motors. I also assumed that when someone wants to turbo or supercharge a v8 they are looking for far more than 400hp. When pushing 600-700 hp I personally would have an all forged rotating assemblie in my engine. Thats just me. I would rather have a motor way over built then risk punching a hole in the block.

 

You shouldn't run lean if you get the right parts to start with, and properly tune it. Injectors and a drop in fuel pump (not sure how big the stock LS4 pump is) should be more than enough.

I'm no LSx expert- I'm just saying that all the fastest 3800s (500-600 whp +) are running stock coils and wires because nothing else aftermarket adds power, it just makes reliability worse. I just assume since the LSx COP system is more advanced than the L67 ignition- it should be plenty.

I went with 400 whp because that is what the OP was looking for. Stock he should be in the mid 200 range, so 400 to the tires isn't trivial.

600-700 whp is totally doable witha turbo'd LS4, but it would also be dumb fwd- he wants something that is reliable, and 600 whp in a full weight street car with any tire bite is gonna shred through these fwd transmissions like crazy.

Even the hardcore L67 guys running that trans at that power level on stripped down race cars still rebuild them every season.


Also, I just don't think dumping $4-5k into a fully built bottom end is necessary for the 400 whp hes looking for.

 

I agree completely. I also would be doing my own work so upgrading to forged internals would be bonus for me since once you start adding power its hard to stop. I am learning more about these motors and becoming even more impressed. I loved my lt1 except for the optispark. I am glad gm has come along way since then.

 

hehe seems we never gonna get a agreed answer.. i just wanna be able to keep up with the next generations sports cars ill be happy if i can grab 400hp cause if i wanna go for more then down the road im planning on setting the monte aside for weekend drives and get the new camaro 22 which will be like mid 400 hp thats only reason i would get the camaro since the other 2 models i would still have more power than the new camaro so to me not worth getting it until i have enough for the camaro ss.. but ill like to ake sure i can still keep the mustangs *** since i read the new gt in like yr or 2 gonna go up to like 350ish hp i believe.... even thou i saw on horsepwer tv on spike last weekend they supercharged a mustang gt and got on the dino after the supercharger like 449hp to the rear wheels compared to the stock 300hp even thou they said they dinoed another gt earlier( not the one they decided to super i guess since they had numbers before no need to dino the newer one) even thou says 300hp on paper the dino shows like 269hp i believe was the number.. and since mines front wheel my 303 shouldnt even loose much is any... but either way if its doabel to get around 400 ill be happy heck 350 would be fine as well and in few yrs ill grab a 4th and redo it from frame up since even great condition ones dont go for much more than mid 10k unless its really low milage or whatver than like low $teens..

 

You're most likely going to lose 20% to the wheel- thats about what everyone else with the same transmission setup does (plus you've got like 18" wheels right?).

So expect about 240-242 on a dynojet unless they underrated your engine (which I doubt).