What is the lightest car I can fit a 351w into?

Kevins89notch5.0 said:

A LS1/t56 with wiring harness computer, and all front acessories can be had for about $3500. $500 on a cam, and you are at 400rwhp for 4K.

Lets hear the way you are going to build a 400rwhp dead reliable 5.0 that gets upper 20s for MPG?

You can spend 1K on a full 5.0 with tranny/harness/etc, $1000 on a used H/C/I setup, $1500 on a used blower, $500 on mass air meter and injectors. Now you are at the HP range, but you have a wet noodle for a tranny(t5). Oh, and let me know what H/C/I/blower setup gets upper teens around town and upper 20s for MPG on the interstate. Sorry, isn't going to happen.

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Oh Gawd...here we go. Another LS fan boy telling the rest of us how dumb we are for staying true to the blue oval and not worshiping GM's all might LS1. Man, were we ever wasting our time talking about this 302 conversion stuff before you entered the thread!?!

You conveniently neglected the fuel system upgrades, cooling system, exhaust and all the other miscellaneous parts that are going to nickel and dime you to death in the process of stuffing that LS between the fender wells. It's not as easy as 4-grand = 400RWHP my misinformed (and potentially delusional) friend.

Not to mention....400RWHP with just a cam? Put down the cool-aid for a second and think that statement over? Better yet, tell me where I can buy such a miraculous bump stick that puts the LS1 engine 100-120RWHP over its stock figures? I guess you neglected to mention the rest of the supporting parts list (IE bolt-ons) in your example, didn't ya? Better tack on another $2,000-$2,500 for those parts too while you’re at it.

And who cares how much power you can make with an LS1? It’s not always all about power and not all of use want to spend an arm and a leg on it either.. Especially when you consider the Miata is already a squirrelly enough ride to begin with. Most of us would just like a nice balance of power, reliability and lower cost. I can put together a dead reliable 300hp 302 and T5 combination for about 1/2 of what you quoted, with fuel/ cooling system and exhaust system that run mid-12's all day long and still knock off upper 20’s in a considerably lighter Miata. Especially when you consider I used to get 25-26mpg in my old LX and it clocked in several hundred pounds heavier by comparison? Want more power than that, sink another $1,000-$1,500 into the engine.....or better yet, strap a bottle to it and keep the gas mileage until you decide it's time to let it loose. You’ll still come in way under LS cost figures. Even if it doesn’t have quite the all out power potential.