[chiph]

There will be torque multiplication by the transmission in 1st through 2nd so it won't be as much of a dog as you think. Race car, no. But it'll hold it's own in modern traffic unlike a lot of older cars.

Out of curiosity I looked up the ratios for the mentioned 4L60 transmission: 1st is 3.059:1, 2nd is 1.625:1, 3rd is direct drive at 1.00:1 and 4th is overdrive at 0.696:1. Then you'll have the ratio in your rear differential, whatever that happens to be.

My high school car was a 1975 Impala with the 350 cubic inch small block V8. Because of the Malaise Era emissions laws, it only produced 145hp but still had decent torque at 250ft·lb. It had a huge amount of space under the hood so perhaps this could fit both the motor and battery in there? (F/R weight balance being ignored)

Your point about people comparing this against the LS crate motor is correct IMO. This will be an expensive low-volume kit until (if!) economies of scale kick in. Only bought by people who want something different to show off to their friends at the weekend car shows.

[SoftTalker]

> hold it's own in modern traffic

A 90HP Volkswagen will do that. Nobody needs 200HP to keep up with traffic.

[bluGill]

The people who drive performance cars do. I never had a problem in my old Geo metro making 50hp - except when following a corvette - they always waiting until the end to accelerate and I needed the whole ramp to get up to speed. It works for them because they had enough power for that trick.

[cucumber3732842]

People get worse at merging when they have more power on tap. Saw it in my own household.

[cucumber3732842]

50hp per ~1000lb is just about the minimmum it if you want to hold highway speed on inclines