I own an LS2 05 GTO street car since new, It's a great engine, it's not a chevy engine, but a combination of every divisional engine best ideas. That is the first point that many have wrong.
The LS engines are a true corporate engine same as dodge, plymouth and chrysler used to have separate divisional engines. Ford, lincoln, and mercury used to have divisional engines, but both companies came under one corporate design decades ago. GM held out with separate divisional engine much longer than either of their competitors
I have always used Pontiac Stratostreak engines in all my race cars, even though sbc engines are cheaper to build, and they were legal I always chose the Pontiac Stratostreak as powerplant for all my race cars.
Big Chief still runs a boosted Pontiac Stratostreak with E heads and regularly takes down many of his competitors on the street Outlaw shows. I guess if you need more than 3000 HP you should be looking at Proline specialized race engines. Many of the chevy bodied cars on Street Outlaws run hemi engines, not SBC, BBC, or LS engines, so no matter what you have under your hood, there's something better out there.
My own personal preference is if a Pontiac came with a Stratostreak engine, you'll garner more appreciation from the average car guy that actually knows something about vintage musclecars, rather than become one of the "me too" people that put a SBC, or an LS engine in everything with 4 wheels on it. Yes it's cheaper, and probably easier to pull power out of one of them, but the self satisfaction of shutting someone up that brags up there SBC, BBC, hemi, or LS powered hot rod by dusting them with a Pontiac, as the commercial says, "PRICELESS"!!!
When Mike and Eric were running the Boss Bird Nitro Funny car they were beating hemi powered cars regularly when they ran in nostalgia events, and match races. That is satisfaction when they were told numerous times they'd never be successful with a Stratostreak Pontiac nitro engine between the frame rails of their car.
It all comes down to fortitude, some people follow their dreams to the end, while others compromise their dreams, and do what is easiest.
