Ron --
You need to understand HORSEPOWER.... You don't have "600 Horsepower" at idle or just off idle -- or even at 1500 rpms....
The questions you're asking are just all wrong. Nobody can answer them. There are so many variables - like tire size - cam - cubic inches - rear gear...
Is the motor RADICAL - or is it a pretty tame build - that just happens to make that HP - a Twin Turbo small block can make 1000 hp and drive like a Lexus around town... a big block Pontiac will make so much low end torque (the only good part of any Pontiac motor) that you won't need HORSEPOWER - which by the way - is ONLY a mathematical equation of how much TORQUE you make and what RPMS you're turning...
So if you're big block motor is built with a .700 lift cam - with radical duration - and doesn't make ANY torque below 2500 RPMs -- you're going to have a motor that SUCKS big time for the kind of driving you're asking about... but if you build a nice big block Pontiac with 455 cubic inches and are making 400 ft lbs of TQ at 2000 rpms --- it's going to drive easy - and like a street car should. It's going to FEEL powerful - without being a beast to drive.
So if you build a drivetrain like everyone is telling you to --- a 500 hp 455 Pontiac - Tremec 5 or 6 speed OVERDRIVE - 3:70ish rear gears.... 18" 40 series or 19" 35 series tires -- you're going to have a very nice combo that you'd love to drive and will be hugely powerful without issues. You want to snot it up a couple of notches and start making 700 hp - then it's still all about the CAM and where it makes it's power... and THEN you figure what gears/tranny you NEED to make that combo work.
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