Horsepower numbers always skew expectations but i thought the 3800/5spd 4th gen was FASTER than i expected and the 3.6/6spd 5th gen was SLOWER than i expected. They're both fairly fast by my standards. 
Horsepower numbers always skew expectations but i thought the 3800/5spd 4th gen was FASTER than i expected and the 3.6/6spd 5th gen was SLOWER than i expected. They're both fairly fast by my standards.
I like the 3.8 4th gen idea.
My 4th gen handled quite well with konis, bmr springs, adj panhard bar, ST front bar and 3rd gen rear bar. It was pretty inexpensive for the difference it made, and it actually drove better on the street with konis than with stock shocks.
plus you have the benefit of a knowledgeable group of guys that track and autox theirs at frrax.com.
and as mentioned the 3.8 has a pretty good sized aftermarket for what it is, with cams, headers, heads, bolt ons and bottom end parts all available.
Plus at this point they are pretty much throwaway cars, they are so cheap, you can get a decent one for just a couple thousand.
The 4th gens handled much better in factory form than anyone thinks, a WS6 ran the slalom faster than an e36 m3 in motortrend iirc.
late model v6 cars came with the same brakes as LS1 cars which are quite good, plus they are easily upgraded with just brackets to 12" c5 rotors.
They will come with 16s but you can pick up GM 17s from the SS/WS6 for just a few hundred dollars and fit them with 275/40/17, which has tons of great performance options for good prices and if you want to get some fatties CCW can make you some 17x11s that will fit up from and fit 315s all around. Ive heard differing information on whether the ZR1 17x11s will fit under stock body work but I have seen it done.
What im getting at is they are cheap to buy, cheap to upgrade, a good platform to start with, and cheap to run.
But in the end why go with the 6 if you go 4th gen, the LS1/T56 cars will probably still be cheaper than a V6 5thgen or mustang.
A guy in the local car club I'm in built a race car 3.8 4th gen Camaro. It does 9.70 in the 1/4 mile with a single turbo... He started with a $1000 car, and the bottom end is still stock.
One of the downsides of going fast with the 3.8 4th gen is it's probably best done with the auto if you expect reliability. Also, it's a 4th gen f body. I owned a decent one once and got rid of it pretty quickly. Many people seem to think i have low standards. It didn't meet them!
I would be much happier owning the newer cars if cost wasnt a paramount concern.
Why the auto? At close to stock power levels the t5 is fine and if you go big power t56
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