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I haven't made it to the track yet, but all I can say is the car feels very strong. I cough"streetraced"cough an 03 GT with exhaust and who knows what else and handed him his butt. I have also beat a GTP. If I had to guess on a 1/4 time it would be somewhere in the 13's.
I went with the stock rods and new pistons (hypereutetic) after a lot of debate. The forged parts are A, very expensive, B custom so it takes a long time to get them, C don't give you any more power. Basically they can hold out longer if something is wrong with your A/F ratio. If youre never going to run N2O or get above 350-400 rwhp, I wouldn't spend the money. That is my opinion.
The heads I ported and polished myself with the kit from summitt, and got a valve job done. I also got a new cam grind and thus new pushrods/valve springs. Arp head studs, 4.2L MLS headgaskets, and total seal racing piston rings sums up what is all different.
If I were to go back and change one thing I would look into getting bigger valves on the heads, and probably ARP main studs.
For bolt ons it is MP plenum, intake stuff, double IC, raised top, 5%, most of the stuff listed in my sig. You can also check my member page.
Hope that helps
Julian