It just bothers me seeing so many people I know making 650+ RWHP with cheap, basically stock bottom end 5.3 turbo builds that still last and take a beating, but you'd be convinced from most Mopar resources that you'd need something like the $2100 MMX drop in forged piston/rod/6.1 crank combo just to start with.
I almost feel like there are a ton of guys in every Mopar group quick to point out how you can't make XXX power with a lot of the factory bottom end parts but you hardly see anyone trying. I mean, I'm sure there is a logical reason for that and it is probably because you don't find 5.7's in junkyards for $500 like you do with GM 5.3's. , but without a solid group of guys pushing the limits it makes me wonder how we know so much about what those limits are?
Nail on the head. There just aren't enough Mopar guys willing to take the chance and put in the work to do it, or re-do it when it breaks for that matter. It takes a bit more money to get in the door with a hemi than it does an LS, and most guys would rather pony up the dough for pistons and rods as "insurance" than give it a shot as is and risk doing irreparable damage. Lots of people get stuck in the mentality of chasing a number horsepower wise, and never even bring the project to fruition.
There is a guy on here with a yellow Duster and a 5.7/S475 with im pretty sure stock internals that's been in the low 6's in the 1/8th, and the aforementioned Jeep which has only pistons and has been in the mid 10's as well, so there are a few people doing it on a pretty low buck scale.
