How much power could a 700R4 with a transgo shift kit handle?

How much would it cost for it to handle say.....625-650 HP?

 

I bought an Art Carr 700r4 that they claimed could "easily" handle 600 h/p. Hahahahahahaaha, was I a dummie. $2500 piece of junk laying on my garage floor right now. It lasted all of 5000 miles. I know there are some tranny shops that claim they can build you a 700r4 that can handle 600 h/p. Fine. Give one of them a try. Let me offer another suggestion tho. What about switching to a 4L80E (heavy duty 4 speed auto trans that needs some extra computer to run the thing because it is electronically controlled) or a TH400 (3 speed auto unit, been around since 1965 and very strong) with a www.gearvendors.com overdrive unit mounted to the tailshaft? That's the setup I'm in the process of putting in my car. By using the gear vendors unit you can split any gear. That means I will have 6 combinations. It is very expensive. I'm looking at about $4000 in parts alone. I can do all the labor so that's free for me. An F-body would be slightly less because you don't need the same bracketry for the torque arm that a Vette has. Most tranny guys will tell you that a th400 is much stronger than a 700r4, both being built up as strong as possible that is. And if you do manage to destroy a th400 it costs less to rebuild. Yes, there are going to be posts now about how much more h/p it takes to run a th400 than a 700r4. And how much lighter a 700r4 is. I don't want to argue about it. I know I got great mileage on my 700r4 both times I had to trailer my car home. And I sure am glad it was so light to trailer with that 700r4, hahahahaaaha. So, I just thought I would give you my opinion which may be worthless to many but I have learned the hard way about 700r4's. Sit back and watch all the responses from people that have had built 700r4's last for them and make your own decisions. Good Luck.

 

What about a manual?
Would a T-56 be a better tans to install?
Seeing as that the Z06 and many other higher cars don't offer automatics I'm assuming they can handle more power.
Theres also less powerloss through the powertain with them.
It would be a pain to convert, but could be worth it.

 

I wouldn't advise spending an absurd amount of money on your 700R4 to try and make it last. If you have a mechanic friend with a good set of tools or the ability yourself, build your own. I spent $350 on rebuild and upgrade parts for mine, rebuilt it myself and it holds up fine to my 383. I would say it is pushing 450 ft./lbs. torque, maybe 400 horse. For about $500 you can buy every one of parts that the high dollar trannies have and install them yourself. If you are running a smallblock that is naturally aspirated then you will have no problems. Talk to Pro-Built, he is the expert around here.