I love my 85 firebird v6 and its immaculate and I want to make it into a fun little daily driver. I figured I'd manual swap it and slap a little turbo pushing 5 or 6 psi. My end goal for power later down the line is under 300hp. But the main hurdle seems to be the transmission. Can it handle more than 200 hp and about 230lb ft of torque? How about 250hp? I'm not looking to make a race car or spend too much money so would I have to know if i would put a stock t5 from a v6 firebird or find another trans that can handle more than 200 hp. So how much can a stock t5 from a v6 handle? And are there upgrade parts that would work in a v6 geared t5?

 

I'd recommend a better transmission, especially if you're going to mod it. If you search, you can find plenty of answers about the T-5s. Non-WC are rated at around 265 lbft tq limit, as for WC T-5s were rated at 300, although they're pretty weak transmissions for today's standards. Also, v8 t-5 are different than v6 t-5s.

 

Even though I have blown up 2 WC T5 trans i still believe they get a bad rap from us thirdgen guys. Mine took alot of abuse and even outlasted my original 3.45 9bolt rear. Tremec even offers upgraded components and cases if you need a little more. Funny how the Fox body guys can make so much more on essentially the same trans and love them. I think a T5 in good condition will work fine behind a mild turbo V6. It mostly has to do with how there treated and how hard there pushed. Slicks will be bad for it as i learned all to well