[Berg]

If you don't beat on it and you get a decent rebuilt unit that is beefed up by a tranny guy who knows what he is doing, the 2004R can hold some power. I second that. I have seen them in friends cars hold up to a lot of abuse. I do believe the 700R4 does have a lower first gear and building that trans up wouldn't hurt either. I had a pretty tough 700R4 living behind nitrous and a built 355sbc turning 1 ton axles with 38's in mud. I stepped down to 35"s and 4.10 gears and the truck was great on the road, I got about 14 mpg and for what it was that was as good as it was going to get. I bet in an aerodynamic car that is about 3000 lbs lighter you'd still get great performance and economy. The truck even took off from a dead stop better than it did when it had the TH400. If you have a console shifter there are modification kits to use the original shifter with the OD trans.