[eschaider]

The metric that moves these cars and makes them fun to drive is torque. Unless the engine is supercharged the 302 displacement is going to be a little light in the seat of the pants dyno space. This usually results in a new and larger engine or a new car purchase.

That said, it is worth noting that the all conquering Cobra legend was created with 289 inch engines. It is also worth noting that, that was then and this is now.

With the availability of aftermarket everything for the Windsor platform there is no reason you can not produce a very frisky 427 (or larger) Windsor engine for your car at essentially a push price wise. Visually they can be indistinguishable however the moment you let out the clutch on the big inch version you have an extremely different experience.

The old TransAm legends and performances were great on the track but not so much on the street. The large port heads ran like crazy upstairs and were not as well suited to the proletariat style of driving that non track days enforce on us.

In the end this is your call exclusively. That said you did solicit opinions. I suspect others will also encourage you to explore a larger displacement alternative before this thread is over.