put a vortech on the sho lol. there's plenty of room. just relocate the battery.
this is a common argument with our contour SVT club. everyone wants the "full 3L engine" instead of putting the SVT cams and intake manifolds on it. the power falls off above 6700 on the 3L cams.
SVT cams have been run up to 8000 rpm and won't fall off on the dyno sheet.
cams are the way to go on a small displacement v6.
take consideration to this. once your out of first gear, if you are running to redline, your rpm won't even drop below say..... (i can't remember what my sho was like) 4500 rpm? so your powerband is most critical from 4500-8000 rpm. who cares about bottom end power. it just creates wheelspin in your FWD car on launches. my .02
oh and my SHO had the following:
Shoshop Y pipe
Dynomax catback exhaust
Centerforce clutch
Aluminum flywheel
Shoshop big bore butterflies
Hand ported end tanks (to match the butterflies)
Half shafted throttle body
75mm MAF, custom 3" intake w/ K&N filter
Tokiko struts
eibach springs,
235/45/17" tires on cobra wheels.
it hooked, it went, and it was fairly fast for the mileage it had. a little boost or nitrous would have made that car really fun. cams are worth it, but they are expensive, and hard to install unless the engine is out of the car.