Now I'm confused

you are talking about legal drag racing at the strip going against a 5th gen. But, you talk about wanting a street car.

Get some lightweight rear rims and drag radials and mount them when you get to the track.

Get the gears changed in the rear end

you're going to need to rebuild the tranny. If you can't drop and reinstall it yourself then the cost to pay to have it r+r'd and sent for a decent upgrade rebuild will be $2200- $2500 plus the cost of a new tc

then go to the engine where you need long tubes, send the heads out for porting and change the cam.

As long as the 5th gen owner hasn't added long tubes and tweaked their tune and is running street tires then you will be fine

you'll nail them on the 60 foot as long as you hook and can drive

again, we're talking stock vs mod and we NEVER EVER are discussing street racing because the life you take could well be my child's

 

How do you want to beat a 5th gen? Drag race or auto cross or bench race?

What you want to do will depend on what you need to do to your 4th gen to beat a 5th gen.

BTW - HP sounds good, but it is only guaranteed to win when bench racing. Chassis setup is at least as important as HP when racing auto cross. And your driving ability is the most important thing that many drivers overlook.

 

You don't want to DD a 500hp car.