I doubt the Ecotec could put out 600hp all day long with no problems unless you threw the kitchen sink at it.
Like I said before, in the Falcodore stables the Barra actually goes up against the LS on a power (without it being a grenade) basis and a second hand LS will set you back about $3000 before you even put a spanner on it whereas the N/A Barra can be had for a few hundred bucks so you can spend about $2000-$2500 upgrading the motor before you even get up to the cost of a second hand LS engine.
Put some mods on the second hand LS engine and add a turbo and your easily up over $5000-$6000 to get the same power out of it as a hypothetically rebuilt Barra turbo. The mods cost is most likely the same or slightly cheaper for the Barra but the big difference is in the base cost of the engine.
When I bought my SSV I thought I would just go buy myself a clapped out old LS motor to rebuild myself so I can have something to tinker around with. Needless to say that plan got scrapped really fast when I saw how much people want for second hand LS motors. It would nearly be cheaper to buy an LS motor from the states and get it shipped over here as you can get LS engines for SFA in the states compared to here.
We're really way off topic, however I think your post actually proves to me why the Barra isn't a good choice to swap into something like a VE/VF.
The reason why the LS motors are expensive is because they are popular. So then you have to ask the question why are they popular?
In my experience something that's cheap up front is expensive down the back. Most often you're better off to pay up front and enjoy something that works well rather than saving a few bucks and having other expenses down the track.
Sure a Barra may well produce 600 ponies all day long. I don't know whether it does or doesn't do that and I not getting into the debate about how much work/money it takes to get that sort of horsepower. No matter the cost of the Barra you still have to do the engineering to fit it into the VE/VF and add all the electrickery stuff to make it run. One will get you a hundred that putting an expensive LS into a VE/VF is still way cheaper/easier in the long term than doing a Barra conversion. That's why the LS is popular.
Perhaps there's a business opportunity for someone to bulk import a bunch of LS engines from the states. From what you're saying there's some money to be made.
