The stock Starion motor has a horrible down pipe / converter assembly. Swapping in a good down pipe and using larger inter-cooler piping and 14 PSI of boost is about all you need on the 2.6 motor to generate some really good power. More can be done but, those changes have great bang for the dollar.

They tend to generate low end power a lot better than HP at RPM. 290 ft lbs modded is not unusual. Stock for the 88 motor is 210 ft lbs / 197 hp .

The turbo works well but is not for everyone. Fabrication wise its an easy swap but your going to need to build an engine. Hard to find a good used on in a yard. The turbo piping and inter-cooler tend to make for a crowed engine compartment.

The main point I was making is the rear diff seem plenty strong.

The Magnum V6 sound like a decent motor. I'm assuming your going for an auto?

The reason I mentioned the mits V6 as an option was to see how much HP you would get over a factory setup for your efforts.

Some of the lower power V6's IMHO don't seem worth the effort.