If you are sincere about building power the 700-R4 is a great stock tranny as long as it's not abused by 800 rwhp or sommething crazy like that. With that 700-R4 tranny there are several options to prolong the life one which I just did was a Corvette servo in place of the stocker on my 4x4 S10. The servo swap makes for quicker shifts and higher pressures which eliminate slippage and wear. Plus with a shift kit it sounds cool chirpin' second! -Just a tip from my little bit of experience!