The SVO does have its "problems". First of all, the learning curve is pretty steep. To make a stock SVO run WELL, you really need to fully understand the entire turbo and engine management system. To modify it and make it faster, well, there you are almost on your own. There are no "kits" no manuals, nothing.

The biggest hurdle is a new Engine management system. The stock eec/vam setup sucks for anything beyond stock power levels. That leaves us with the choice of various universal EMS systems.

The hardware is pretty good. You can get a stock iron head to flow quite well, if you can keep it from cracking. I am going with an Esslinger Aluminum head, so I'm not going to stress that issue anymore.

The SVO is like dating a supermodel, it needs quite a bit more attention than your average sorority girl (aka, a 5.0) They are more finicky, but damn, when it runs, you get everyone's attention.
A stock SVO in excellent shape can steal the show from 100 clean 5.0's