John,
CC: Brett
I've worked with GM hardware for quite some time. One of my responsibilities at Mallett Cars, Ltd was the Supercar 427 C5R CTSV, which, puts down in the area of 1000whp - on stock hardware. No failures (engine wise). Driver wise, it went into a guard rail by an inexperianced driver.
Unfortunately, at that power level, it becomes impossible for a hobbyist (even a wealthy one, or one with very strong financial backing) to use the proper tools. As a tuner, I understand you want to be fairly compensated for your time, but the cost would have to passed on to the customer at this level.
Sadly, this is where I find myself drawing the line between a hobby, and a job. I can't say what we used to dial in the CTSV, due to an NDA and general respect for the guys at LS1edit, but it was costly. Very costly.
However, I agree with Brett on some things, the AEM unit is very versatile. Brett's run it, on seems like all of his builds, but he's proven he knows how to use it (like I need to tell anyone that).
There are certain aspects you'll never see/use as an end user (driver). Which, shouldn't matter, but call me an engineer if I didn't believe in principle.
Either way, hope everything goes well, can't wait to see some videos come spring time.