Most of them I have ran across were poorly equipped, as you can guess.  My point is, more or less, don't judge a book by its cover. I bet not one of them expected to get beat by a stock chassis YFZ.

I can't really compare the costs of the two builds. I bought that yfz with a blown engine. I had to buy everything anyway. Cases, cylinder, head..... It was all trashed. The only things I salvaged were all clutch and tranny related. That being said, it didn't really cost all that much to do that build. The stroker crank wasn't any higher than a stock crank. The big bore jug wasn't any more than a stock jug. I can go on, but you get my point.

The zilla on the other hand, since I do all my own engine work, was super cheap. The problem with it is pistons. At the power level it is at, I only feel comfortable putting about 10 hrs on a piston. I'm seeing .005 - .007 of collapse in the piston in that amount of time. That puts it up in the +.010 of clearance range, which is an audible knock if you are paying attention.

The way I see it, my yfz can't replace my zilla, but my zilla can't replace my yfz either. They are two complete different animals.