1968 '340' Barracuda vs 1968 '383' Road Runner
I have watched this thread with great amusement, as the title of the link is really nothing but argumentative. Chrysler never designed the Road Runner to race and compete with the A body 340 "baby hemi cars" . They never Intended to see the road runner dominate NHRA. They didn't even care if the car lost to chevy and ford and any other brand for that matter. But Chrysler won in the end.
The car 's popularity today shows MA Mopar won.. It doesn't matter that the car had flaws. Today people remember that car, and want to own one. It is obvious, 45,00 or so compared to 5,000 or so Cuda 340's and 383's? I rode in these cars new, had friends that had them. I was in the Military by 1970. Today those same guys want that car. Why is that? not because they were longer, harder to launch, and heavier. It was because their favorite Brunette sat next to them, their favorite buddy was "shotgun screaming, and his other buddy was in the back seat with the blonde. I can say for sure, five people in a Road Runner will blow the doors off any 340 dart with five people in the car. That is reality, and dominating NHRA was never the goals of the builders of that car. You could blast across country, haul all of your stuff, still go fast, and had a reliable car. So I submit the purpose of the post is to denigrate a 383 powered car.
That engine was the number one choice engine for police departments across the country then for a reason. And it is all Bull that a 383 was down rated to 305. a bunch of poop. I read a direct connection article in 1987 testing several 383 and 340 engines the way Chrysler did, and the 340 was actually on the dyno at near 330 HP, and the 383 at,,,,,,,,,,,,330-340. I like them all, and can say that my opinions are based on the fact that I own and drive 2 67' GTX's, a 68 383 four barrel Charger, 69' 340 GTS, a 69' 383 Cuda, and a 69' coronet 383 HP. There is also a 68' GTX waiting restoration, and the big brother of the Road runner shares the same nostalgic feeling. I have owned them for 30 plus years, and know their strengths and weaknesses as well. So, There is no real point to the post, but to cause pointless argument.
If anyone here ever rode the old 71-76 model 750 Honda four, Testers said: "it did nothing outstanding, but everything well". That was and is a 68-70 Road runner.