Back in the seventies when I was in my teens I used to laugh at chev and ford people because they would spend a fortune on there engines with big heads , big cam etc and all I would do was a 4 barrel and headers and beat them.
My first attempt was on my 265 Hemi six, all I dis was to put a 4 barrel and headers and it ran 14.7 on street tyres.
My next attempt was to put a 360 in it with 340 pistons for high compression with a 650 spread bore and my home made headers and it ran 13.7 on street tyres.
There was no diff changes and they were both manuals. It is all in a good match of parts and a good tune.
Yes I had minimal spend compared to the GM and Ford crowd so Yes I believed it was easier and cost effective to get a mopar going compared to the other crowd.