smallblock intake shootout

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A good read. I would like to see several levels of engine with a constant intake swap going on. To bad I'm broke. I'd love to do this myself.
(Note to self; Don't forget to play lotto stupid!)
 
Yes, thanks for the link. I have always wondered how my "antique" sixpack setup would stack up against more modern intakes. This article saves me the trouble of testing.
 
Results show the Airgap is the "best"..but i wish they would have tested an LD340 against it..:-D
 
I have all the respect in the world for Steve Dulcich, Mopar Muscle is the only mag. I'm subscribed to and the article is very informative. But one thing bothers me about dyno tests like this and it's emphasized by this quote from the article: "went through all of the manifold testing without having to touch the carb except to swap it from each manifold."

The carb used was shown to be jetted correctly, but it was so on the manifold it was originally tested on. There is no way jetting will be "optimum" for each of the variety of intakes tested (...not counting the 6 Pack.) I ran a Weiand Stealth (dual plane) for a while and there was an obvious imbalance in jetting based on plug color of a square-jetted carb. I forget at the moment which was which, but the lower plenum plugs were obviously colored differently than the plugs in the cylinders fed by the upper plenum. I jetted 2-3 #'s different on one side to even things out and the car picked up about .05! (Same day, track and conditions.) I did end up going back to a Strip Dominator (single plane) with a square-jetted carb because it seemed to be a bit faster for my particular combo. ("Your results may vary") :p

I still think the article is very helpful and gives a pretty good comparison between intakes, especially the "curves" and "peaks". Optimizing jetting for each probably wouldn't make a "big" difference. But as close as some of them were, it could have shuffled the numbers differently. This is especially true when you figure in milder and wilder combinations than the engine tested. I'm just saying that one should learn from comparisons like this but factor in their own, personal combo variables. "Think outside the box." But I always look forward to such articles because it's something I don't have the ability to do either.

I also would have liked to have seen intakes like the Edelbrock LD340, Weiand Stealth and Offenhauser Port-O-Sonic tested.


lol Spent so much time composing my reply that I didn't see the post by 1wild&crazyguy. But those are some of the questions to ask. In some cases one can figure out which direction to go anyway - then try to jet/test as best as you can..
 
Ya ya ya, What Loco said. I love the disclaimer! "for my particular combo. ("Your results may vary") " Is so excellent. And crazy true.

I also noted the missing intakes. I would had loved to see the LD-340, Port-o-sonic and a few others just for kickers. Of course, I know dyno day is lot-o-money.

(Note to sell, play lotto twice as much as the first reminder above!)
 
interesting article but i honestly think that the strip dominator even if it made some good power for what it is realy dont belong on such a mild engine even if its not the best anymore its still very missplaced on something that mild, i would love to see this kind of shoutout on something making max power at say 7-7500rpms maybe even higher but thats where i feel valvetrainstability will start to be more of an isue considering our smallblock @£$$£'#£@ lifterangel and even a test including tunnelrams on this kind of engine would be very intresting to see. just my opinion and feelings
 
duster 340,

The down side of extensive tests like the Mopar Muscle intake dyno tests are time, money and availability/popularity of some intakes. Somebody has to pay for it and magazines have deadlines to meet. It's not an easy job.

As for the Holley Strip Dominator, the test engine was was not exactly "mild" and was more modified than what I run. As an example, I have 360 with unported 587 heads, 1.88"/1.60" valves and a .474" lift hydraulic cam! I also have flattops with around 10-1 compression but this is all in a car that weighs 3,540lbs +! I tried the Weiand Stealth after running the Holley for several years because I wanted to see if that dual plane would help because of all the weight and limited mods. As it turned out, after tuning on the carb for both as best as I could, the Holley was just a little bit better than the Weiand for my application. I shift around 66-67 and go through at about the same rpm. But what may have helped the single plane was that I have a cam with lots of duration, 2.71 low gear, 4.86 gears with 30" tall tires and a converter that "flashes" over 5,000 rpm! My theory is that because my engine doesn't operate below 5,000 rpm for very long, the benefits of the lower operating range and torque of the dual plane is basically skipped over.

If someone has less gear ratio, converter, weight, etc., than a dual plane would probably be better, especially after fine-tuning. Same would apply to the test engine. The time an engine will spend in a specific rpm range will help determine which intake with the respective low to mid rpm numbers posted will work better. Not the peak numbers. That why I said that there are more things to consider, not just the jet changes, squirters, etc. Single plane intakes tend to have a bigger plenum so the vacuum signal to the carb may not be as strong. Tune carb to compensate. Just like a dual plane can have a slight difference from side-to-side because of the plenum depth and volume from side to side. Although some newer designs may incorporate changes to help equal the sides out. I don't know, I'm not an engineer.

As the article showed, it's hard to go wrong with a well designed dual plane intake. It's always safer to lean on the conservative side. But it would have been interesting to see how the dyno numbers would be with more fine tuning as well as track numbers if the engine was put in a car. But, again, it all takes a lot of time and money. So you have to learn as much as you can and fill in the blanks for your combo. "Think outside the box!"
 
i agree with you locomotion and i understand how it takes alot of time and money for all these test, im not putting any motor down that makes power way past 6000rpm as mild just thought the stripdominator was alitle missplaced there,im alitle biased for stupid power ranges since i have been playing with high rpm 340 for some years and even if my combination of parts may not be anywhere close to optimum for anything i just like having an engine being alitle on the radical side!
your stocker is very impressive!
 
Going on what Locomotion was saying;

Alot of guys will come here on the net looking for a big HP numbered engine to install in the car and run like the eind. It's a sorry site to see alot of these questions come up from rookies to the engine building game. They want to install a 400 hp 318 in there A body and get upset when they run a low 14 or high 13.

Balance in the build is everything and when your on the street, you may have to live without some of the nice things the car came with in order to run the number.

Loco's car weight is hefty for a little engine and only runs as fast as it does due to the mods he put into the car.
This could be copied to a degree for the street, but how many want to run the street with 4.86's, 5000 flash stall, single plane etc...and back it up with a 318?
 
rumblefish360 said:
Going on what Locomotion was saying;

Alot of guys will come here on the net looking for a big HP numbered engine to install in the car and run like the eind. It's a sorry site to see alot of these questions come up from rookies to the engine building game. They want to install a 400 hp 318 in there A body and get upset when they run a low 14 or high 13.

Balance in the build is everything and when your on the street, you may have to live without some of the nice things the car came with in order to run the number.

Loco's car weight is hefty for a little engine and only runs as fast as it does due to the mods he put into the car.
This could be copied to a degree for the street, but how many want to run the street with 4.86's, 5000 flash stall, single plane etc...and back it up with a 318?
Click to expand...

you are absolutely right about what your saying, but i have had a feeling for some time that a "calculated" missmatch can be usefull trying to hook up a very powerfull car on the street, like having alitle high gears or alitle to litle converter just to take alitle of the bite out of it from a standstill (im not promoting streetracing, just looking at it from that aspect) since i know how hard it can be to hook up a serius smallblock on the street having some fun from a standstill.. about trying to street something like locomotions car, i would try it in a heartbeat without thinking twice,but im very used to living with something that is alitle rough to drive and dont mind the sacrifices it takes to go fast, unfortionaly a real fast "stock" typ car will have trouble hooking up on the street since i feel they are realy built to take advantage of every bit of traction a real track has, correct me if im wrong :)
 
duster340,

I see your point. I think that's what they do in the "stock appearing" classes because they have to use OEM sized tires. But they do put down some pretty impressive ET's with an above average MPH.

I prefer to race at national and divisional events for a variety of reasons. But one is the fact that some local ET tracks don't prep to the same level and it can be difficult to hook consistently on 9" slicks.
 
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