silkey

i believe the reason the small blocks are taking over compared to the strokers is,small blocks have found out the old tried and true rpm and low gears formula.when you are reving 7500 with a 4.50 gear or so,if done right,you just have to cover the quarter mile in quick fashion.

BOWTIE

Well my $.02 on this is that you not only have to make the HP, but put it to the track as well. A boosted smaller displacement motor will not hit as hard right off the line, but still make about the max HP most of the stock type chassis can handle. Even a well built chassis would have a hard time hooking up a FI big motor without a huge tire. In addition a lot of the serious motors are built to run in certain classes which either limit the tire size, motor size, or impose weight penalties for larger displacement. One last point to make is that until now, the largest cast iron block we have had at our disposal was the 6.0 liter, and the cast iron block has become the FI favorite so that would limit displacement somewhat.

Jpr5690

iTrader: (13)

The 408 Still Seems To Be The Fav. For Fi Budget Motors While The 402 Is Gonna Be The Fav For A Budget H\c +n20 Build

Because Of Their Popularity More Has Been Done As Far As Aftermarket Research And Variety Of Parts

That Being Said, Bigger Is Still Better There Just Comes A Point Of Really Quick Diminishing Returns For Your Dollar

camarokid94

iTrader: (2)

for the money you will get way more power and performance with the biggest CI you can buy.

go big on displacement and moderate on cam and you will love the combo

transamfreak01

iTrader: (8)

yeah this winter i was actually thinking about going with a 408 w/ a turbo set up... i had the idea of going with a 370 but i thought i would take more cubes on my side... theres one part i have been leaving out though, i want to put this 408 into a mustang to do something different and plus it will be a lot lighter. sorry guys fbodys over mustangs any day but thought maybe id try and build something different than most when im done with my ws6.

CaseyEaterMach1

Do the smart thing, spend your money on Big Cubes with forged internals and just keep the compression low around 9 or even a little lower. This way you'll still make the power of a smaller displacment engine (N/A) with higher compression but also will have the option in the future of adding FI without breaking the engine open. Because everyone wants more power in the long run.

Gordon0652

iTrader: (4)

Agreeded! 4.5" stroke w/ a 4.125" bore or even better 4.185" bore! thats like a 49x ci!!!!!!

LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

Long stroke + small bore? Umm, NO.

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

I think the first part of your project should be as follows.

A) Read up and learn all you can. This board is a great place to do that. Check out what the racers run, that get the ET you want. Think about those set ups as they are proven. Go to your local track.

B) Figure out how much you can afford to spend on your project.

C) Plan to work within the budget you have for yor project.

D) Have some extra money so if something goes wrong you can cover it that isn't part of the project budget.

E) Plan out the project and work with people that know what they are doing that have a proven track record.

Some folks over look D and get themselves in a mess. When I did H&C on my car, I bought an LS6 intake from an individual. Turned out it was an LS1 intake w/o EGR. The guys doing the install caught the problem before starting the project. I had to go buy a real LS6 intake. Even if you plan well, issues can come up so have a little extra for when they do.

Big vs Small doesn't matter if the budget is bolt on's and NOS.

Good Luck with your projects.

MARKSZ71

iTrader: (3)

a well built small cube motor is tough to beat for the money,its takes a lot of drivetrain to handle big cubic inches.

camarokid94

iTrader: (2)

man is that true. im gettin tired of this ol500rwhp car. i am lookin into swapin heads to get my CR down to 9.7ish so i can do a BIG *** PROCHARGER in hopes for soe 800rwhp hehe. there in no such thing as to much power!!!

5ltrBetr

iTrader: (3)

I agree with you that there's not a lot of posted good times with the bigger bore motors. That's interesting. Do you think that it's just that most of the people building them are doing so on a low budget, and end up cutting corners?

I know they SHOULD be a lot more fun to drive, regardless of track times. But how fun is a fun car when your 402 gets smoked by a 346, right?"

Sorry, had to jump in after reading this. I want to know who's 346 can smoke my 408 on motor at a similar price. If you exist, please speak up! Physics are physics. If there are more cubic inches to work with, there is more potential for power. A 346 can be very stout, but its shorter stroke and smaller displacement simply means less torque. I don't care much for HP, torque wins races, HP impresses chics. Wait a minute... maybe I do care a little.

Anyway, there is a reason pro stock cars run 600+ci motors, they need the torque because they are not allowed to have power adders. Someone with more than 500RWTQ on all motor, in a 346, please speak up. If not, point proven. If so, I'll get flamed out and all that good stuf

transamfreak01

iTrader: (8)

agree with above. there is no replacement for displacement. big cubes all the way. but hey 5ltrbetr whats you 408 running b/c i bet there are a few people here that can out run your 408

LS1rulz

iTrader: (1)

Theory is NOT superior to reality. So look at the results. I agree it must be a tuning issue or something else that is keeping the bigger bores from dominating. Something is happening. Oh and if HP doesn't matter and torque does, why don't stock diesel trucks outrun stock F-bodies? That's right, because you need the HORSEPOWER to keep pulling. Torque at RPMs is the ticket.

NHRAMAN

iTrader: (1)

Riding Out......Rolling Out.......Up, Up, and AWAY.........

NemesisC5

Boosted de-stroked LS7 @ 8k

DONAIMIAN

iTrader: (18)

The motor that I wanted to go with is a 398 all bore. Solid roller with a sheet metal intake.....I like RPM. But after seeing 5500 on the short block using budget parts Ill wait till I finish college. So for now its looking like a 346SR.

Beaflag VonRathburg

iTrader: (176)

That pretty much sums it up.

ERL superdeck. SAM built one with some LS7 heads that made ridiculous power.

Uhhh Yes. Ever read about the engine master's challenge? Long stroke small bore engines pretty much dominate that competition.

MMMmmm Solid roller 346! That's what I'm going to be putting in my car too when the new engine goes in.

5ltrBetr

iTrader: (3)

transamfreak01:

Yea, I am sure there are a few, but I would venture to guess very few. I am making 459rwhp/461rwtq with a baby cam and stock 241 heads. Let's say you had a 346 that made 502/392. It won't beat the 408, the torque is too far off and as we know, it's the torque that wins races. A simple cam/head change and I'd be over 500/500 on motor alone. Of course that costs $$$. The 408 has the mechanical advantage of the longer stroke (leverage in this case), hence the greater low-end torque. If I get beat, I'll just spray it with a 300 shot and call it a day.

Patrick G

iTrader: (14)

Actually, hp is the measure of work, not torque. If the 502 rwhp 346 was geared correctly, it would walk away from your 459 rwhp 408 (assuming comparable weight). If you had 3.73 gears and the 346 had 4.56 gears, the 346 would have a 22% torque boost to the wheels from the gearing advantage making the 392 torque closer to 479 (392tq x 122%). I will agree with you though that larger cubes make getting the hp easier to achieve, but hp is hp. Remember, gearing is called torque multiplication for a reason.