Quote:
Originally posted by Jamo
grunt is good.
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Jamo Gekko...
I agree that grunt is good. I just look at the tradeoff like this:
I wanted grunt more than anything. Torque Monster was the skunkworks name for my engine when I was designing it on paper, reading books, reading build stories, etc... I said "stroke = torque" (basically) and built a motor around that.
I picked smaller than usual heads, a smallish intake manifold, a 408 stroker kit, and said "let's see how much torque we can build. The horsepower will come."
I am not sure I'd want to spin a 30 year old 2-bolt-main 351W based motor up past 6500RPM. No need because it is the "torque monster"...
But if I were to ditch the juiced lifters, open the breathing up (big intake, big heads, bigger tube headers), up the valve spring size to the next level, and put in a higher RPM cam, I think I'd probably shave a lot of bottom-end for a much bigger top-end.
I'm sure you're right: I highly doubt that the tradeoff would be that bad. I was curious, though, what people have seen out of some really hairy aluminum FE's. It'd be nice to not have to give up 150 lb-ft, but I'd imagine even IF I had to, I could still white the tires pretty easily on a 2500 lb car. 400 lb-ft (now I'm talking about from the Windsor) would still be fun. 550 is nice, though.
600+ horsepower would be a LOT of fun not to mention the sound of winding up to 7+K RPM. At that point, I wouldn't care too much about torque. It would be there. Where else would the HP come from?
But on the other hand, I'd probably never yank the rotating assembly...why not?! It's perfectly good, forged, all ready to roll. So, engine #2 it is...
Now, in a big block, I get 19 cubic inches and get to de-stroke 1/4 inch. Not to mention, new block, built tough as nails, ready for twice the horsepower I could ever handle in a Cobra.
Can you say 8000 RPM FE? Through the shorty sidepipes? Holy $hit. Webers? Do webers work that high?
My question is...has anyone done anything like this in the Cobra world? I think it would be ridiculous...in a good way.
All fun in the brain and on paper . . . as long as the checkbook is closed!
