[JayBar]

Here is my drag racing story.

I had a mild 351 that put out 326 RWHP. My rear was a 3.10 (which is the stock BMW E-36 ratio) open rear. I turned 12.3 at 116 mph oh yea I have Nitto drag radials.
I trashed that engine on the track (see my photo's). I replaced it with a Dart block 408 with a forged steel bottom end. I used the heads from my 351 which were AFR 185's, so they may be a bit small for the larger displacement. Any I dyno'd 418 RWHP. I then had a 3.73 limited slip differential assembled by a local shop.
I went back to the strip to break 12 seconds. Well I only got 3 runs in and missed a shift to third twice. But my best run was 12.3 but with a speed of 120.
So I guess the big cubes do give you give you better top speed.
But the good news is the car is a beast on the track. I run with big blocks
427's and 460 without any trouble at all. Maybe if the straights were a mile or so they would pull away but in a half to 3/4 mile straight we are running together. Of course speed out of the corners gives you a bit of an edge on the straights, thank's to the great handling of the Backdraft. BTW I run slicks sometime but mostly run Nitto drag radials on all 4 wheels. They are great RR tires you just need to aid a bit more air to compensate for the soft sidelwalls.

I have the TKO600 which is a bit of a problem. I have the street model with the .68 overdrive. On a long straight away I redline 4th at about 120 and when I shift to 5th the engine almost lugs, or if feels that way. The rev's realy drop. If I had to do it again I would go with the T-56, 6 speed, you get a .86 or so 5 gear and then for road cruse 6 is .68.