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Old 07-18-2007, 02:17 AM
Excaliber Excaliber is offline
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To many variables to make a blanket statement/opinion for me. A rule of thumb may provide a guideline: Short stroke 'builds rpm' quicker, which would be in conflict with 'more torque' gets you there quicker. Consider this: Small blocks generally 'rule' in the 1/8th mile. They 'build rpm' quicker with their shorter stroke. Big Blocks, having a longer stroke and generally better breathing continue to pull strong at the end, where small blocks tend to run out of power. Yet big blocks almost always have more torque. The 289 Cobras ran the 1/4 in the 12 second range, as did the 427's, which were quicker. The BIG difference was seen in mph at the end, the big blocks were substantially faster than the small blocks in mph.

So which one is quicker? In fact, what the heck IS a 'big block' these days? It used to be clear, 289 small, 427 big. Now we got 351 Windsors sporting 427 cid. Big or small block? 351 short stroke builds rpm quicker than 351 bore/stroke to 427? To many variables in the engine, not to mention tires, gearing, fuel feed, driver, trans, etc. etc.

Some say torque wins the day over horse power in the 1/4, I'm not one of them...

I figured you meant 0-60 mph, but it's worthy to also consider the 0-60 ft time, especially when it's 'stop light to stop light' around town!

Last edited by Excaliber; 07-18-2007 at 02:19 AM..
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