Is this engine builder nuts?
Once a week drive to work, a cruise on the weekend occasionally and down the strip once or twice
OK, you're gonna enjoy it with a lower HP. I think the 340 being stock with 275 HP is a good comment....and those were inflated HP back then. Just imagine a 340 engined car....
As for the roller cam and the comments on the lobes and such... all true. I have been contemplating a roller in a planned build. But for occasional use, I can buy a LOT of Gibbs Driven LS30 high zinc synthetic at $11-12 per quart, for the same price of a roller cam and lifters. For a simple occasional driver (or, in my case, a rally car engine raced 2-3-4 times per year), I am leaning towards just buying higher priced oil and sticking with the simple flat tappet.
The roller cam is not at all necessary for 1 HP per cubic inch by the way. We expect 375 HP from our 340 with a flat tappet and decently good breathing. (Calculator says 400 but I am not greedy.) But,the roller can have more aggressive ramps, and so can get high lift with less duration, and that can be used to make it a less peaky engine in the torque and HP versus RPM departments, or used to get more raw peak HP. Part of the better overall good torque/HP vs. RPM ranges in new engines is due to the roller cams, and some of the improved efficiency (mileage) comes from there too.
So it has it's advantages.... with an initial cost. But again, for an occasional driver, it may drive up the cost too much.
