any body running a poly 318 in their car

I used to routinely trounce new and freshly build gm 350 powered cars with an 80,000 mile 2 barrel poly.

I've owned several but none currently.

They are torqueier off the line, and the head design is similar to a Hemi.
Hemi is half, Poly is part... of a sphere.
That is likely where the torque comes from.

I've never heard of any reliability issues. They are as rock solid as an LA, perhaps more so.