Undersquare vs. Oversquare Engines

Dartswinger70 said

I have always understood a small block will make torque / HP at a higher RPM than a big block, in other words, the small block may or will make the same torque / HP as a big block, but it will be screaming at a higher RPM to do it.... Of course I may be completely off on this. Most big blocks I have had the experience of driving or riding have always been pretty torquey.

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The engine is ignorant of its architecture.

Making the assumption of equality in everything, a bigger bore and shorter stroke will always make more power than a smaller bore and longer stroke of the same displacement.

There is no way a 400 inch small block with a 4.200 will make the same power as a 400 inch big block with a 4.400 bore.

Bore spacing is critical and you just can't get the bores far enough apart with what is called small block architecture.