Holley's science vs Edelbrock simplicity?
There certainly is a lot of tuning choices with the Holley's. Jets, power valves and plugs, accelerator pumps, cams, and squirters, vacuum secondary springs, bowl vent extensions, and the list goes on.
More accessories than at a Harley dealer. Probably tuning overload for most guys. especially street car owners. Heck many have issues getting the throttle and kickdown hooked up properly. Why would they need a carb with a hundred different combinations. Most of us could care less if this adjustment or that modification gains us a couple hundreds at the strip. "KISS" Keep it Simple
It is really simple, if you want to learn it. It's not hard. You just have to break down the systems.
Reading this thread is revealing. There are some under the notion who think an certain engine brand runs better with a certain brand of carb. The carb is utterly ignorant of what engine it is bolted to. I've heard this theory since 1980. And it's just silly. The name on the valve cover and the name on the carb are not related.
The carb, any carb is just a pressure differential sensing device. In those terms, it's really basic and simple. High pressure always goes to low pressure. Venturi and Bernoulii work together. Both easily understood concepts.
To think a carb, any carb, with an essentially generic tune up out of the box is bolt on, is laughable. Are they close? Maybe. Good enough? Evidently. But mostly untrue.
The air fuel ratio meter has become the slide rule of engine tuning. Trying to tune by a number is just an effort or circular logic. Does your meter read the same as every other meter out there? Damn sure no. Is the ideal A/F ratio the same for every engine? Not by a long shot.
If your ignition is worth a tinkers damn, you may be able, with the correct tune, achieve a 15:1 A/F ratio at cruise. Most guys settle around 14. And that's not a sure 14. It may be 13.8 or 14.3 with a different meter.
To claim an out of the box tune up is perfect is naive at best, and foolish at worst. I've done more than enough dyno work to know it just isn't true. Settling for a tune is ok if that's all you want.
I'm a firm believer (for many years now) that all of these carbs are 100 MPG carbs. All of them. The Carter, Holley, TQ, Q-jet...all of them. Why they aren't is for another thread.
