Stay with a carburetor or go EFI

OK, so this isn't necessarily about what's going to break down on the side of the road. My Duster is a street machine so for the most part, I'm not going to be straying too far from home. But that's besides the point because generally, unless something is completely screwed up mechanically or improperly installed, this stuff does not suddenly "stop working" for no reason. I've had enough professional level training and personal projects to know how to wire stuff and make sure it works as designed. I've also done my share of carb tuning from trying to get a heavy, low performance big block truck to accelerate properly and get better mileage to tuning my Duster to get it down to 12.0 @ 111 with a stock stroke 340 running on 7 cylinders. So there.

Plus, I'll even admit that with my Coronet, there have been instances where the EFI mysteriously stalled the car on the road and it wouldn't start. But, it always starts back up after letting it sit for a little while. I don't necessarily blame the EFI, it's really more about the person tuning the car and how well the systems are understood. Stalling can reveal things that you had overlooked so it's all a learning experience. Any obstacle that comes up can generally be tuned out so it doesn't happen anymore, you just have to dig into it to find the answers and know how to manipulate things. I'm not there yet but the more I mess with it, the better I get.

This is more about whether I want to get involved with adding more work to something I've already done a ton of work to. I apologize for not making that clearer at the start. But, that internal argument does manifest itself into an EFI vs. carb. discussion.

If you go to a really fast doorslammer race, most every single car is tuned with a laptop. Those cars have as many sensors as your garden variety Toyota - wheel speed, MAP, CTS, etc. It;'s just tools to measure and compare information. The throttle body does the same thing as a carb - it mixes air and fuel, it's just controlled electronically. You can tune stuff by ear all you want but you will never be as precise as with EFI.

And OK, so for whatever reason, it's generally accepted that EFI gives up some HP to a carb. But, the EFI will provide more opportunity to get the rest of the fuel curve more precise which can only benefit the overall tuneup. On my car will I notice a 10-15 hp difference at 6,300 rpm? I don't know. Conversely, if the carb is not tuned right then you could be in the same situation. I'm not Bob Book so I can't say I can look at a time slip and know what to do inside my carb. But, with the EFI, I can at least see things a little more clearly.