what is it about excessive cubes??
i have plenty of association with rb and hemi cars (real hemi, not just my pretend six's) ones a hemi challenger, anothers a 440 6 pack chally, his exact words are "it's a thirsty pig of a thing".
Just that i'm a big fan of daily drivers, and it scares me the thought (what with escilating fuel costs etc..).
So do you, compromise with a smallblock or slant? or go all out and only drive it once a week?
maybe i'm getting old and loosing interest?? (27 WTF!!)
Well, more cubes, more gas. Simple as that and very very true.
More cubes equals more torque. And it's great if you build the engine, stock stroke or not with torque as a mjor function goal of the engine. Torque adding items like zero gap rings, piston/cylinder head coatings, roller cams and of course the extra stroke to really kick it up a notch.
These higher torque engines if built with care can provide your car with asphalt ripping performance from starting line to finish. Properly geared helps alot. A little lower and it never runs out of torque.
If I need a compromise, and it's gotta have decent mileage with something in a decent HP area, I think a well thought out combo with a blower would be the best and most powerful engine you could do. However, a blower, roots or centrifical, will add a clear 3 G's to the project.
A 360 IMO makes the best street car with it's longer stroke over the others with 3.31 for them. 3.58 for the 360. Add what I mentioned before and a super charger, it should be an easy, almost no brainer 400+ HP with torque on demand.
You won't need a big cam or a large carb. Your driving on the primarys to begin with, try and stay there when at cruise.