1968 '340' Barracuda vs 1968 '383' Road Runner

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69 Cuda 440

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In a Dealer Match-Up of Plymouths's two most popular 1968 Street Musclecars.

1968 Barracuda 340-S Fastback
340 /275 HP
Car Weight #3110 lbs.

1968 Road Runner 383 {Pillared Coupe}
383/335 HP
Car Weight #3424 lbs.

The NHRA did re-factor the 340 from 275 Horsepower to '310' for the 1968 Season. And the NHRA
classed the 68' Barracuda 'Fastback' in E/Stock {10.00 to 10.49 Wt/Hp}.

Though the 383 was a 'Torque-Monster', the 335 Horsepower Rating was always questioned. The
NHRA also class the 68' Road Runner in E/Stock.

The 'general consensus' was, that the 383 was over-rated by at least 30 Horsepower from the
Chrysler Factory, and the 383 was really closer to 305 Horsepower. And the Road Runner should
have been classed in G/Stock {11.00 to 11.49 Wt/Hp}.

By June 1968, the NHRA National Records were;
E/S ........ 12.78 @ 107.65 MPH
E/SA ...... 12.79 @ 109.75 MPH
 
This is a totally unscientific account, but back in the day one of my cousins owned a 1969 Super Bee 383, and his brother owned a 1970 Duster 340. Both were automatics, and I assume 3.23 gears. They always told me it was a dead heat any time they raced. That seems to be borne out by the times I used to see bone stock cars run at the dragstrip back then. I seem to recall that the 340s responded better to the standard gears/headers/cam/intake bolt ons.
 
Any accounts of the HP ratings being inflated or deflated have been proven to be false through the years. Tons of magazine articles on the subject. All of them were very close to what they were adversited.
 
Back in early 1970 I raced my bone stock '69 340 Swinger against a 383-powered Roadrunner in the G/Pure Stock final at OCIR one Saturday night. I don't know what his gearing was but my Dart had a 3.23 non-SureGrip rear end. I got a bit of a jump off the line since the Dart was lighter than the B-body and the 340 was a rev-monster compared to the 383. He was catching me as we got closer to the finish line and neither of us saw the win light come on. But I picked up the time slip with "WIN" stamped on it with a 14.28 @ 98+ mph.
 
I question the difference between the Hemi 12.5:1 w/holleys and one 10.5:1 with carters and both being 425 hp.


RustyRatRod said:
Any accounts of the HP ratings being inflated or deflated have been proven to be false through the years. Tons of magazine articles on the subject. All of them were very close to what they were adversited.
Click to expand...
 
I ran both models, in 'pure stock' form, and many of my friends ran both cars as well.

Since my father had a machine shop "Valley Motor & Machine' in Jefferson Valley, New York
- we saw many of these Stock Mopars run at Dover Drag Strip.

A friend of our's named Dominic, bought a new a 1968 '383' Road Runner (Pillared Coupe) with
an Automatic and 3.23 Gears in March of 1968 from Meadowland Chrysler-Plymouth in Carmel, New York.

In stock trim, and classed in E/SA, it ran 14.85's @ around 95 MPH.

After wrecking the car soon thereafter, he bought another new 1968 '383' Road Runner but a (Hardtop)
with an Automatic, and with the 3.55 Performance Gear option.

In 'stock trim' with 7" Cheater-Slicks, he got into the high 14.50's.

Those numbers are fairly accurate for a Stock 1968 '383' Road Runner with an Automatic.

Decent performance, but in no way a 'Dominant Street Car'.
 
69 Cuda 440 said:
In a Dealer Match-Up of Plymouths's two most popular 1968 Street Musclecars.

1968 Barracuda 340-S Fastback
340 /275 HP
Car Weight #3110 lbs.

1968 Road Runner 383 {Pillared Coupe}
383/335 HP
Car Weight #3424 lbs.

The NHRA did re-factor the 340 from 275 Horsepower to '310' for the 1968 Season. And the NHRA
classed the 68' Barracuda 'Fastback' in E/Stock {10.00 to 10.49 Wt/Hp}.

Though the 383 was a 'Torque-Monster', the 335 Horsepower Rating was always questioned. The
NHRA also class the 68' Road Runner in E/Stock.

The 'general consensus' was, that the 383 was over-rated by at least 30 Horsepower from the
Chrysler Factory, and the 383 was really closer to 305 Horsepower. And the Road Runner should
have been classed in G/Stock {11.00 to 11.49 Wt/Hp}.
Click to expand...

Interesting thread! The 383 was a "torque monster" and only 305 HP? Wow, with such a great bore/stroke ratio ("the big block that thinks it's a small block") good compression, heads and cam, I'm surprised it's not around 345 HP and SCREAM!
 
False. 305 was a claim. Subsequent dyno testing has shown a 383 built to factory specs makes right at 335hp. They respond well to bolt ons and will produce over 400hp with little effort.
 
Lets go with NHRA 'tested' Horsepower Numbers.

The NHRA dropped the 383/335 HP down to 310 HP, and in 2002 again dropped it
to 300 Horsepower in 'Stock Class Ratings'.

Seeing enough of the 383/325 HP - 383/330 HP - 383/335 HP cars in the 1960's and
early 1970's at the Drag Strip, I can only say that most were 'decimated' when running
in their respective classes.

The 383 put out 'supposedly' 335 Horsepower @ 5200 RPM's and put out 425 Foot Pounds of
Torque @ 3400 RPM's.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 1968 or 1969 Road Runner with the 383/335 HP Engine ran in
1968 = E/S or E/SA
1969 = F/S or F/SA
1970 = G/S or G/SA
1971 = G/S or G/SA

They were 'not' a dominant force in NHRA Stock Class.
 
February 1968

NHRA Class Records
* E/S ........ 12.90 @ 107.01 MPH
* E/SA ...... 12.93 @ 109.09 MPH

The 1968 '383' Road Runner was not getting near these numbers.

$(KGrHqUOKiUE15eIWI!mBNe-6tu5gw~~_3.JPG
 
Rocky_JS said:
I question the difference between the Hemi 12.5:1 w/holleys and one 10.5:1 with carters and both being 425 hp.
Click to expand...

Well sure, the factory race stuff was different altogether. We weren't talkin about them yet.
 
All I know is I had a 383 Road Runner with a 4 speed and my brother kicked my *** regularly with his 340 Dart Swinger.
 
I thought NHRA uped the 340 HP rating in 71 with the tq carb and better intake. As far as the RR I have a near stock 68 4 speed it's not fast by today's standard but back then most muscle cars ran in the 14 to well into the 15 sec area.
 
EL5 Demon 340,

No the NHRA dd not refactor the 340 to that high of number.

It was 310 HP.

That I know for fact, as we ran several 340's from late 1968 thru 1976.

The 1968 thru 1971 #3100 lb. 340 A-Body cars all fit into the {10.00 - 10.49 Wt/Hp} Factor.

* 1968 = E/S or SS/F
* 1969 = F/S or SS/J
* 1970 = G/S or SS/H
* 1971 = G/S or SS/I
* 1972 = SS/I
* 1972 = SS/I
* 1973 = SS/I
* 1974 = SS/I
* 1975 = SS/I
* 1976 = SS/I

Note; In 1968, SS/F was from .........9.50 and up Wt/Hp
Note; In 1969, SS/J was from..........10.00 and up Wt/Hp
Note; In 1970, SS/H was from..........9.50 and up Wt/Hp
Note; In 1971, SS/I was from..........10.00 - 10.49 Wt/Hp and stayed that way.
 
But either should spank a 350 nova or malibu on the street!
 
woody30 said:
All I know is I had a 383 Road Runner with a 4 speed and my brother kicked my *** regularly with his 340 Dart Swinger.
Click to expand...
the guy who built my Duster (and the 340 that used to be in it) refused to line his 383 e-body up beside me back in the early '90s...but it was stock, and he knew what he'd built in my car, so he was very smart lol.
 
I was running F/S, 13.2s in my Swinger 340,, and that was a coupla 10ths off the NHRA record at the time (1969)..

Outta the hole I'd regularly beat the R/Runners, GTX's, Firebird 350/400's,
Judges, 351 Clevelands,.. but in those last 30 ft to the light,,, many got past me..

Just can't beat cubes in the top end.. (nat. aspirated that is)
 
My Father bought a new 383 4 speed Super Bee in 1969.He said a buddy had a 1969 Swinger 383 4 speed,and the Swinger would win when they raced.My Dad said if I got my tires real hot I could just barley beat him once in a while.
 
What is amazing is, My wifes 300C would run with both of these cars @ 4100LBS.
I owned a box stock 340 Swinger with a 3.23 gear & auto. it ran a best of 14.80.
Installed a 1973 T/quad & intake. It ran 14.40.
I'm sure there was more in it, but I was just learning about tuning right out of High school.
Back in 1968, I would have put my money on the 340 outrunning the 383 on the street.
I have driven some quick 383's & some not so quick 383's, any 1968-71 340's have never been a dissapointment.
There was nothing from Ford or GM that could touch it.
 
My Dad's cousin had bought a new 1969 340 Swinger, with 3.91 gear & 4-speed.
He ran it in Pure stock at Lions & ran a best of 13.80. He was a very good 4-speed driver.
He is responsible for getting me hooked on Mopars in my youth.
 
mikedevore said:
There was nothing from Ford or GM that could touch it.
Click to expand...

Oh I don't know about that,, there was a particular Z-28 (302) Camaro, and a 307 h/p Shelby Mustang, and a nasty Black GTO, that were giving me fits at the time.. they were very quick... and I spent a forune trying to consistantly beat them,, but,, so did they, tryin to beat me .. lol
 
I moved to a Mopar neighborhood in 1970 at 11yrs old, and grew up there. More then a dozen guys between 16 and 25 yrs old with nothing but 340 and 383 cars. I have to tell you, the only 383 car that ran with the 340's was a 69 Bee with a cam, all the bolt on's and a 4.56/4.57 gear. You have to remember........almost no stroke difference between the two, and even though the head flow may have been a little better with the BB, the lighter rotating assy. and 300/400lbs lighter on the car made a big difference.
 
Mopar got their 'tit' caught in the ringer when they claimed 335 HP for the 1968 383 Engine
in the Road Runner and Super Bee.

Everyone knew the earlier 383/325 HP and 383/330 HP (1967 and earlier 383's) had over-rated
Horsepower numbers. They were closer to 290 HP.

Chrysler could not rate the 1968 383 Horsepower properly.

The 1968 383 was closer to 310 HP, no matter what anybody says. The Road Runner and Super Bee
should have been running in G/S or G/SA in 1968 (11.00 - 11.49 Wt/Hp)

#3424 lbs. ~ 310 HP = { 11.04 Wt/Hp }

In January 1968, even Ronnie Sox said that the 68' 383/335 HP Road Runner would
get decimated in the NHRA Class of E/S or E/SA.

Sox & Martin refused to build a 383 Road Runner for Stock Class, and only had one for 'Show Only', which was 'not' NHRA Stock Legal.
Drag Performances.
 
little brother can't beat big brother, 383 wins ! 1 step richer and a tweak in the timing,
all it took.
 
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