We're just weeks away from this year's dyno challenge to be held at the Comp Cams facility in Memphis, Tennessee, and we are eager to see how much power this year's 500-inch wedge engines can make. Will the wedges out perform the Hemis? the engines will be judged from 3,000 to 7,000 rpm, a range most of us at Mopar Muscle feel will favor the wedges. But it's hard to beat Hemi power, so let's review the numbers from last year's challenge.
SuperFlow Dyno Results
Engine RPM Corrected HP Corrected TQ 3,000 324.0 548.9 3,500 356.6 535.1 4,000 380.0 498.9 4,500 476.5 556.2 5,000 580.7 609.9 5,100 592.4 610.1 5,200 605.2 611.3 5,300 620.1 614.5 5,400 633.2 615.8 5,500 643.1 614.1 5,600 650.7 610.3 5,700 657.1 605.5 5,800 665.5 602.7 5,900 674.6 600.5 6,000 682.3 597.2 6,100 688.7 593.0 6,200 694.4 588.2 6,300 703.6 586.6 6,400 713.9 585.8 6,500 723.6 584.6 6,600 728.2 579.4 6,700 724.4 567.8 6,800 696.8 538.2 6,900 629.3 479.0 7,000 626.2 468.2
Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1344.0
<strong>Speed-O-Motive</strong><br />August Cedarstrand of Speed-O-Motive tuned his Hemi to a second place tie when we factored the combined horsepower and torque of his entry in last year's challenge. Speed-O-Motive's B-1 headed wedge entry in this year's challenge should post impressive numbers as well.
Speed-O-Motive
SuperFlow Dyno Results Engine RPM Corrected HP Corrected TQ 3,000 283.3 495.9 3,500 345.6 518.6 4,000 378.5 497.0 4,500 481.8 562.3 5,000 589.1 618.8 5,100 600.0 617.9 5,200 611.6 617.2 5,300 623.0 617.4 5,400 634.4 617.1 5,500 645.9 616.8 5,600 657.8 617.0 5,700 667.2 614.7 5,800 675.4 611.6 5,900 682.9 607.9 6,000 689.6 603.7 6,100 694.5 598.0 6,200 700.4 593.3 6,300 706.0 588.6 6,400 711.5 583.9 6,500 716.2 578.7 6,600 720.1 573.0 6,700 721.8 565.8 6,800 721.4 557.2 6,900 722.6 550.0 7,000 722.2 541.9
Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1341.4
<strong>Hemi's Only</strong><br />Larry Shepard of Hemi's Only made an impressive showing when his cross-ram-equipped engine tied the Speed-O-Motive entry for the second highest combined horsepower and torque of last year's challenge.
Hemi's Only
SuperFlow Dyno Results Engine RPM Corrected HP Corrected TQ 3,000 328.2 556.0 3,500 377.3 566.1 4,000 423.1 555.6 4,500 523.0 610.4 5,000 608.7 639.6 5,100 618.2 636.6 5,200 627.6 633.9 5,300 637.4 631.6 5,400 645.5 627.8 5,500 654.0 624.5 5,600 661.9 620.8 5,700 669.2 616.6 5,800 675.8 611.9 5,900 682.1 607.2 6,000 688.9 603.0 6,100 694.3 597.8 6,200 697.8 591.1 6,300 699.9 583.4 6,400 699.9 583.4 6,500 700.1 565.7 6,600 701.8 558.5 6,700 701.4 549.8 6,800 699.9 540.6 6,900 693.6 527.9 7,000 687.5 515.8
Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1341.4
<strong>Lofgren Auto Specialties</strong><br />Last year's winner was Lofgren Auto Specialties, who made great power and torque with economical parts to clinch the Hemi challenge. This was the only entry last year to use factory cylinder heads, proving that engine building is more about the combination than the individual parts.
Lofgren Auto Specialties
SuperFlow Dyno Results Engine RPM Corrected HP Corrected TQ 3,000 286.6 501.8 3,500 338.6 508.0 4,000 357.8 469.8 4,500 446.4 521.0 5,000 562.3 590.6 5,100 577.2 594.4 5,200 590.2 596.1 5,300 601.8 596.3 5,400 612.3 595.5 5,500 622.8 594.7 5,600 632.2 592.9 5,700 642.8 592.2 5,800 653.7 592.0 5,900 664.2 591.2 6,000 673.4 589.5 6,100 680.9 586.2 6,200 687.7 582.6 6,300 692.5 577.3 6,400 697.1 572.0 6,500 700.8 566.3 6,600 705.7 561.5 6,700 711.6 557.8 6,800 716.2 553.2 6,900 719.9 548.0 7,000 725.4 544.2
Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1321.7
<strong>Muscle Motors</strong><br />Mike Ware of Muscle Motors fought ignition problems for much of last year's challenge, so we don't know what the true potential of his entry was. Mike did make a good showing though as his entry had very broad power and torque curves.
Muscle Motors
SuperFlow Dyno Results Engine RPM Corrected HP Corrected TQ 3,000 283.2 495.7 3,500 340.3 510.7 4,000 362.7 476.3 4,500 469.1 547.4 5,000 556.0 584.0 5,100 568.8 585.7 5,200 579.6 585.4 5,300 590.5 585.2 5,400 600.9 584.4 5,500 610.2 582.7 5,600 616.2 577.9 5,700 620.9 572.1 5,800 623.8 564.8 5,900 626.4 557.6 6,000 629.4 551.0 6,100 632.7 544.7 6,200 637.6 540.1 6,300 644.6 537.4 6,400 652.3 535.3 6,500 659.1 532.6 6,600 662.8 527.4 6,700 664.4 520.8 6,800 666.2 514.5 6,900 666.5 507.3 7,000 665.8 499.6
Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1252.2
<strong>Indy Cylinder Head</strong><br />Although a camshaft issue limited the output of their entry, the guys at Indy made a solid showing with nearly 650 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque. Most of the competitors in last year's challenge used Indy parts of some type on their engines.
Indy Cylinder Head
SuperFlow Dyno Results Engine RPM Corrected HP Corrected TQ 3,000 304.3 532.8 3,500 353.3 530.1 4,000 382.8 502.6 4,500 491.3 573.4 5,000 571.9 600.8 5,100 581.7 599.0 5,200 590.3 596.2 5,300 596.9 591.5 5,400 602.4 585.9 5,500 607.1 579.7 5,600 611.0 573.0 5,700 614.2 565.9 5,800 619.2 560.7 5,900 624.6 556.0 6,000 628.7 550.2 6,100 633.3 545.2 6,200 636.4 539.1 6,300 640.4 533.9 6,400 644.4 528.8 6,500 647.5 523.2 6,600 649.0 516.5 6,700 646.0 506.4 6,800 640.6 494.8 6,900 630.9 480.2 7,000 625.9 469.6
Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1249.8
<strong>Mid America Racing Engines</strong><br />David Bruns of Mid America Racing Engines built a very strong running street engine for last year's challenge. Choosing to keep compression at a conservative 10:1 may have limited his peak numbers, but as the dyno chart shows, horsepower and torque curves were very broad for this Hemi.
Mid America Racing Engines
SuperFlow Dyno Results Engine RPM Corrected HP Corrected TQ 3,000 301.1 527.2 3,500 339.5 509.5 4,000 365.0 479.3 4,500 455.0 531.0 5,000 547.5 575.1 5,100 559.6 576.3 5,200 570.9 576.6 5,300 580.1 574.9 5,400 588.3 572.2 5,500 596.4 569.5 5,600 603.3 565.9 5,700 610.7 562.7 5,800 616.8 558.5 5,900 622.1 553.8 6,000 628.0 549.7 6,100 634.8 546.5 6,200 642.7 544.4 6,300 649.9 541.8 6,400 655.1 537.6 6,500 658.3 531.9 6,600 661.4 526.3 6,700 664.1 520.6 6,800 666.0 514.4 6,900 664.5 505.8 7,000 661.7 503.9
Combined peak horsepower and torque total: 1242.6
All eight of this year's entrants in the engine challenge made the deadline and delivered their engines to our trailer at the Mopar Nationals where they stayed on display for the entire show.
While we can't say last year's challenge went off without a hitch, we can say that all the competitors were good sports about the challenge and were eager to help each other out when needed. All the Hemis made impressive power, and there were no catastrophic engine failures to ruin anybody's fun. The folks at Comp Cams were generous hosts, providing lunch each day and giving tours of their impressive Memphis facility to anyone interested.
This year's challenge is shaping up to be even more impressive than last year; engine builders have utilized an even wider variety of parts and building techniques for their entries. Remember the contest is based on a combined score of horsepower and torque, divided by the cost of the parts that went into the engine, so the builder who makes the most power won't necessarily be the winner. Last year, it took a blend of stout power combined with an economical parts list to land Lofgren Auto Specialties in the winner's circle.
The engine builders in this year's challenge enjoyed the show and racing at the Mopar Nationals, but also made plenty of time to discuss their engines, shops, and techniques with interested spectators.
This year's dyno challenge should prove to be very interesting as we have a wide variety of parts on the wedge motors entered in the contest. Cylinder heads from Indy, Edelbrock, Bulldog, and Brodix will all be tested on Comp's Superflow engine dyno, and one competitor's engine is even sporting six-pack induction!
After the testing is complete, be sure to visit our web site where the challenge results will first be posted. Also stay tuned to future issues as we cover the challenge and also go in-depth into each engine, revealing the builder's power secrets!
