EFI is huge, but the carburetor is still global, viable, and the center of an ongoing, industry-wide fuel-system war. Demon Carburetors is coming back, and Quick Fuel and Pro Systems have gone ballistic with a slew of new air/fuel metering devices and features. Holley had to respond, and it did. Big time. Why do we care? Because Holley carbs have been at the center of the hot rod universe forever, and a release as significant as this one is a big deal.
In 2004, Holley unleashed the HP-series carburetor, featuring unheard of adjustability in a mass-produced carb. The 650- to 1,050-cfm four-barrels benefited from billet baseplates and metering blocks and clear sight glasses, and even the 4150-series HPs have dual-feed bowls drilled on both sides (4500 Dominator-style) to facilitate plumbing ease. More important, and to the benefit or detriment of carb tuners everywhere (depending on level of tuning skill), the metering blocks and main body passageways all had screw-in bleeds to custom tailor the entire fuel curve. It was a radical departure from the box-stock carbs the company had sold for more than 100 years, and the HP line became a serious player in the carb-tuning market. Could it get any better?
Of course. The company just upped its game again with the aluminum Ultra HP, a carburetor outfitted with every tried and true trick in the racer's black book, plus a few new ones. Holley claims there are 30 new features. These new Ultra HPs are currently available only with mechanical secondaries and in cfm ratings of 600, 650, 750, 850, and True 950. (It's interesting that Holley markets these as True 950, as the old 950 HPs are, uh, not really 950s.) The 600-cfm units are $589 polished and $639 in Hard-Core Gray, and prices reach $749 and $799 for the 950s. We suspect that similarly treated Dominators are coming next.
