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Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:42 pm
by potskie
Mr_Roboto wrote:My philosophy is past giving advice, it's the person's money in the end. If they want to try something more power to them. I'm more tempted to do something radical more just because someone tells me I can't do it.
The Radical part sounds about accurate. Theres almost irony there because you said that on a website dedicated to modding and making high performance vehicles out of what most people consider to be a mini van or soccer mom van..

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 4:30 pm
by SafariRob
So I'm at a bookstore today and am checking out the automotive magazines for my favorite one: Engine Masters. Sure enough, the Summer 2007 issue is there and I grab it.
I get home and start going through it...Surprise! There's an article entitled "Cam Drive Comparo, Belt, Chain, Gear...What to Choose?"
Essentially, they've got a dialed-in 440 Mopar engine connected to a dyno and are comparing the power output with all three ways to turn the camshaft.
Here's what the bottom line was (notice that two versions of a gear drive were tested; one a fixed idler gear, the other a floating dual idler type):

Peak HP: Chain, 633.5....Fixed idler, 636.3....Dual Idler, 634.0....Belt, 633

Peak Torque: Chain, 595.4....Fixed, 596.3....Dual, 596.3....Belt, 594.2

Average HP: Chain, 511.7....Fixed, 511.2....Dual 511.0....Belt, 510.7

Average Torque: Chain, 552.8....Fixed, 552.1....Dual, 552.1....Belt, 551.9

As they summarized in the article, there's less than 1 HP and 1 ft lb of torque difference average between them all. There was also no talk about 'harmonics' destroying anything and nobody got called a 'poser rice boy' for what they liked.
Ah, what a breath of fresh air. Wonder if it'll illuminate any of the minds on the forums I've read? Naw, I doubt it.