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Which is better, a well built engine or a well engineered engine?

We have had a lot of questions regarding our MRL Performance 340 that was entered into the Mopar Muscle Magazine Engine Challenge for 2010. People are asking what the big secret is to making 473hp out of a 340 with un-ported heads and seemingly no fancy tricks, while others have some pretty trick porting, roller cams and electric driven water pumps, ect, and only made 38hp more with the same cubic inch. It does seem like the tricked out engines, on paper, should have made a ton more power for the apparent advantages they had. But in reality, what may look like an advantage on paper, really isn’t an advantage at all.

Lets clear something up. When I say “on paper” this is what I’m referring to:

   Engine "A"Engine "B" MRL Performance 340
Fully Ported RHS heads                vs  Non-ported RHS heads
Solid roller cam                             vs      Solid flat tappet cam
Titanium valves                            vs             Stainless steel valves
1000cfm carb w/2” spacer                  vs      750cfm carb w/1/4” spacer
Electric driven water pump                  vs      Crank driven water pump
Low tension rings w/crankcase vacuum assist      vs      Standard ring tension no vac assist
12+ to 1 compression                   vs 10.6 to 1 compression
Indy single plane intake w/Lg plenum area            vs       MP M1 single plane w/med plenum(A)511hp               (B)473hp
38hp difference

As you can see, on paper one engine clearly had a lot more advantages than the other. They both have basically the same cubic inch 340(A) vs 344.6(B). They both have basically the same rod ratio, 1.884(A) vs 1.888(B). This is the critical part in engineering a good engine, the rod ratio. Something this simple can determine the whole design of an engine.

Engine A has quite a few things Not working in favor of a high rod ratio engine. First off is the Large plenum intake w/the added plenum area of a 2” spacer. On top of that a 1000cfm carb. Another area is cam. High rod ratio engines don’t like long duration cams. In order to run a high 12 to 1 compression with 93 octane and not melt the pistons due to detonation, a longer duration cam is needed. All this adds up to low velocity, effectively killing air flow at the low and moderate rpm range. These things just don’t work as well in a  high rod ratio, small ci engine unless your running very high rpm, 8000rpm and up. This set up is more suited to a low rod ratio engine or Big ci, like a 408 Stroker which has a 1.531 to 1 rod ratio.

So you may be asking, “Where is the 38hp coming from if not from all the port work, bigger carb and intake, all that compression, bigger roller cam?”. Good question. Some came from the almost 2 full points more compression, some came from the roller cam. But with this combo, I’m guessing 15hp from these. Most of the 38hp cam from the water pump not being driven by the crank but an electric motor, and the low tension rings with the assist of a vacuum pump to put a negative pressure in the crank case(read: power adder?). Just by changing water pump pulley size from an over-drive situation to an under-drive, we have seen a consistent 10-15hp increase on the dyno. And at 7000+rpm, its even more. So if you eliminate that lose all together, you could easily see 20hp or more!

We tested our 340 here at our dyno for 3 solid days, squeezing as much from this combo as possible and got a best of 476hp(vs 473hp at Comp Cams). The one main limiting factor in this challenge was the Hooker headers we Had to use. We got a set and tuned to that header so there were no surprises on Comp Cams dyno. When we were done with all our testing, we slapped a set of TTi 1 5/8” – 1 3/4” headers “Just to see”, and gained 39hp making 515hp. The reason for the jump in hp? Reversion and scavenging. Step tube headers promote great scavenging and there for reducing reversion to let more fresh air into the engine to make more power.

Something else to look at about these 2 engines is fuel consumption. I’m going on experience here as I do not know the exact BSFC of engine A, but I’m betting we used quite a bit less fuel to make 515hp out of our 340 than engine A did to make 511hp.

RHS has come up with a great head for the Small Block Mopars, and we really wanted to showcase its potential. We have shown that out-of-the box these heads are as good or Better than the Edelbrock RPM heads. We made a Solid 515hp in a 340 with a basic RHS head. That’s pretty darn good in our book. And yes, fully ported in the RIGHT combo, these heads will make 600+hp. Finally, something for the Mopar guys/gals to cheer about.

So there you have it, the difference between a well built engine and a well engineered engine. When we here at MRL Performance engineer one of our High Performance engines, you get what you Need. We roughly figure that the cost of Engine (A) was about $2500 more due to the fully ported heads, roller cam setup, and Titanium valves. That’s a lot of YOUR money for 38hp.

Call MRL Performance today to order your Engineered motor or a set of RHS heads TODAY!!!!!!!!
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Contact us:
989-845-1547 or 517-569-2672      Ask for Mike
MRLPERF340@GMAIL.COM
19363 Amman Rd
Chesaning, MI 48616
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday 10AM to 6PM