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4bbl as fast as a Six Pack?

moparcanuck

Deceased, But not forgotton
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I've heard it over and over that a 440 4bbl is just as fast or faster than a Six Pack. I find that hard to believe. When the A12's came out in mid 69, they ran C. I had a 440 GTX and ran E. My car was tuned and maintained by one of the Mopar gurus. I could not keep up let alone pass a Six Pack on the strip. And why would I? I ran a 650cfm and the Six Pack ran at least 950cfm (if you compare it to a 4bbl rating). So if a 650cfm 4bbl is just as fast as a 950cfm Six Pack, why come out with a Six Pack at all? It was supposed to bridge the gap between the 4bbl and the Hemi - and did so very well, I might add.

I just installed an original aluminum intake Six Pack on my 440 GTX. My 4bbl was tuned by a guy who ran Super Stock back in the day. He's also the guy who set up my Six Pack. This guy was, is and always will be a racer. So both 4bbl and Six Pack were tuned as well as could be. I can tell you without a doubt that the Six Pack pulls way harder than the 4bbl. I would not go back to a 4bbl for anything.
 
a Four barrell is faster provided you have the correct carb size and intake manifold.
depends. if the 4bbl intake will flow more air than the 6-pak intake and the 4bbl is of at least the same flow capacity it will make more top end; but this will probably require a good single plane intake. the 6-pak is at it's best as a street/strip intake system. the 6-paks dual purpose use is it's greatest asset. i've found the greatest detriment to a 6-pak is cost and a lack of multi-carb knowledge and internet/magazine bad information. there's nothing like them in a street performance combo. pure race?....do the single 4bbl single plain; and a dual 4bbl tunnel ram will probably top that.
 
a Four barrell is faster provided you have the correct carb size and intake manifold.

That is not my premise. You can stick 1000cfm 4bbl on it and hell yea, it's gonna be fast. I'm referring to a stock setup. A stock 440 650cfm 4bbl setup is not as fast or faster than a Six Pack.
 
I would think people saying 4 bbls are just as fast as 6 bbls probably wouldn't be talking stock setups. Apples for apples; same trans, rear end ratio, etc. I'm sure a 6bbl is faster. They're probably referring more to what snakeoil said.

Just an interesting note, a friend of mine has a 440 6 bbl in his '68 Roadrunner and told me if he kept his foot out of it, that he got gas mileage in the low-mid 20's running on just the center carb. I know, "how often are you going to be able to keep your foot out of the gas in a 6 pack car" lol, but I just found that pretty crazy.
 
That's the hard part.

I put a Vortech blower on my truck a number of years ago. It actually gets much better mileage "IF" you keep your foot out of it. If not, it's half what it was before.
 
if you are talking stock setups,then the 6 pac is faster.only just barely though.a slightly better driver would make up the diff in a drag race easy.
 
I think it all depends on what the engine wants. You would just have to book some dyno time and see the results yourself.
 
Yeah, like Meep says...
Too bad I dont have R.C's money, I'd own a Dyno and we could perform a few "runs" comparing w/ a 4BBL and w/ a 6-BBL.
I'd love to see the "DATA".
(Remember: "Truth in Testing")

The factory rated the 6-BBL at 390HP and the Magnum at 375.

Granted an "out-of-tune" 6-BBL will perform poorly as would a poorly tuned 4 BBL.

Neat topic...
 
If measured by the fear factor, I'd say 6 BBL. When my pal with the 'Cuda turns on all three it is a scary ride. Unpredictable Brute it is. Leaves you with a demented smile.
 
I would think people saying 4 bbls are just as fast as 6 bbls probably wouldn't be talking stock setups. Apples for apples; same trans, rear end ratio, etc. I'm sure a 6bbl is faster. They're probably referring more to what snakeoil said.

Just an interesting note, a friend of mine has a 440 6 bbl in his '68 Roadrunner and told me if he kept his foot out of it, that he got gas mileage in the low-mid 20's running on just the center carb. I know, "how often are you going to be able to keep your foot out of the gas in a 6 pack car" lol, but I just found that pretty crazy.

Not sure about that mileage claim of your buddy there speedy, best I ever got was around 10-12 mpg, get on it a bit and cut that in half.
The outboards are constantly dumping a small amount of fuel, more than a 4 bbl secondary, it adds up quick.
Im running a pretty much stock engine with a hemi 4 speed and Dana 3.54, unless running a higher gear and overdrive I just don't see it happening.
talked to quite a few guys and most say 8-10 mpg is their best with a 6 bbl.
All in all who cares about mileage it sure is fun to drive.
 
Not sure about that mileage claim of your buddy there speedy, best I ever got was around 10-12 mpg, get on it a bit and cut that in half.
talked to quite a few guys and most say 8-10 mpg is their best with a 6 bbl. All in all who cares about mileage it sure is fun to drive.

I have to agree with this.
 
Not sure about that mileage claim of your buddy there speedy, best I ever got was around 10-12 mpg, get on it a bit and cut that in half.
The outboards are constantly dumping a small amount of fuel, more than a 4 bbl secondary, it adds up quick.
Im running a pretty much stock engine with a hemi 4 speed and Dana 3.54, unless running a higher gear and overdrive I just don't see it happening.
talked to quite a few guys and most say 8-10 mpg is their best with a 6 bbl.
All in all who cares about mileage it sure is fun to drive.

Yeah seemed a little too good to be true but I don't know why he'd lie about it unless he was just mistaken on how much gas he used or something :shruggy: his car is an A833 4 speed and 3.23 rear end. But agreead, "who cares!" People always ask me what mileage my chevelle gets and charger will get, I just tell them I get smiles per gallon lol
 
they do get better mileage hands down over something like a 850. seen that on my own car. 850 on a single plane wasn't faster in the quarter either. although it did pull slightly better mph.
 
I'm an old guy, and was pumping gas one day in 1966 at my dad's station. Same old guy would come in with yes, no matter what people say, they were made, a dark blue coronet four door hemi four speed, pulling his boat. I asked him what kind of mileage he got. he said: 10 at a stop light. when I'm moving, I'm too old to care! Six barrel 440's back then at least where I grew were way ahead of the game. Four barrel cars, and the guys that drove them were always playing catch-up, at least on the street. Just to make everybody feel bad, In 1975 a 1970 roadrunner 440-6 in this area with 40k actual, sold for $800.00 to friend of mine. ouch!
 
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