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Now Taking Bets: '70 Hemi Road Runner vs. '72 Olds 442 W30

If they are both stock, it’s not even a contest. ‘70 HEMI. ‘72 Olds is a low compression smogger.

If this is FAST racing it’s anybody’s game.
 
4c24qb.jpg
 
In stock form, that Olds got low 14's in tests of the day. 300 net hp. wasn't bad for 1972 though. I really liked those cars back when they were brand new.
 
Judging by MPH looks like the Hemi has a traction/launch problem had more MPH so all things the same I'd have bet on the RR
 
That's obviously FAST racing, none of those cars ran low 12s stock on street bias tires.
 
I had a '72 Cutlass S in high school. Factory 455. Yes, there low compression, but not as low as the '73-'74 Pontiac 455 in the SD Trans Am. All 3 were very close to 500 lb/ft of torque. Mine was a bit modified, Weiand tunnel ram w 2 425's on it, tubbed w Firestone wrinkle wall slicks. I was 16. Not a street friendly car. Bought it from an impound yard. Previous owner had it impounded for drag racing n couldn't afford to get it out. I had ridden in a 71 Charger w a 440 n some mods. I woulda put my Cutlass against it. Torque is King! The Hemi mile an hours the Cutlass at the top end, that's HP, but the launch/jump of the Cutlass is torque.
 
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I was going to say before watching the only way the Hemi would lose would be because it was traction limited. I was right. Oldsmobiles were pretty badass though. Had the Hemi been able to hook up, no contest, because of the difference in weight. ...and the Hemi of course. lol
 
In defense of the Hemi, there was a note flashed on the video screen that the Olds motor was blueprinted. The Hemi may or may not have been, there was no mention of how carefully the Hemi was put together at all.
 
Apparently they raced more than once since they switch staging lanes in the video.
The roadrunner driver didn't do a long enough burnout.
It's pretty common for the stockish hemi to leave slower than a wedge engine.
But they usually get going strong at the 2/3rd mark on the track and outrun the wedge.
 
These races are rarely apples to apples.

Something is always different enough to favor one car over the other.
 
Don Frelier said:
Apparently they raced more than once since they switch staging lanes in the video.
Click to expand...

I saw another segment from the same event and a different pair of vehicles ran against one another three times. The results of the one race in this video were winner: 12.24 @ 114 MPH vs loser 12.38 @ 116 MPH.
 
I recall reading in several Mopar rags that Hemi cars often came poorly set up from the factory (mostly gearing) hindering their true potential to the unwitting?
 
Dibbons said:
In defense of the Hemi, there was a note flashed on the video screen that the Olds motor was blueprinted. The Hemi may or may not have been, there was no mention of how carefully the Hemi was put together at all.
Click to expand...
Even without someone blueprinting the Olds, the factory had already done the job. W30 engines were built with specially selected and balanced parts right from the start. They weren't just ordinary 455s.
 
the only 455 that ever impressed me was the buick 455.
the rest,i Clearly recall all the pontiac and olds guys constantly swapping motors or buying more motors because their 455 had just blown up..
usually by kicking a rod out the side...
i stayed away from those cars and stuck w my mopars.
looking back,it would seem to me at least,that it would be a Rare thing to still have the original 455 in an olds or pontiac.
 
Back in the day my buddy had a 70 442 W30, 455/4 speed, triple black with white scoops. It was one of the fastest, sharpest looking cars I've ever driven. After the 70 RR/Satellite, that's my favorite car!!
 
A better pilot in the Olds.
All in all they're both impressive cars making those times/MPH on small tires.
 
Good point.

A true test should also include swapping drivers every other pass, or at least equal number of passes for each driver in each car.
 
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