Diet or regular. Flames or scallops. Fettucini Alfredo or Spam in a can. Some questions are a matter of taste (or gastronomic distress). Others are a matter of power. Take the debate of big-block versus small-block. Purveyors of the Large Charge believe its all a matter of size. For them nothing less than a Rat motor between the fenderwells is sufficient. These guys dont care about weight. They subscribe to the Machiavellian theory of might makes right: If youre gonna build a thumper, build it big. These days, you can build a big-inch Rat with almost criminal ease.
On the other side of the debate are the small-block devotees. They challenge the big easy, adhering instead to the gospel according to the Mouse. They hold that small-displacement engines are more efficient, lighter, less expensive, and more fun. Mouse fanatics distrust those behemoth Rat motors, instead placing their faith in the fundamental precept that David slew Goliath with an impeccably placed shot to the forehead. They believe that mighty mini-motors can take on those nasty ol Rats, given a level playing field.
So CHP took on the challenge to come up with rules for a fair fight. It looks like this: Build a small-block and a big-block with the same displacement, camshaft, intake manifold, compression, and exhaust, and let em go at it. And thats what we did. We built a 408ci small-block and an identical-size Rat and put them both on the dyno. But youll have to turn the page to find out what happened.
But since we race carsnot dynoswe put both these engines in the same car and strip-test em too. If you think that pure horsepower wins, think again. Weight, torque curves, and a whole bunch of other details also play a part. But were going to make you read on to discover which engine actually ran quicker.
While our simple test probably wont settle any cross-town rivalries or silence the prophets of Rat or Mouse power, it makes for intriguing bench-racing sessions. To see what we learned, click on the sidebars below for the buildup, dyno testing and drag-strip results.