Best engine package for a backdraft?

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by eschaider

All the same stuff olddog said and I would not consider a small displacement engine w/o a positive displacement blower. The n/a torque is just too low. When we first get these cars they are so light that a small displacement n/a motor will wow most of us. You get used to the small n/a engine very quickly. There is a reason that most Cobra owners prefer 427 inches or bigger and it is the torque. Torque is what registers on your seat of the pants dyno.

This observation is a key observation.

In the time I had my 427 and finally got the fuel injection whipped into submission, I found that is it got better and more driveable, that the engine got cobwebbed. The reality is that in-city driving, and even sustained freeway driving, simply don't exercise these engines like they want to be. The big displacement engines WANT to be operated at high RPMs for sustained periods of time. I found myself rarely getting out of third and for those sections of road where it was open, I stayed in 4th just to keep the RPMs where the engine was happy.

For this reason, IF or WHEN I get another Cobra, it will absolutely be a small block car. That little 289 is a very happy camper at the conditions almost all of us will ever use it. Remember the first racers were small block cars!!!