Rob - If I could find a link to where I've talked about this before, I would cuz this feels like I'm repeating myself (again).
The standard / traditional Holley 850 isn't "too big", but it's got a large venturi-to-throttle-bore ratio 1.56v x 1.75t and "meh" boosters that don't generate great signal.
The original 80496 "950" w/ 1.38v x 1.75t won't make more power on an engine dyno, but can run quicker & faster at the track because of better throttle response and shift recovery for some (many?) combinations. IMO, the more limited a combination is by converter speed and gear, the more likely the improvement.
I know 4 people, including myself, who swapped those two carbs at the track and saw .15 to .2 tenths and 1.5 to 2 MPH improvements with the 80496; in my case it dropped my 60-ft from 1.70 to 1.55 ET & MPH went from 11.7 at 117 to 11.5 at 119. The engine dyno showed basically no difference between them; it came out on the ET slip.
If I was buying a new carb today for a similar application, I'd try a Proform / Brawler "950" race carb w/ 1.45v x 1.75t simply because they're more affordable and more tuneable. If I stumbled across the sister "850" 1.40v version cheaply enough, maybe one of those. However, the "850" doesn't come with as good a booster as the "950" does.
I think that’s great advice Brad…thanks. I went back and searched the archives and read some of your past posts on this topic as well.
I was having trouble finding the Venturi sizes on the Brawler carbs…curious about the choked version Venturi sizes too since it seems to have most of the features of their “race” carbs.
