Originally Posted by feets
Originally Posted by DaveRS23
Fair enough. Then there are 2 advantages to retrofit EFI; more convenient cold starting, and automatic altitude adjustment.

But I have to disagree that proper carb tuning can't overcome problems at altitude.



I'll disagree with you, too.

EFI will outperform the pro carb tuner.
It constantly tunes the system for atmospheric conditions. Cold start and altitude are just two parameters. When climbing to 8,000+ feet the EFI doesn't need to stop and pop the hood. Continue on to 11,000 feet and cruise into snow. The EFI makes changes for the altitude and temperature as you drive. Head down the other side of the mountain and the EFI retunes the car for lower altitude and higher temperatures.

Driving on a hot day and hit a cold front and a storm? No need to pop the hood. EFI compensates automatically.

The awesome pro carb tuners will diddle with the carb when clouds block the sun. The EFI guy is sitting back relaxing or working on something other than the tune.

Under WOT conditions the carb will run with (and sometimes squeak past) EFI. However, on the road the EFI will win every time.

As for parts availability, with a proper system the only part you need to worry about is the controller itself. Everything else will be off the shelf stuff. Chances are good those bits will be around for a long time due to production volume and interchangeability. Should the computer itself die you would need to replace it but in all but a few extreme cases everything outside the computer will be good.

I still have an old Electromotive TEC II system that works fine and it's been out of production nearly 20 years. If I want to upgrade I can pop a new computer on there and reprogram.


You guys make it sound like cars couldn't run at elevation until EFI came along. And now you say that any change in the weather forces us to re-tune. Just a wee bit of exaggeration I believe. Besides, the need for altitude adjustment affects relatively few of us anyway. Again, not a real issue for the vast majority.

The OP posted his parts list. I am curious, how much is that gonna cost? And how much time will it legitimately take to install and tune it? I'm sure a perfect, no problems encountered scenario will be quoted.

Here is an honest question:

Dominic (ThumperDart) set up the Dominator on my Hemi. It starts with just a pump or two. Idles almost immediately and can be driven off within a minute. Cruises in the mid 14s and will run high 6s in the 1/8th. I have about $1,000 in it. I will never go to the mountains with it and haven't touched the carb in a couple of years. So how much time and money would it cost to replace my Dominator with EFI and how much overall improvement could I realistically expect? That is where the rubber meets the road for me.

Retrofit EFI is still in it's infancy and evolving daily as far as the average Joe is concerned. It has some real benefits but in an honest comparison against a truly well tuned carb, EFI fails the cost/benefit analysis for most of us. And on other sites, there are many disappointed EFI owners. More than a few gave up when they couldn't get the system to work satisfactorily.

Retrofit EFI may mature and be a viable choice for the majority of us. But today it is still hit and miss and it's promises are just not worth the time and money it typically takes to install and tune it. Unless maybe you drive above 8,000 feet regularly.

Master, again and still