Engine Masters episode 95 Mopar Wedge Head Shootout

This most recent episode is awesome. It puts to rest much of the speculation surrounding which ootb aftermarket head is the best "bang for the buck" for B/RB series big blocks. They compared a set of 906's with a fresh valve job to the 440 source stealths, vs Eddie RPM'S vs Trick Flow 240's. It pretty much boiled down to what everyone suspected all along.. you get what you pay for. Still cool to see some actual dyno testing on the topic specifically. Pretty much illustrated that as you progress on an average "street" big block you can expect to pick up 20 hp from the 906's to Stealths, an additional 20 hp from the Stealths to the Eddies and close to 25 hp from the Eddies to the 240's. All peak HP numbers of course. Check it out if you get a chance.

what size cam were they using? and what was the peak HP and TQ for each?

i tried to find a link to watch it last night coz i saw the post about on freiburgers IG, i struck out..

Looks like you have to subscribe to Motortrend to watch Engine Masters.

Yeah, you have to subscribe. Engine Masters is worth the price of admission alone imho.
They were running a (small "ish") hydraulic roller.. 236/241@ .050 540ish lift. Freiburger wanted it to have more cam
but they didn't upgrage it ?

906's = 514 tq @3700 464 hp @5600
Stealths = 519 tq @3600 481 hp @5600
Eddies = 534 tq @4000 498 hp @5500
TF 240's = 538 tq @4200 522 hp @5600

Was the test engine a 440?

John

Yes, a .030 over 440 with TRW pistons. 850 Holley XP , Street Dominator intake, 2" - 2 1/8 " TTI stepped headers. All Aluminum headed combos ran best with between 34 - 36 degrees total timing.

I think it would be a better test at 500”, with a combo where the TF heads were making well over 600hp.

Something that can really illustrate how much power the milder heads are leaving on the table.

Was there any attempt to equalize the CR between the various heads?

Or was the CR difference part of the power difference?

They stated the combustion chamber and runner volume for each after market head. Also spoke to the fact the changes in CR. Most of the comparisons were the difference in power to what it cost. Basically each time you stepped up in power you spent the extra money to get it.
Conclusion (for me) was the 440 Source was a good buy as a replacement for a stock 906 head and with paint would fool most in appearance. Each head seemed to mirror the one before in the gains of TQ and HP. Pretty informative.

Dave

The TF heads had been CnC ported. I would have liked to see a set of comparable Indy's. But they didn't get a set. Also, as tested the Indy head would have cost at least 600.00 more at a minimum.

Dave

Headers seem large for the combo but still a nice comparison.

It all depends I guess. I like that they tested a stock stroke engine with a street size cam. Both the test you suggested and the one they did can provide good info.

I don't think you could do the test with a set of "comparable" Indy heads since the TF heads were CNC ported. The most comparable Indy head would be the basic EZ head. When you get CNC port EZ heads they have MW ports so they couldn't use the same intake. I would like to see my EZ heads in that test because they are ported but still have standard port windows.

Gus

True.. but it's also cool that if you wanna plunk down the cash for the 240's, you can pick up 25 ft lbs and 60 hp on a basic street combo!!

If the guys on Engine Masters really knew what they were doing they could make the TF head look even better.

See what happens when Chevy guys work on Mopar BB
500 HP ain't hard to make with a stock stroke 440 with 906 heads with a little work

Personnally, I like the test. I don't need another test to prove the TF is better than a Stealth on a 600 hp motor.

If anything, I'd like to see the test done on even a milder std stroke 440. There is this belief that the TF is "too much" head for a mild street 440. I don't believe it.

As much as I like the Engine Master test, I also know to not hang-on too tight to any one test

Definitely like my old 446ci 6pk bottom end motor with 260cfm? BV template ported 906's nothing special, 2.1/8" f/wells, Team G and an 850DP, plus a .650/290@.050 Mcandless sft cam, (ok so not a street cam), made 531fwhp@under 10:1CR, weight/mph calc.

We get a dyno test tailor made for us using stuff they had laying around like that short block and probably those headers and people show up to [censored] and talk how much better they could do. Why ever even bother to throw candy to this crowd?

The goal here was to bolt on the different offerings out of the box and show how they perform.

No doubt they all could have had better numbers if each combo was optimized.

Hopefully they can show us some tweaking with each combo on later episodes but I'm just grateful to get some Mopar content here of late what with this episode and the oil pump episode.

We got spoiled with the internet

I used to get excited with a Mopar on the cover of a magazine back in da day

LOL

I've watched a few Engine Master shows and it is hard for me to figure out if they have any money or not. They obviously have enough money to afford the testing time but they seem to recycle a lot of engine parts so I'm guessing that they don't have the resources to do really good engine development anymore. They seem to cut a lot of corners with the tests so I'm guessing they just don't have the money to do things such as correct the CR for each head. But I don't really know since I'm not involved in the show and I don't talk to any of those guys on a regular basis. I keep in touch with a few folks at Hot Rod but not anyone else.

Maybe.

But other than a head porter, or a apples to apples test data purist, who really cares? Don't get me wrong, I love data, and apples to apples (or recognizing the differences that don't make it apples to apples) is really really important. Plus the details and variables often not included in these tests can be important too.

But in this case, unless you have a fuel/detonation problem, nobody will be changing pistons to lower their compression ratio because they are using the TF verses a head with larger chamber head, or be adding thicker gaskets.

Said differently, when a guy is laying down cash for a performance bump for his car by changing heads, does he really care if 70% of the improvement is from flow and 30% from compression bump, verses 80/20, 60/40 or 100/0?

dammmm lol

Personally I enjoyed the show and am thankful for any relatively decent Mopar content.

The oil pump test was ok also, although I seem to recall similar tests already done by folks around here
many years ago.

Maybe I'm biased from being a fan of Dulcich's past material, though.

It doesn't matter what you do, someone is going to not like it.... so might as well do whatever you want.

I think it is some of what you just mentioned, but also I think they have had a lot of luck targeting an audience that isn't too interested in seeing the most scienced out builds that can be put together. All the engines and parts seem to be used in many different shows/articles or they get swapped into different vehicles. It makes me think they are mostly interested in meeting deadlines to get material out but keep it meaningful enough that the car guys that know a little more still find it interesting. I guess all these TV guys are making good money now, I saw the photos of the gigantic garage Dulcich just built, like 6k sf or something. Good for him...

I liked this test because it used a motor that's less racey and gives an idea what a great head like the TF240 does vs a steel head or the 440source head on a mild build with a very street friendly cam.

I liked the test, and I think the thought process of not attempting to equalize the CR is more real world, what you get if you just change your heads.

I would have liked to see them try a cam more in the upper 240-250 range though. What I would have REALLY liked to see if they wanted to quantify something interesting is if they bolted a set of the TF270s on also.

O

From what I've gathered while watching the show is,they have geard it more toward the average enthusiast... meaning efforts toward dispelling bench racing myths,breaking down cost per performance uprgade, intake,cylinder head, carburetor and exhaust shootouts etc.
I dont think the emphasis of the "Engine Masters" title is geared toward the all out competition engine building format of the Engine Masters Magazine any longer.

The choice of shortblock etc seemed right to me, as I bet 90 percent of the heads go on similar builds. A second test of a 512 cube RB with more of a bracket motor type build would be nice. Set compression at 12.5-1, and use a mopar 590 cam with 1.6 rockers to get about .600 net lift. That would give us some idea of the difference in two common routes guys choose.

Agree...

Guy's if you want to test the builds you come up with, I have a buddy that will rent you dyno time for as long as you want to test..

Dave

Having read this thread, I'll keep my rebuttal to some of the comments silent.

I very much enjoy the Engine Masters show, the vast majority of the people that watch it aren't engine builders or experts. I learn something during every episode. I don't care that things aren't apples to apples but they did flatly state their estimate of the CR affect on the HP number. The Indy cylinder head was flatly stated that they wanted to add it but couldn't get it or couldn't get it in time. The information shouldn't surprise anyone though, better heads=better power.

Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know how each head makes more HP. I’d like to add a test that takes that short block with a big roller with each head then one with a 4.15 crank and big cam for each head. Normal builds. Dinky cams, well you know..