Hi, I have an 86 Trans Am still with the original carb on it and was wondering if this is a piece of crap or what? And also, what's the benefit of having a 4 barrell over a 2 barrell? Is it time for me to buy a new carbuerator now and what do you recommend BRAND NAME wise and barell wise? Thanks.

It's a very good carb, but not commonly understood or appreciated. For a performance daily-driver, it can't be beat. Look in the tech articles for what you can do to improve it. Then fix the "real" performance problems on your car - exhaust, air cleaner, cam, ignition coil & module; and, after those are done, heads.

The benefits of a 4-barrel over a 2-barrel are economy when you need it (i.e., most of the time), and performance when you want it (i.e., for fun).

With proper tuning, that "piece of crap" will flow over 850 CFM and support power on way more than 400 cubic inches without restriction. While doing that, it will remain emissions and fuel friendly in daily driving. It's almost as configurable as the old plastic body Carter ThermoQuads (you wanna talk about a misunderstood carb) for low- and mid-range operation - unlike a Holley...

And actually, the Quadrajst is even more efficient at fuel metering at low-throttle operation than most two barrel carbs, like the 2GC and 2GV's, Holley / Autolite / Motorcraft duals, and Carters. Repair what's necessary and keep it. A replacement E4ME is going to be about $400. If you ever have an emissions inspection, an aftermarket carb isn't going to get it done.

I swapped from a dualjet on my 3.8L (which is actually 1/2 a Qjet) and picked up 2mpg on the highway. When you figure the dualjet is more efficient than most 2bbls...

All things being equal, having 4bbls allows you to have a leaner calibration on the primaries as it doesn't have to provide ALL the fuel for WOT operation.

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