I have a question, I am curious...

I was just wondering what the limits are on a 350 Chevy in terms of power. What is the most power you've ever heard of from a Chevy 350? It can be a 355, 383, etc. What I am looking for, specifically, is naturally aspirated engines....that is, engines without supercharging, blowers, or nitrous.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Sb2 engines are always exciting.

 

With the new motown setups... guys are pushing more cubes than ever... NA approaching 700HP is not unheard of.

 

i've seen them run well in to the 7s not sure of the power level. most powerful is sort of pointless without weight being factored into it.

 

for a 355 I have seen 525 hp and 475 ftlbs on pump gas
For a 383 I have seen 550 and 550 on pump gas
a 406 I have seen 635 and 600 on pump gas

These are all pretty radical motors, but are "streetable"

 

see sig,

I do not think a sbc could come close in power without a summit catalog and all after market parts. Only 1.54 HP per cub on moded stock parts.

 

It seems on a 350 the more power it makes, the higher it has to rev up. I think this would be a big part of what is considered streetable. If you had the best heads and a radical cam, sure you could make 500 hp, but at like 7500+ rpm and that doesn't seem too streetable. I say you would have to start out by thinking; 350 is the max cubes, what is the largest cam that can be run and still get some vacuum(at least 10 inHg). then match the best heads to that setup along with a bulletproof bottom end with maybe 6.0 rods and everything lightweight. I consider that being streetable. Unless you take the easy way out and get a vacuum pump for the brakes.

 

On the surface these heads look pretty nifty. There's a page with a dyno graph; if its legit that's pretty neat. However, I'm sure there are cheaper ways of getting to that level of power. Not sure I'd go with such an expensive and oddball (er, 'exotic') setup, unless I was obscenely rich AND extremely curious.

http://www.araoengineering.com/Chevy/chevysmb.htm

 

Car Craft magazine did a dyno test on a 330hp 350 crate motor. At the end, they made 420 hp on pump gas @ 6,000 rpm. The long block is still the same except the cam and lifters. Stock vortec heads (machined for new springs, o' course), but you get the idea. The 3rd article is in the April issue.

Tim sends

 

I've seen a street-driven 350 hit about a 9.8 or so out at SIR last summer.

 

The 355 I'm talking about is only at 6500 RPM. Thats liveable
The 406 is the same.
That 406 ran a 10.1, and then he drove off with it, so these are drivable

 

357 already pointed it out - This is more of a magazine question than a technical question.