I am not convinced that EFI makes more power. The top finishing EFI engine at Engine Masters Challenge had 11 carbureted motors in front of it. You would think they would know what make the most power. Next year carb combos will only be allowed to use dual planes and limited throttle plate that will flow less than 800cfm while EFI will be allowed any single, dual or four blade throttle body and any intake including converted 4 barrel single plane intakes. It is funny how few EFI engines were there this year. I am sure next years rules will force everyone to use EFI.
Magazine test are not usually a fair fight, and neither is TV. Living around middle TN I have met a few of the powerblock tv people and have heard that companies pay to have their products on the shows. It would suck to hear their product is inferior to the baseline now wouldn't it. Now that I think of it a recent magazine I have was testing cams and the carb made more power than EFI with every cam they tested. Funny how when test cams the carb makes more power, but when testing carb vs EFI, the EFI makes more power. It is almost like who ever pays to have their product tested, wins.
this is very true...its all about money....what isn't about money though is the fact that EFI is infinitely adjustable....hundreds of time more adjustable than eve the best carb on the market...how can you not make more power if you are able to keep your engine at a perfect 12:1 AFR under wide open throttle? i'm sorry, but there is absolutely no logical way a carb will ever make more power than a properly functioning EFI setup...especially when you bring the intake manifold design into consideration...carbs by their very nature limit the intake manifold design...the majority have to sit above the manifold and so hood space becomes a limiting factor(sidedraft carbs might be an exception, just don't know enough to say)....so what we really have in a carb setup is poor fuel control(in direct comparison to EFI) and limited intake manifold design and you want to tell me a carb is going to make more power? Now I will fully admit the difference in peak power is not likely to be very much when you have say 289 carbed using the stock intake(or aluminum carb intake) and an EFI setup using a stock intake(or aluminum carb intake) that has been modified for port injection(though with sequential injection, the efficiency below 3k RPM on the EFI will definitely be superior)...which brings us to the point of peak power...yes you can tune a carb to give you 12:1 AFR at wide open throttle at whatever your peak power RPM is...but by doing that, its off the ideal AFR elsewhere...meaning the power curve is not going to be optimal...there is no way to tune a carb to adjust fuel every 20RPM(or less) like you can with EFI. As or extra cost...yes of course it cost extra to go EFI..but dont we pay extra anyway for better power? its not like the cost is that much anyway...let me break it down for you real quick, I'm going to with Megasquirt as an example here
Megasquirt, 2 options
1 assemble it yourself...pretty easy(Ive done it) $250
2 buy it pre-assembled $400
wiring harness $50
misc sensors, injectors, injector clips, etc $300(I could do this part for much less but lets just say 300)
inline EFI pump$105(just bought a 255lph pump myself for this cost)
5.0L intake manifold...depending on what you want, aftermarket or used stock, these range from $25-$500
so what we have is $1305 on the expensive side $725 on the low end(this cost could be driven down simply by getting used 24lb/hr injectors from a mark viii in the junkyard, would knock it down to $525) now realize of course this includes a better flowing intake manifold...whether stock or aftermarket, either will flow better than a stock 4v manifold(though maybe not better than a aftermarket aluminum) I think when you throw in the cost of a new intake manifold and a better carb yu really come out just about even
there are other costs that I did not add in...like a laptop to tune with...most people these days have a laptop anyway, other misc cost I didnt include are things like lengths of fuel injection hose...fuel injection hose clamps, etc etc...regardless, when its broken down it really isnt much more expensive...though it is more work to install, and with megasquirt the learning curve is steep...more so if you dont have an EFI experience, so its definitely not for everyone...of course there are a lot of other more expensive EFI systems out there...in which case just add $1000 onto the cost