carb or EFI?

[Boss 351]

I just read an old rag article EFI vs. carb they even dynoed a 347 with both EFI and carb to test which one provides more power. In the end the EFI only had 1hp more than the carb.



What was the difference in torque?

none, same torque. They used the same dyno on the same day, on the same engine.

 

[z2o_what]

Try 18.5 MPG average mixed city/highway on an daily driven EFI engine with over 95K miles on it. With today's gas prices, it won't take long to make up for any of the added cost of EFI.

Do the math:
15 MPG x 15 gallons = 225 miles
18.5 MPG x 15 gallons 277.5 miles

225/18.5 = 12.16 gallons I can drive 225 miles on 12.16 gallons while the carb car is stopped at the pump filling up his 15 gallons. How much does that work out to in savings?

Figure the difference in gallons:
15-12.16=2.84 gallons The EFI car uses 2.84 gallons less fuel than the carb'd car for the same number of miles.

Multiply the number of gallons saved times the cost of fuel:
2.84 x $3.00 a gallon =$8.52 savings

Figure 4 fill ups a month:
$8.52 x 4 = $34.08 savings a month.

For a year: $34.08 x 12 = $408.96

If I spent $200 on EFI parts, I am still $208.96 ahead at the end of a year. The $208.96 buys some nice go fast goodies...

The continued increase in gas prices will only serve to increase the savings.

If I spend time & educate my self on how EFI works and then apply that knowledge, I can be just as fast as any carb'd car that I would run against. However, thinking is hard work, and educated thinking is often very difficult...

i wasn't saying that a carbed car would get better mpg. i know that efi is more efficent, if it wasn't car companies would still be using carbs. i was just giving him my results.

 

[jrichker]

i wasn't saying that a carbed car would get better mpg. i know that efi is more efficent, if it wasn't car companies would still be using carbs. i was just giving him my results.

It was just a comparison using some live numbers. I had no intention on picking on anyone. Whatever veiwpoint you may have isn't the reason I used your MPG results - they where just handy.

 

[MrKwik]

none, same torque. They used the same dyno on the same day, on the same engine.

....and what was the difference in dollars? If all you want is power, you can make more for less with a carb setup. But I think we all know who wins in the drivability and MPG race. Personally I just love the simplicity of a carb setup. I like to pop the hood of my hot rod and be able to see nothing but motor. I just finished up the engine harness on my capri project, the engine harness has 4 wires. There is something to be said for that.

 

[importhater5.0]

hey thanks for all the help so far guys, i really appreciate it! I really think its to hard to decide until i would have driven a carbed car all the time. Its not that i minded the EFI, its just that i got so pissed off trying to figure out the injection problem, the car sat for almost 2 months cause i couldnt stand replacing or tracing one more ***kin wire. And i got so pissed im like "im putting a carb on it and thats it". I still dont know what i wanna do yet..haha

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

well some of us carb guys understand efi and just want something different. my carb setup cranks up faster than the efi system ever did. it runs cooler and doesnt have a misfire like my efi setup did. im not bashing efi because i love it. its easy to work on and adapts to just about anything you do without a fuss. but its just like the guys above said. if the car starts surging or idling rough, you arent searching through wires or testing injectors. plus when you upgrade heads or whatever, calibrating the carb is a lot cheaper than buying new injectors and mass air meter and fuel pump

Yeah....we carb guys are just a bunch of old school dorks who can't accept new technology

My first 5.0 was EFI, and it was nice. I've got a friend with an EFI 347 and it's pretty sick...but for my money (more importantly, for THIS car) i'll be sticking with the carb. If i ever did buy a newer Mustang, it would stay EFI.

Oh and i'll also add....any drivability/tuning/gas mileage issues are USER related. Everyone needs to remember that carbs are still the long term ranking king of fuel induction systems....they worked damn good for how many years before EFI? Learn how to tune your carb and you'll get everything that EFI has to offer, plus a little extra coin in your pocket and a cleaner engine bay to boot.

Oh, i will say that unless you're running nitrous or a roots supercharger, EFI owns forced induction. You can of course run a blow through carb with turbo, but i like the tuning abilities of EFI for turbo.

 

[MrKwik]

hey thanks for all the help so far guys, i really appreciate it! I really think its to hard to decide until i would have driven a carbed car all the time. Its not that i minded the EFI, its just that i got so pissed off trying to figure out the injection problem, the car sat for almost 2 months cause i couldnt stand replacing or tracing one more ***kin wire. And i got so pissed im like "im putting a carb on it and thats it". I still dont know what i wanna do yet..haha

Dude....honestly, you will spend more time and trouble converting it than just replacing the harness and be done with it. If its your daily driver, I can almost assure you that at some point you will wish you left it EFI, especially if you ever sell it.

....and thats coming from an old school carb guy for what it's worth

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Dude....honestly, you will spend more time and trouble converting it than just replacing the harness and be done with it. If its your daily driver, I can almost assure you that at some point you will wish you left it EFI, especially if you ever sell it.

....and thats coming from an old school carb guy for what it's worth

Yeah i guess i missed something in this thead....but i'll add to that, that unless you have carb tuning experience, don't swap over on a daily driver unless you know what you're getting yourself into.