Thumper - you and me cover a lot of territory when we post on topics. I have no doubt your car went quicker with more carb - but I don't think the average modded Stang out there is as strong (or revving as high - what do you shift that solid roller at?) as yours. As for your grandson's truck - I have no doubt it ran better with a single than with 2-4's - it was SEVERELY over-carbed, and most dual 4 manifolds are nothing to write home about - especially for street performance. The changes you saw weren't just attributable to the carb change - there was a manifold swap as well. It's not a difficult calculation - even with extremely liberal volumetric efficiency assumptions, the average modded 302 out there twisting in the 6000-6500 range, 650 cfm is more than sufficient to meet the engine's needs for air/fuel -- as you so eloquently put it, if the tune is correct. Also, most of the annecdotal references you make allude to reduced et's - w.o.t. performance. While that's important to me, I also want to know how it's gonna start, how it's gonna run when cold (we're not all down there with you in sunny FL!), how it's gonna cruise, how it's gonna respond in the idle to 2500 rpm range where most street cars spend the vast majority of their time.
So, as to the original posters questions - one thing seems clear; there's lots of opinions out there! Glad I don't have to make a carb selection decision on any of mine. Everything's efi except the bike - and it just works the way it should. If someone twisted my arm and made me put a carb(s) on one of my vehicles, I think I'd fabricate a manifold and put some Webers on it. My experience with them has been the best of any carb'd vehicle I've owned.
