Engine Masters is back from the midseason break, and David Freiburger wants to go big to celebrate! Just how big? How’s 555ci of big-block Chevy V8, a Blower Shop 8-71 blower, a 350hp shot of nitrous, and twin 1,050-cfm carburetors for you? But this episode isn’t about one prodigiously powerful pull, Freiburger wants to compare the differences between 118-octane race gas and E85 ethanol—with and without nitrous—and variations in boost pressure.
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The 555ci big-block Chevy isn’t just a dyno monster Steve Brule had sitting around Westech Performance. This beast came out of Freiburger’s Camaro land-speed racer and was the engine he used to set five records in five days during the 2007 Bonneville Speed Week. It’s a stout block, forged crank, 4-bolt mains, forged connecting rods, CP pistons, AFR 357 Magnum heads, and one mother of cam—281/290 duration at 0.050 with 0.800 inches of lift! With a single four barrel on top and no power-adders, Brule tested this engine at 768 hp at 6,500 rpm.
When it comes time to add power, Freiburger is going all out. The Blower Shop 8-71 roots-type supercharger has Teflon-stripped and hardened high-helix rotors, has been blueprinted to the nth degree, and ported to maximize flow—probably the best 8-71 blower on the market and the same type Mike Finnegan used on Blasphemi to win his class at HOT ROD Drag Week. Then there’s the 16-nozzle NOS blower plate, an off-the-shelf part but super trick and capable of delivering unseemly amounts of nitrous. And to feed it all, four 1,050-cfm carburetors—two Holley Dominators for the gas pulls and two QFT 4500s for the E85 pulls.
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This isn’t just tom-foolery and making big power for fun, though. Freiburger, Steve Dulcich, and Brule are practicing real science here. More boost doesn’t necessarily equal more power, as Dulcich points out, overall power is affected more by overall cylinder pressure and intake charge density. The guys are going to pay close attention to intake manifold temperatures and how the variations in boost, fuel, and nitrous all effect charge temperature and total power. But just for fun, Freiburger wants the “hold my beer run” and tells Brule to re-jet the nitrous plate for a 350-shot and one, final pull. We won’t tell you how it ends, but we will tell you this series of dyno runs yield some the biggest power numbers Engine Masters has seen in a long time.
See all 13 photos
See all 13 photos
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