I am curious if starting from scratch all things considered................when building a 1500 hp twin turbo setup what would be the better way to go ...................a stroked smallblock or a big block..................taking into consideration, Durability, fuel, ease of installation within an engine compartment, ect.............

 

All things considered I would say big block due to the fact that 1500hp 500 cube engine is under less stress than a 400 cube motor. Hell if it was no budget I would build a 572 cube big block.

 

I'd think a low deck stroker with an aftermarket (KB) block would be the best overall. Small packaging, 6 bolt cross bolted mains, huge cube capability...

Sometimes you just gotta draw a line somewhere though... I'd personally rather build a 440ish" R3 motor for my dart, only cuz I know how little room there is for exhaust with a BB in a Dart.

1500 Horse is a SHIT load...

 

twin turboing hell a 430ish cubic inch smallblock..........................in an aftermarket beefy R block wouldnt it rev much quicker.....................spooling the turbos quicker......................be lighter weight.......................easier to package.........................not that fuel consumption is a consern but wouldnt the smallblock consume much less fuel as well.................and lets face it a good twin turbo sb with say some good flowing p7 heads should make the 1500 number ............................what cha all think.........................all things being the same wouldnt a 1500 hp small block be quicker than the bigblock with the help of turbos that spool quicker..............i mean the rpm is gonna come up faster on that smallblock than on that bigblock...............

Ok I know i am opening the doors to hellish debate here.......................u all come on in.........................

 

are we talking the same cubic inches for both?

 

If this is basically a straight line only drag car then CI isn't critical, only other than more cubes will spool faster on the starting line. Its all about how much air you can flow, and that is basically dictated only by the Turbo/Turbos... There are plenty of guys running 7's with the power your talking about making.... Fuel consumption will be BASICALLY the same at WOT, since its just a power number your shooting for...

Sounds like your aiming really high, which is cool, but there are more than 2 ways to skin a cat. The turbo's dictate the power. The size of the intake, cam, heads and everything else determine how much restriction there is, which will change the amount of boost required to make your horsepower.

Twin 76mm turbos on any engine will make 2000+ horsepower, but the CI and engine combo will determine whether it spools at 5000, or 6500... And whether it takes 20 lbs of boost to do it, or 30....

 

Well i guess what i am tryn to do here in this thread is get enough input so that i can decide which platform to build off of..........................since iam gonna basically be starting over from scratch...................i can go either the big block or small block route........................although i am not real familiar with the bigblock stuff........................and what would be suitable to hold up to that horse power level in bigblock configuration...........................in a small block package ...............it would either be a xr-2 block or r5 block with p7 heads at this point .................unless someone can convince me otherwise...................................but i do still want to explore doing a big block and with all the components involved ......................bounce costs........................against each method......more input is appreciated...........................

 

I wouldn't start to plan an xr2 build at this point. There have been promises of "coming soon" for what may be years now. Don't let me discourage you on building a p7 headed engine though. Get an r5 block and be done with it. I have a bunch of p7 stuff going together on top of an A8 sprint block. This is not a bolt together combo... I need to install the new cam tunnel I made into the block, move some head stud holes, and fill the deck surface liquid holes. About the only thing that works out right is the bore spacing, and a row of head bolts. This will be a badass little turbo motor someday.
All that being said, you could build a big block with all common "off the shelf" parts and make that kind of power in a more reliable package, just using more space.

 

That is why I would do big block. Reliability is huge for me.

 

A smallblock would cost a lot more then a BB to make 1500 HP, also the more cubes the easier it is!

 

ok lets take three items................the blocks, crank, and heads........................when buyiing these three items for both a big block and small block package.......................lets look at the bang for the buck of the big block crank, block, and heads ...................versus the smallblock crank, block , and heads, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, are u saying that those parts are gonna cost bout the same for the bigblock...............as for the smallblock.........................cuz the size turbo is gonna be the equilizer.......................as far as horse power to acheive the same power levels between the two.............and the costs of going to a larger turbo between the two packages can be measured in the 100's of dollar range............versus the 1000's..............................also doing the bigblock.........now iam into having to deal with k member issues, transmission bell housing, ect...............all the bigblock typical issues.....................from a cost effective stand point ...........I.E. Bang for the buck..................which is best....................Iam lookn at a budget of bout 25,000 to try to get this done..........................starting from scratch..............I will probably be selling my engine to help this effort along as well........................

 

R3 block siamese 2600
Callies Crank 1500?
Carillo Rods 1200
Custom Pistons 700
Cam, Lifters, Springs, etc 1200
CNC Indys/T&D Rockers 5000

Thats basically half your budget right there...

Twin, Journal Bearing GT42's, 1500 each roughly
Twin Wastegates, Custom Carb, Carb Hat, Piping, intercooler, flanges, machine work, oiling system, entirely new fuel system, new converter...
Youll have no trouble burning through the next 10K easily...

 

...and that's just the engine. After that you need everything else in the car to be able to support the 1500 hp, and those pieces begin to cost too. We had the basic engine, block, heads etc. already and a 20 000 budget. That didn't take us very far.We have propably close to 1500 hp now with a BB. Haven't calculated the tota cost, it was quite a lot, but the result was worth it, I think.
http://www.kuvia.1g.fi/kuvat/Tapahtumat 2009/FHRA/NitroNationals2009/Sunday/MOP_0310.jpg

 

IMO, the major componets between big/smallblock are going to cost roughly the same....

 

I think you would be the same as far as price wise. I have always heard most people go to the bigblocks in the faster classes
(outlaw 10, limited street, etc) cause they are easier on parts than the smallblocks. most go almost just as fast with the smallblocks though?

 

This is true.......the only reason i kept small block was the extra cost of switching everything to big block
ie: motor mounts, transmission, turbo headers, and buying stuff like intake, distributer, and all the other little things you dont think about that go with install a different set up

Add alll that up and it can be very costly

 

Well Iam back in the good ole USA...............just got back last night.................

As far as the build goes I think iam gonna do a price comparison all things remaining the same as far as the chassis...............about the only thing that i can use with the old motor in a small block package is the crank and I dont know if the pistons will work or not they are Ross nitrous pistons i had custome made..........everything else would have to go because of the 4 headstud non siamassee block and heads........I want to fuel inject it also so the intake is out......................already decided on a fast ignition / fuel controler so thats decided..............trans is already built to handle an 8 sec motor....................just gota change housings to go to a bigblock..............i guess i just need to start pricing bigblock parts to take the abuse and see what it all comes to....................... now that iam home i can start making some contacts.......................I will be going to woodward ave in aug......................might be able to find some more info there mabe some of the big manufacturers will be around to talk to ................................

 

i believe there might be a weight savings between the two also.

like said, turbos will dictate the power

 

What country were you in? I'm guessing that wherever you were, they like to use lots of periods after their thoughts instead of one period after a complete thought?

Anyway, Just an observation. Good luck with your project!

 

I would start by looking at the heads. remember it the heads that will be the power in ur motor combo, so look for the availability on big vs small block and flows specs. lots of good used cranks for big blocks along with after market heads. but a low deck combo would good, the bigger the stroke the more torque, and with turbos u dont need any more. my 2 cents