Quote:
Originally Posted by crackpot12
I don't want this to turn into a Cad vs. Chev war, but I see the argument from the other side. An engine with as large a stroke as a 425 only has 320 ft. lbs? Really, a 425 is like an overbored 350 with a 4.06\" stroke. Shouldn't the 425 be walking all over the 350, even with 2.28 gears?
Lets keep in mind shes got 8.2:1 compression, is almost the smallest, least powerful big block Cad.... in a time when the industry was moving from gas guzzling beasts to smaller more fuel efficent engines.... meaning, the enigne had alot of smog control devices, all very early systems so it wasn't really made to work with it well...
The 425 isn't some magical engine in itself... but it holds its own, and its got lots and lots of potential as well. Personally, IMO, the big block Cads are the best gasoline V8's made.... thats just how I feel, I personally never gave much thought into the Chevy enignes.... you just see them all over... how many 350's can you look at, at a car show before one becomes like the last? For that reason I am always looking at the oddbals... Caddy V8's if there are any... Olds etc... even the stright 6's, slant 6's etc.... I get tired of seeing the same thing. I also don't think a SBC should be in a fullsize Cad... the only exception being the '93-'96 Fleet, with the LT1... and even then, it was the only engine at the time worty of being used in that configuration...
Gotta realize that the 425 and the 350 were serving 2 different purposes... the 425 was downsied, de-powered and made more fuel efficent and emmission happy then compared to the 500 that came form before it... so performance was on a steady path down.... by 1990, performance started to pick back up, so they used the 305 and 350..... so on one side you have a car with an engine that has a steady performance drop, and on the otherside, and engine with a steady performance boost..... really, if more power wan'ts the issue, then I am sure GM would have stuck with the Olds 307 for 2 more years.... the the fact that despite all that, the 425 was on a trend to decrease performance while the 350 was on a trend to increase performance speaks about its power as well.
Would I never own a '90-'92 350 brougham? of course not, I think they are very nice cars, and given the era, it was a fitting engine. If I had a 350 Brougham, would I swap a 500 in? honestly... probably not, I would just work with the 350.... but idealy, yeah, I'd want a 500..... there is something about big block Cads that are so different then any other engine.... from the way they look, their made, how they run, what they can do, how to build one up and everything.
