Nascar 550 hp limit ??

[427dart]

Since Chevy and Ford are running the Camaro and Mustang body look/theme and at most tracks the horsepower limit /target is
550 with the restrictive spacer with EFI why don't they just run the current production engines??
Both Ford and Chevy have engines that can make 550 HP in NA form and would be MUCH cheaper and more relative to production cars.
Why have a mega trick engine that is cutback to 550 hp?

They are back to 1975 HP levels now when they were running 350 cube old style production FACTORY type small blocks!

[CamKing]

why don't they just run the current production engines??

Because that would be smart, and that's not really NASCAR's thing.

They had the goose that laid golden eggs, and they made goose burgers out of it.

[JoePorting]

I always thought that they should go back to the old style heads/motors from the 1970's. I'd think it would be cheaper. The new motors make too much power.

[redliner]

why don't they just run the current production engines??

Because that would be smart, and that's not really NASCAR's thing.

They had the goose that laid golden eggs, and they made goose burgers out of it.

INDEED!!!

[Brian P]

I always thought that they should go back to the old style heads/motors from the 1970's. I'd think it would be cheaper. The new motors make too much power.

Or a 3.6 V6 (DOHC 4-valve with VVT). They've all got production engines like that, including Toyota, and many other manufacturers that don't currently participate.

[peejay]

It's probably cheaper to design a racing specific engine than to develop an existing one when certain "stock" components are required.

[Schurkey]

the horsepower limit /target is
550 with the restrictive spacer with EFI why don't they just run the current production engines??
Both Ford and Chevy have engines that can make 550 HP in NA form

First Guess: The manufacturers can sell a 550+ hp engine, in a street-driven vehicle, and warranty it, because it will spend less than five minutes making rated power per year, two seconds at a time, (one second at the top of first gear, one second at the top of second gear, and then the geezer behind the wheel needs another set of Depends. ) They cannot build an engine that will make 550 horsepower continuously for hours, and not suffer from Sudden Terminal Disassembly.

It's not the power...it's the durability.





...and you don't really expect Stock Car Auto Racing to actually involve "stock" cars, do you? I bet half the cars in the spectator parking lot aren't "stock".

[midnightbluS10]

I agree. It's the durability. You think a 550hp Coyote can run a 7500 rpm for 6 hours straight? I don't. Nor could an LT-anything or any other OEM engine.

[peejay]

I agree. It's the durability. You think a 550hp Coyote can run a 7500 rpm for 6 hours straight? I don't. Nor could an LT-anything or any other OEM engine.

One of my friends does a lot of amateur endurance racing. He says the Hondas are some of the best, and they can usually make at least 22 hours of a 24 hour race and then limp the rest of the way around, assuming no other mechanical carnage kept the car laid up for a while in the interim. Other enginers generally are not even as good as that. One of his stories involved BMW (the automaker) bringing a new Diesel powered 3-series to one race and they had to do an engine swap halfway through, and even they still didn't finish the 24 hours.

Mazda rotaries, however, have no problem running flat out for 24 hours or more. Of course they are more like racing engines that they tried to hammer into street car duty, rather than the other way around. They did basically dominate IMSA GTU for ten or twelve years, after all.

[1972ho]

The 351 cleveland that they use to use made 550 hp and it was a production block and heads and passed the 500 mile durability test.

[Warp Speed]

why don't they just run the current production engines??

Because that would be smart, and that's not really NASCAR's thing.

They had the goose that laid golden eggs, and they made goose burgers out of it.

Pretty stupid answer really!
And I thought you knew a little about this stuff?!?

[Warp Speed]

The 351 cleveland that they use to use made 550 hp and it was a production block and heads and passed the 500 mile durability test.

That hunk of junk wouldnt make it 10 laps in today's deal before it was spitting parts out, even at 550hp!

[1972ho]

I’m just saying in the past that was a production engine that use to be run in nascar,just like the boss 429 the 427 were all production engines ,so if the wanted to they could more than likely build the newer production engines and make them work.

[427dart]

Who says it has to turn 9000 RPM during a race?

[Bazman]

550hp limit? Geesh, no wonder crowds are dwindling. Boring. I use 40% more than that on closed twisty road events that last a week. Who came up with that stupid idea?