Read the ENTIRE article before you make a buying decision on anything!

Got two interesting emails this week that really reinforce the term "Buyer Beware". One was from a guy who spent major bucks installing an LS3 / "E-Rod" crate engine in his '72 Chevelle. The car ran great, but he was disappointed when he took it to the track. He only bought the package largely because of two magazine articles-Hot Rod's Crate Motor Shootout-where they tested 8 different GM engines-and Hot Rod's "Project Disco". Both of these LS3- powered Project cars ran in the 11s, yet his Chevelle could only run a 13.55 at his local track. He asked me if something could be wrong with his engine or car combo. I replied, no, that his car was running as good as it possibly could-a 4,070 lb Chevelle that runs 13.55 with street tires, through the mufflers,and using a TH350 with a stock torque converter and 3.55:1 gears is pretty damn good performance in anybody's book. The '69 Chevelle that Hot Rod tested-with a box-stock LS3- was a gutted race car with a 10 point roll cage, a fiberglass hood, a 9 inch Ford rear end and a ladder-bar suspension that weighed 3,520 lbs. In addition to being 500 lbs lighter-this car also had 28X10.50X15 wrinkelwall slicks, a 4.44:1 axle ratio, open exhausts, and a TH400 with an 8-inch TCI 5,100 rpm stall converter!!. I asked if he'd read the article thoroughly-all this information was disclosed. Of course Hot Rod's test mule-being 500 lbs lighter and having slicks, 4.44:1 gears, a drag-race optimized suspension, and a 5-grand converter is going to run substantially faster than his car with street tires, 3.55:1 gears, a stock suspension and a stock converter!!  "Project Disco" was a 1979 Z/28 Camaro that they stuffed an LS3 engine into. This car weighed 3,660 lbs, had a Tremec five speed stick, and a 3.73 posi rear end, and it only dropped into the 11s with a "Shot of Nitrous". Again- it was a lighter car with more mechanical advantage-a stick and stiffer gearing, and oh yeah-don't forget the nitrous. Now Hot Rod magazine didn't do anything wrong-they printed all the information about both vehicles. He just didn't read it-all he saw was the 1/4 mile times. If I buy that engine-I'll go that fast. I asked him-has he read a road test of a new Camaro SS. Yes he had. Ok I said- a 2012 Camaro SS weighs about 4,000 lbs and has a 400 hp LS3 engine and a 3.45:1 axle ratio and every test I've seen in magazines has them running low 13s in bone-stock trim. Why would you think that your 4,000 lb Chevelle with the same engine and similar gearing would run 2 full seconds faster?  "Because of those magazine articles". AAAAUUUGGHH!!!!  "Didn't you read anything I emailed you?" "I read it." "Then read it 500 times until you understand how gearing, nitrous and traction affects performance!!"   The second one was a guy who had a '77 L82 Corvette that ran low 13s in street trim. It had a TH350 with a 2,500 rpm converter, 3.55:1 gears and he'd added headers, and an Edelbrock Torker II intake and matching cam. He was totally happy with the car's performance-it would smoke the tires as long as he wanted to stay on the throttle, and if he drove like a normal person it got 16 mpg. Then he read a single-plane intake comparo in Car Craft. The Torker II was ranked #1 in "bang for the buck" but ranked low in total power when compared to some other offerings by Dart, Brodix, Weiand, and some other Edelbrocks. He asked me if he should replace his intake with one of the manifolds that fared better in this test!!  My answer-Absolutely not!!  Here's why-the test mule- was a 10:1 406 inch small-block Chevy with 215cc Trick Flow heads, an MSD ignition, an 850 cfm Holley carb and a solid-roller cam with 248 / 256 dgrees duration at .050, and .613 lift!!!  This was a 500+ hp race motor to start with. So yes,-the Torker, the Weiand X-celertor, and other basically street intakes are going to make less power than the competition style Dart, Brodix, Super Victor style etc on a peak hp dyno pull on this MONSTER test mule. In fact-if he put one of these bigger intakes on his 9:1 350 with stock 157 cc heads and a cam with "only" 232 duration and .488 lift-( Compared to a 10:1 400 with 215 cc heads and a 256 duration / .613 lift cam )  he would show a big loss in low-speed and mid-range torque, and very little, if any top-end improvement. And these competition style intakes wouldn't fit under his hood!  Luckily-he understood what I was saying and decided to leave his car that he liked alone!!  What I'm marvelling at is his initial reaction-a magazine said this intake was better-so I should immediately go buy it. Here's where you have to really read the articles. The part that makes the most peak hp on a dyno is not always the best-especially for a street-driven car. So read-I mean really read all the specs before you rush out and buy the latest and greatest piece of equipment that a magazine is dyno-testing.