How much will HP vary from block to block on the factory? I only ask because occasionally you get a car that just seems faster than its brethren. My '97 Intrepid really has some pickup, even competing well (down low) with some of the 300M's.
Jimbo
Wasn't a 3.5 available for the old Intrepid? If you have it the hp isn't much different and torque may have been on your side. Didn't your mother tell you not to race?
I guess it is just like it used to be. Anything assembled on an assembly line is the same but different then the rest of the product being assembled. I can't give you exact numbers(I don't think ANYONE can do that) but I know that some vehicle engines can be "Hotter" then others, coming off of the same line. I had a 69 Plymouth GTX 440 cu.in.- 4 speed that had one of those engines in it, from the factory. Super quicker, right from the show room, then the other STOCK vehciles.
"Jim Whall" wrote
I would imagine that 5% variation isn't too far off. Ford had a severe problem related to manufacturing with it's Mustang SVT in 2000 that resulted in engines being up to 50hp short - that would be closer to 15% - and had to recall them.
Think about bell curves when you think about stuff like this.
Floyd
You really can't compare a 69 vintage engine with a modern electronically controlled engine. The timing in the old carburated engines was whatever you set it at when you did a tuneup (remember those, you had to do them twice a year back then). A modern engine has a computer that's making constant adjustments to insure that the engine is operating in the range that it's designers intended. I'd expect that the variability from one engine to an another that's using the same firmware is pretty small. Of course the manufacturer might be tweaking the firmware every now and then and that would effect the relative performance of a engine produced on one day and one produced at a leter date.
Gears play a big difference in these cars. A 69 GTX could have 2.92 or 4.10 or anything in the middle.
A 383 RR with 3.91 was way faster then a GTX 440 with 2.92.
Several years ago I came across an old R&D paper that had the following expected performance speed info for a 68 RR 383 4speed
Gear 1/4 time MPG
2.92 15:10 20 3.23 14:80 17 3.55 14:50 15 3.91 14:10 13Larry
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