The Best HP Rated Car.

Paul Ceasrine · 07-10-2010, 09:25 AM

Mark and Dwight,
Thank You,
You understood what I meant, when I said 'yesteryear'.
Ken, I did not mean todays re-factored HP ratings. Your correct though, the 350/255 LM1 engine at 280HP (todays NHRA HP rating) is what it should have been.
Those early 1969 350/255HP LM1 engines (in the Camaro's and Nova's (12.00-12.49 wt/hp) and Chevelle's (12.50-12.99 wt/hp), did a number on everyone in J/S, K/S and L/S as well as SS/M and SS/N back-in-the-day 69' thru 73'.
They might not have won all the major events back then, but at local tracks those engine combo's in those cars were always in the "Top" of Stock Eliminator.
Looking back, for stock class that 255HP was way low by yesterdays standards. Properly rated at 275 or 280 horsepower, those 69' Camaro's and Nova's would still have been competitive in the 11.00-11.49 wth/hp bracket, (ie; H/S in 69' and I/S in 70'/71').
If you take a peak at the NHRA blueprint specs, you can see that the 350/255HP engine is closer to the 350/300HP engine specs than the 327/250HP engine specs (which it replaced as Chevrolet's base 4-barrel engine). A 275HP to 285HP rating is more in line.
PC

07-10-2010, 09:25 AM	#8
Paul Ceasrine VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 2,546 Likes: 0 Liked 10 Times in 10 Posts	Re: The Best HP Rated Car. Mark and Dwight, Thank You, You understood what I meant, when I said 'yesteryear'. Ken, I did not mean todays re-factored HP ratings. Your correct though, the 350/255 LM1 engine at 280HP (todays NHRA HP rating) is what it should have been. Those early 1969 350/255HP LM1 engines (in the Camaro's and Nova's (12.00-12.49 wt/hp) and Chevelle's (12.50-12.99 wt/hp), did a number on everyone in J/S, K/S and L/S as well as SS/M and SS/N back-in-the-day 69' thru 73'. They might not have won all the major events back then, but at local tracks those engine combo's in those cars were always in the "Top" of Stock Eliminator. Looking back, for stock class that 255HP was way low by yesterdays standards. Properly rated at 275 or 280 horsepower, those 69' Camaro's and Nova's would still have been competitive in the 11.00-11.49 wth/hp bracket, (ie; H/S in 69' and I/S in 70'/71'). If you take a peak at the NHRA blueprint specs, you can see that the 350/255HP engine is closer to the 350/300HP engine specs than the 327/250HP engine specs (which it replaced as Chevrolet's base 4-barrel engine). A 275HP to 285HP rating is more in line. PC Last edited by Paul Ceasrine; 07-10-2010 at 10:06 AM.