This has been debated through the years and I am sure not everyone will agree. So my purpose here is to show the difference and you decide…
Aluminum Blocks were the rage in the Early days of racing when the Car’s Suspension and Traction with Slicks was not very good.
Eventually the cars started “Hooking Up” a parlance for traction…
As the cars where getting a lot better The Racing Engine Builder started looking for more power. A lot of drag racers Mainly Pro-Stockers where hooking up hard and the front end will not stay down.
Enter the Cast Iron Blocks! Several hard running Pro-Stockers started using cast iron blocks to help keep the front of the car down with the added weight. Unbeknown to some, the real reason was not the weight penalty but a more sinister or slick reason they went back to this “Old Style Block”.
With the NHRA mandated 2350lbs weight on the cars (regardless if aluminum or iron). It started getting obvious that the cast blocks where showing a better speed at the finish line! The Cat was out of the bag! The reason was “THERMAL EFFICIENCY”. The cast blocks where more effective in minimizing the thermal losses from heat dissipated to the cooling system and other factors as a cooler chamber/block was not making as much power per cylinder than a cast block.
Other factors also contributed to this difference:
1. Block distortion of the cylinders was more than the iron version.
2. The Aluminum deck was not as rigid and would not seal as good on elevated compression ratios that was being utilized.
3. Block Deck distortion was pronounced more when the head bolts pull on the aluminum castings.
4. Block rigidity was not as good even with a 4 bolt main caps. Newer blocks like the LS-1 CHEVY,4.6 FORDS Utilize cross bolts to minimize this weakness.
5. With state of the art cooling system modifications coupled with the more “Thermally Efficient” iron blocks. Radical cooling system changes where applied to further exploit this “advantages:
One of them is REVERSE COOLING OF THE BLOCK. Instead of going into the block and then lastly the heads, This was reversed as it is known that the heads are where the heat is mostly contained. Now the coolant is routed First to the heads then eventually to the block !
So with this reverse cooling applied to a race block, higher than usual compression ratios where used successfully. Again the minimizing of the heat losses and taking advantage of this system to increase available horsepower through higher compression ratios that where possible now.
To be continued! I have to eat siopao and lumpia…
If you have any engine tech questions, feel free to ask on the comments section below.
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