Information AboutBig-block |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BIG-BLOCK | |
| automobile engines | |
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Smaller V8 engines are known as Small-block s; some members of small-block engine families may exceed 6 L, blurring the distinction somewhat. The distinction came about in the early 1960s when the large Full-size Car s needed a bigger V8 than the smaller Mid-size and Compact Car s. Before that, manufacturers normally had only one V8 engine line. The term is normally used only for engines from the "Big Three" ( Ford Motor Company , General Motors , and Chrysler Corporation ) since the other companies did not keep two V8 engine size families. Big-block V8s were most commonly used in Full-size and Luxury Car s, rather than performance vehicles. Thus, they were commonly tuned and built for smoothness, low-end Torque to get heavy cars rolling and effortless cruising. Many big-block engines were less technically sophisticated than their small-block counterparts, and their Power-to-weight Ratio s were often lower. Today of course big-block engines are used in racing. They did see performance applications, however. Performance-tuned big-blocks were used in NASCAR racing, and Homologation requirements saw these engines sold for road use. NASCAR's 7 L engine size limit explains why many high-performance big blocks are of this size; Chevrolet's 427, Ford's 427, Chrysler's 426 Hemi . In the mid to late 1960s, the explosion of the Muscle Car market saw performance big-blocks fitted to intermediate-size cars. Some used derivatives of the racing engines, but in addition performance versions of former luxury motors were produced. After the 1973 Oil Crisis , the days of the big-block in passenger cars were numbered. By the end of the 1970s , they were no longer to be found. However, these engines remained in use in Pickup Truck s and other non-car uses. Currently, only GM offers big-block V8s in its trucks; Ford and Chrysler essentially replaced their big-blocks with stretched V10 versions of their small-block engines in the early to mid 1990s. FORD GENERAL MOTORS CHRYSLER |
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