In the 1960’s there was a major horsepower war going on between the big three automakers, along with internal battles between each automakers own brands in some case. Buick, one of GM’s interestingly versatile brands, was well known for making performance machines that had a refined edge. They weren’t bare bones power makers like the Chevrolets, but more of a gentleman’s hot rod. And because of their engine designs, Buick’s were never quite the horsepower monsters that Chevrolet had created, but that’s because low rpm subtle grunt was more appropriate for their market. But if you wanted to sell a Buick GS to a gentleman looking for a hot rod, it still had to move out and be able to smoke the tires at will. We’ll, the way to do that was with torque, and lots of it. In 1970 Buick had the highest factory rated torque, at 510 lb ft, of any factory big block ever offered. It is still the holy grail of torque ratings and is bragged on by Buick and GM fans everywhere.
But how do these big block engines from other manufacturers really stack up. Not specs from the people trying to sell you one, but from the engine dyno that doesn’t care who is bolted to it?
Well there is nobody better than Richard Holdener to do such a test and we’re excited as hell to see just how this video pans out. It’s the ultimate big block torque test, with the Buick 455 facing off against the 454 Chevy, 460 Ford, and 440 Dodge. But who will reign supreme? And will a few bolts on make a big difference?
Check out the video to find out.
’70 Cad 500 had 550 tq
For a stock big block. I’ll go with the 1970 Cadillac 500.. 400hp and 550 ftlbs. Blows all these out of the water in the realm of torque on a stock block.
For street performance duty , I’l go with the buick 455 over a Chevy 454 . The 455 is way lighter . Chevy has more potential , but on a mild compression , mild cam combo it doesn’t shine like it should , same for the 426 street Hemi . They are too Heavy and needs to be waken up by a more radical combo .
Torque is for tightening your lug nuts. Horsepower is for winning races and everything else fun. Buick fanatics live in a fantasy world of “Hemi killer” cams, and are still riding on the lassiter vs bade shootout. Always comparing the 455 favorably to the Hemi. Hemi fanatics don’t have “Buick killer” cams, they have 8 second stockers and top fuel,
The LS6 and LS7 both had almost 100 ft lbs more torque. Just at a higher rpm. These two engines were high rpm big blocks making big power into 6000 + rpms from the factory. I built race boat engines and to me I love a Hemi in a vintage hull. Once the 454 was released the majority of performance boat’s were utilizing them. Why because they were arguably the best. A jet boat pump demands high torque and high rpm, these two factory engines were perfect. Factory ratings were net hp an trq at a mere 5200 rpm.