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GM played with this in 1968 and though it sounded good.....Zora himself said it isn't worth the money.
The proof is that even the new Corvette does not use one.
The theory behind it is so the engine has a softer "hit" around a road course in and out of corners.
The new Shelby GT350 is the only car ever built in America for production that has a flat plane crank......and some feel it is more marketing than benefit.
There are no aftermarket shelf crankshafts for BBC or SBC readily available...custom piece only. (Bryant would make one for probably $4000)
Pro Stock racer Warren Johnson tried it in his Pro Stock car in the 90's and said a lot of work for no ET gain and it shook everything loose in the car it vibrated so bad
Pro Stock racer Warren Johnson tried it in his Pro Stock car in the 90's and said a lot of work for no ET gain and it shook everything loose in the car it vibrated so bad
I do too, I ran mountain motor pro stock in the early 80's and crossed paths with him and ran into him years later, and we laughed about some of the stuff we all tried.
I tried a tall deck reciprocating assembly in a standard block with some plates made out of steel machined by a friend that worked for B&O railroad. I thought everyone was going to laugh me out of town on that one. But GENERAL Lee Edwards though it may not be stupid because there was a hundred pound penalty for the tall block.
Herb Adams made some 180 degree headers back in the day to help exhaust scavenging. One pipe on each bank crossed over to the opposite side header collector. It had a very similar even firing sound to it, got rid of the V8 stacatto. Heard one once. Sounded more like a Porsche flat six or Ferrarri V12 than a Pontiac V8. Great stuff!
3.0 liter V-8, flat plane crank, 4 downdraft Webers. 255 HP. Not bad for 2 valves and 8.8:1 compression. Idled at 1000 rpm, pulled to 7700 rpm and sounded awesome. Very flat torque curve.
There is a GT-350 owner who frequently attends the local cruise-in at Manassas, VA. I spoke to him two weeks ago and was asking about the flat plane crank in his car. He pointed to a 2017 Mustang GT that was parked near his GT-350 and commented that the stock Mustang would beat him off the line easily. But.....once he got the rpms up his car would be faster.
There is a GT-350 owner who frequently attends the local cruise-in at Manassas, VA. I spoke to him two weeks ago and was asking about the flat plane crank in his car. He pointed to a 2017 Mustang GT that was parked near his GT-350 and commented that the stock Mustang would beat him off the line easily. But.....once he got the rpms up his car would be faster.
You hear a lot of stupid BS at car shows. Read about it online. What are the advantages of a flat crank ? Tell that guy that the guy that wins is the car with the least amount of pounds per HP
The one and only thing is that the crankshaft is lighter weight. So you have less rotational mass to accelerate. If I installed lighter weight aluminum rear wheels and tires I could accomplish the same thing. Lighter flywheel or smaller diameter TC. Lighter weight damper. Aluminum pulleys.
For racing motors you can also make the blocks smaller as in the v12 Ferrari motors that I worked on because of the flat crank smaller counter weights
GM played with this in 1968 and though it sounded good.....Zora himself said it isn't worth the money. The proof is that even the new Corvette does not use one.
gkull said "the guy that wins is the car with the least amount of pounds per HP". Also, add gear ratio of rear axle, gear ratio of transmission, and a bunch of other racer upgrades. I get a lot of "must be really fast" comments about my 68 convert with NOM 454 with a bunch of internal engine upgrades. I usually reply that my 93 Mazda RX-7 with its little 1.3 liter engine is twice as fast. In addition to its engine upgrades that allow me increase the boost to 15 psi and a 4.10 rear axle, most of the car is aluminum, either from the factory or from parts I swapped out for lightweight replacements. Lighter is better.
