“I want to use EFI because it is easier to tune.” -some guy with an AOL email address (probably)
The current crop of EFI systems are self learning. You install them and let them do their thing.
Uh huh. That isn’t what everyone who is throwing one in the trash and buying a carb from me say.
I have no issue with efi. I have issue with people thinking it is a magic wand. You cannot buy your way out of learning how to tune an engine.
Well it does depend on what ones own definition of "better" is.
It is not an "easy" conversion on a pre-efi car. Personally knowing more then a few "street rodders", I'm not surprised at one making a statement like that. Thinking about it, I've never seen them chew gum and walk at the same time? I wonder if that is significant?
There are decisions that must be made in the EFI component selection that are not part of the ECU's purpose to decide.
The self learning concept can be over ridden and you can rewrite the programs baseline strategies. Do you need to know what you are doing with that? Sure thing but there are capabilities that the EFI systems have that are not possible with carbs.
It does help if the installer/owner is not a Neanderthal and does not try to "fix" something by hitting it with a club, like some have done with carbs I might point out.
Personally I am perfectly happy with my 2-4 Holley setups on my GT350 and GT500. The Webers are a different story all together, but putting down self learning EFI systems without specific knowledge of what is going on is just foolish and just going to come back and bite you. Well maybe not actually bite, but certainly make earlier uneducated statements embarrassing.
I can't imagine how ridiculous both of my engines would look replacing them with dual throttle bodies and considering that both are very good running examples of '60s maximum carburetion strategies, why mess with them at all?
As an old school guy to begin with, I am always slow to admit the improvements in going from analog to digital systems. Current music recordings and photography are good examples but there are still "artists" around that work in 16 track and film.
Different strokes for different folks. Different ways on different days. No one is wrong. Each just have different perspectives, have their own reasons for that and their own definition of what is good and what is disappointing.
Some of these points are what opens up the Weber 48ida set ups to criticisms or more correctly statements of disappointment. They are not going to make your 289 pull like a 427. A "funny thing" about that though. At wide open throttle, they pull just like an 8 stack EFI system does. They just get there differently with what some might refer to as "low rpm driveability concerns".
It should be pointed out that none of the systems are perfect. Neither are the people involved or the decisions that they make. That I think is part of the reasoning. Imperfect systems created by imperfect creatures.
In drag racing at least, there is a reason that there are "grudge matches" and no one can deny that was motivation between Shelby, Ford and Ferrari, not to mention GM.
Some of us learned to enjoy the spectacle of the bickering and later put our own toes in the water to see what it felt like and one of the side effects being feeling the frustrations of making the systems work for us.
For me it's all fun. Others will never be satisfied or ever could be.