hemis don't have any low end power?

[Hemidoug]

It isn't exactly that they have no low end, it's more that a well set up wedge can have more.  Remember the Hemi was set up for high rpm NASCAR all day at 180mph running so the cam profiles, giant valves and ports, big carbs and even some of the inherent physics behind the combustion chamber shape itself all lend themselves to the upper part of the powerband.  Think about all the areas where they were most successful; wide open stock car racing, Top Fuel that sort of thing.
And don't forget that when it came to the Street Hemi, it was basically out of tune when you got it.  It was a race engine that was strangled to make it live on the street.  Let it slide even a little and it became kind of gutless compared to a lot of other muscle engines.  Especially the many wedge engines that were passenger car mills hopped up to perform.  When those ones slid off their peak a bit they still at least could perform like a good passenger car engine.

What ju talkin' bout Willis?

Maybe someone needs a little spin in a certain 69 Charger?

In all seriousness....I start to make power at around 2k and it's like the energizer bunny after that ALLLLL the way to 6500....I'll trade the part below 2k for the part above 5k any day....

[Hemidoug]

we can argue semantics, but i was not there to see the races.  I dont know how well your track is prepped.

The fact that they could not get traction does not prove your point that your hemi can beat them in a 330 foot race, nor that it has the means to back up your initial argument that hemi's have equal or more output at the lower end than a wedge motor.  

Since you got traction and they didnt, would you have beat them if they did get traction off the launch?

take it to a track that is properly prepped and is a full drag strip, have video, then come back with your argument.

I don't have to post a video, I have the trophy, and there were members of this site at the race.  If you can't put the power to the track, you lose. It is as simple as that.  I have never seen a "prepped track"  on the street, where low end power is supposed to be so important.  

Is that not what the debate is about?  Low end power is important on the street, and some say hemi's are terrible down low.  My experience has been otherwise, and I am sharing my experience.

I think you are confusing the lack of bottom end torque in poorly tuned Hemis to all Hemis in general.....the Hemi is superior to a wedge in terms of the broad and steep torque curve, no question about it. However, a Hemi is MUCH more sensitive to TUNE then a wedge...and that is why some Hemis run like dogs....it takes attention to detail to make a Hemi run...but once it does there is nothing like it in the world....

[Ghoste]

However, a Hemi is MUCH more sensitive to TUNE then a wedge...and that is why some Hemis run like dogs....it takes attention to detail to make a Hemi run...but once it does there is nothing like it in the world....

THAT is what I was saying , I think you Hemi owners are reading me as dissing your engine and that isn't the case.  It was a race engine that Chrysler purposely made bad in order to operate on the street.  Let it slip even a little bit and it was a dog, a big dog.  The fact that you two guys have great running Hemi's is not a case for an argument, it's more a model for the dog ones to look up to.
And trust me, just because I don't OWN a Hemi does not mean for a single second that I don't have any experience with them.  I've driven them in a variety of body styles and status from Race Hemis to unrestored survivors and trailers queens.  I've driven them and been for many rides in them Doug, lots of them and trust me, the street ones aren't all world beaters.

[Hemidoug]

I was just bustin' on ya Ghost.....

[68X426]

I too have owned and driven them all. I own a Hemi today.

I think I hear the following: there are more top notch street 440's than there are street Hemi's. I'll agree. 

I think I hear: one can buy more street torque, at a better price, for the 440 than Hemi. I'll agree. 

And: it's a very high probability that a street 440 will be friendlier and an overall better performer than the street Hemi, (all else equal). I'll agree. 

IMO they are equal for real world torque in the majority of applications, and that was the original post issue. Is the design of the Hemi inherently superior on the 440? Yes. But design and results are different, so it still depends on how the motor is used and cared for.

Now, can't we all just get along? 

[Ghoste]

Doug, does that mean I can't get a ride in your car now?  

[John_Kunkel]

Back to the OP, Ghoste said it all in his first reply, everything else is just yada, yada, yada war stories.