Talk:Ford 385 engine

Power Output SAE Net or Gross?
The article claims power output of 440-460 horsepower, instead of 375 as advertised. Is this SAE Net or SAE Gross? JDS2005 (talk) 01:47, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

The 450 horse your hearing is what the TRUE 429 Super Cobra Jet, horsepower ratings. They were considered unoffical. Ford and other manufacturers used the lower ratings to help with shyrocketing insurance rates. Another example is the 426 Hemi was rated at 425 horse from the factory but its true horsepower was closer to 600, same as the 429 Boss! As exciting as it is to talk about those huge HP numbers, the truth is that the overwhelming majority of 460s were not high performance. The HP for most of these engines in the 70s ranges from 205-260.

Hope that clears things up... these ratings are what are posted by the manufacturers compared to the TRUE ratings. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.200.189.2 (talk) 20:59, 14 December 2010 (UTC)


 * The problem with quoting horsepower figures from this era is that it wasn't until 1971 that manufacturers were required to measure horsepower according to SAE standard J1349. Prior to that most of the advertised horsepower figures were wildly optimistic. It is generally not the case that the "true" power output was more than the advertised horsepower rating. It's quite the opposite. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Trac63 (talk • contribs) 16:29, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Inaccurate HP Figures
Whoever added the hp figures on this page needs to provide some sort of reliable source. SAE net HP ratings only began in 1972, prior to that many manufacturers over or underrated engines. That said, although many engines were known to be overrated or underrated, there rarely is a reputable source to quote "unofficial" hp figures. Further other claims such as the Ford Torino being one of the fastest Police cars for 1974, need some proof. MSP did not perform tests during these years, so what reliable source is this info from? Based on power to weight, I am sure the 1974 Torino with a 460 PI was a strong performer, but did it out perform a 454 Chevelle or a 440 Coronet? This article needs some serious revision to from reputable sources. Much of these horsepower figures seem to be created by someone who is a Ford Police car enthusiast. Caprice 96 (talk) 04:18, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

On the 429cj/scj horsepower ratings
I have never seen a substantive citation on the gross horsepower for the 429cj/scj. About the only citation I have is from pg118 of the 1972 “Complete Ford Book” by Peterson: “Horsepower on the 429 Cobra Jets is about 15-20 more than on the 428CJ. Production 429 engines run right around 315 to 330 horses.” No citation there either, but I find the book credible in general, and believe the statement refers to what Ford called the “B-curve” horsepower, which is close to but not exactly today’s SAE Net horsepower. The key is the “15-20 more than on the 428cj” clause.

A fairly definitive source on the 428cj horsepower is about 385 gross hp, backed up by numerous posts on FordFE.com and dyno tests in Jay Brown’s “The Great FE Intake Comparo” which features a nearly bone stock 428cj build. If we accept that 385 gross hp for the 428cj, we can deduce the following: a.	The 429cj/scj cars ran about the same trap speeds as the 428cj cars. This is observed over dozens of period road tests. b.	The 1970-71 429cj/scj cars were typically about 200 lb heavier than the 1968-70 428cj cars. c.	Using the old “100 lb equals 10 ponies” rule, we can conclude that the 429cj/scj was indeed about 15-20 ponies stronger than the 428cj, as contended in the 1972 Peterson book. d.	I had and knew people back in the day that had factory 429cj/scj cars. They were strong, but not a match for the 426 Hemi or Chevelle LS-6 cars. Those I believe were actually closer to the 450 gross hp level, and their road tests indeed tend to be 2-3mph faster than the 429cj/scj cars. e.	These numbers, 385 gross hp for the 428cj, and 400-410 gross hp for the 429cj/scj, are supported by my own computer dyno program the WerbyFord Gonkulator, which has a pretty good reputation on several forums such as FordFE.com and 460ford.com. I will offer an edit of 400-410 gross hp for the 429cj/scj on this basis; I hope not to offend anyone and of course would welcome more substantive data.

On a related note, I have never seen ratings for the 1972 429 Police or 1973 460 Police, which were strong engines. The Gonkulator calculates 360 hp gross (264 net) for the 429 Police and 367 hp gross (268 net) for the 460 Police, but I know of no dyno data or even road test data for support, so I offer no edits there. I would be very interested in citations for the Police figures.

WerbyFord (talk) 23:51, 15 August 2015 (UTC)WerbyFord

Photo
Clicking on the photo brings up two images. The first is a possibly accurate 429 equipped vehicle. The second is an incorrect image of a Boss 429 engine from a different engine family. John Warg (talk) 19:27, 9 June 2021 (UTC)