Engine Masters Season 6

We all know valve float as the evil that lurks beyond the redline, the dreaded robber of horsepower and destroyer of valves. But what is it really? What does it look like when it happens? And how can you put it as high in the RPM band as possible?

We strap the General Mayhem 440 on the dyno to make some decisions on which intake and headers to run in the car, but also -- and most importantly -- to squeeze out more than the 707 Hellcat horsepowers that have been so unceremoniously yanked from the framerails.

Some claim it makes more power, others say it helps an engine rev more quickly, but can the simple flopping of a piston's orientation in the cylinder really affect its performance or behavior? Today, the guys perform what may be the first ever back-to-back comparison of factory-oriented pistons against reverse-oriented ones.

It's finally time for some 5.9 Magnum action! This is the easiest Mopar V8 to score out of the junkyard, and we're shooting out intake upgrades for a street car swap. We pit the factory kegger manifold against a worked-up aftermarket piece, an upsized throttle body, and even against two carbureted manifold options.

We explore the differences between single and split-duration camshafts. Can the extended exhaust duration of the split pattern crutch poor exhaust flow? Does the single pattern really suffer at RPM in the name of low-speed torque? And why would you ever not want to run a split pattern?

We dive into the fundamentals of the cheapest, easiest and most effective way to give your motor some grunt: nitrous oxide. Using the most basic 150-horse plate system, we'll show you the basics on installation, safety and tuning for nitrous on your typical carbureted engine.

We've done air filter shootouts before, but none like this. On this episode of Engine Masters, it's all about finding the least restrictive way to route a cold air system. We're here to find out how much the size of that filter, as well as the length, path and diameter of the tubing, affects your performance.

The guys explore the cooling benefits of water-methanol injection. They'll be looking at any added tolerance to detonation, intake air temps, how much to inject at what rpm, and the optimal ratio of water to methanol. There's plenty to explore with a little experimentation on the dyno.

The guys study the fueling demands, horsepower, and the pros and cons of running 116 octane gasoline, E85, methanol and oxygenated gas. They all have different oxygen contents, air/fuel ratio demands, and ultimately, different abilities to cool the cylinder and create power. What does that all mean, and which is right for you?

You've seen them, you've drooled over them, and you may have even run them. We dive into the wavy waters of individual runner systems, how you can tune them, and whether all that cool makes any more power than the stalwart carburetor.

We love our big-block Mopars here at Engine Masters, and we've finally put together a horsepower-per-dollar comparison of street-centric wedge cylinder heads. Want to spend bottom dollar on some 906s? We've got you covered. Want to step all the way up to CNC-ported, tall-valve set of TFSes? Tested.

We all know that adding any sort of restrictor -- like a muffler -- is going to hurt power on a turbo motor. We also know that sometimes it just makes sanity-sense to cut down excess noise. The crew tries to find out just how much horsepower that sanity costs.

Sounds boring, we know. But if you're like us, you've always chosen an oil pump based on some knee-jerk instinct. It's time to finally learn the difference between standard, high-volume and high-pressure oil pumps in terms of pressure, flow and horsepower. Come see what there is to know on this episode of Engine Masters.

We're taking trips to the moon as we test different combos on a 331ci small Chevy. Starting with an excellent little combo good for 7K RPM, we step it up to show you how improved airflow on a small motor equals pure RPM. Best of all, we do it all with simple parts and a small budget.

It's a battle between the iconic 440 Six Pack and the legendary 426 Hemi, and we're settling age-old bets on this one. Do they live up to lore of 440 grunt and 426 top end? Can the Six Pack cool outgun the famed Hemi heads?

Does compression make power? The easy answer is yes, but the answers we're looking for today have more to do with how it makes power and how sensitive it becomes to temperature on pump gas. Does it favor top or bottom-end power, or does a point of compression equal a linear increase across the powerband?

Holley carbs have been known for years as the standard by which all racing carbs are measured, but today's question is this: CFMs being equal, is there any difference in power between the smaller-bore, narrower-set "street" style 4150 carb and the bigger-bore, wider-base 4500 series Dominator carb?

When it comes right down to it, nothing that happens on the dyno matters until you get the engine in the car. Today on Engine Masters, the guys test everything that will be used in David Freiburger's Model A drag car.

Does port matching an intake manifold create enough power to justify the cost? On Engine Masters, the crew is going to find out with an out-of-the-box Super Victor, a port-matched Super Victor and an off-shelf Wilson-prepped version.

The crew is on the hunt for two things. First, they're searching for low air temps and big HP numbers as they compare the heat-extracting power of under-roots intercoolers vs. E85! And secondly, they aim to bring up the entire curve by swapping the short-runner blower manifold for a tunnel ram.

Since the dawn of supercharging, compressed air has been stuffed through carburetors, and it's as true now as it was back then. The question today on Engine Masters, presented by AMSOIL, is: what type of carb hat is best for that blow-through application?

As unsexy as it is, protecting an engine starts with the oil and filter. On Engine Masters, presented by AMSOIL, the crew tests 10 different filters back-to-back-to-back. From the cheapest to the trickest in the catalog, they're on the hunt for the best.

The guys find out if mandrel-bent exhaust pipes really make more power over the crimped and crunched pipes the local shop bends up. They test them with mufflers, without mufflers, with turbo mufflers and more on Engine Masters.

On Engine Masters, presented by AMSOIL, the guys put a Demon 650 blow-through carb up against Holley's new Super Sniper Stealth throttle-body-style EFI to see which reigns supreme in terms of tunability, cylinder-to-cylinder distribution and horsepower.

The guys run tests with 87, 91, 110, 116 and even E85 to see if higher octane makes more power, and if an engine's optimal timing even changes with different octane. See what happens as we pump up the gas on Engine Masters.

On Engine Masters, presented by AMSOIL, the crew dives into how cylinder head flow and boost affect horsepower. They run their 363 Windsor once with 195cc and 225cc heads, and declare once and for all if cylinder heads actually matter under boost.