Eight expert Mopar engine builders descend on COMP Cams® R & D facility for another successful Mopar engine challenge

Packing powerfully potent Big Block Mopar engines, eight of the best Chrysler engine builders in the country dared to challenge the COMP Cams® engine dyno for the fourth annual running of the Amsoil/Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge. From September 15-18, the COMP Cams® dyno managed to contain the power of these “spec” 440cid Mopar engines, testing the creative assembly skills of a very competitive field of seven engine builders: Indy Cylinder Heads, ProMax Performance, J.D. Engines, Schurbon Engine & Machine, Chenoweth Speed & Machine, JMS Racing Engines and Cederstrand Engines. The results of this sure-to-be-legendary competition will be revealed in the February 2009 issue of Mopar Muscle Magazine.

In what is becoming an annual pilgrimage to Memphis for Mopar power builders, this year’s challenge was significantly different by requiring builders to retain the stock engine stroke, a 0.030-inch maximum overbore and the use of only one style of cylinder heads. The increased list of required parts netted the elimination of the retail cost scoring criteria used in other Mopar Muscle Engine Challenges and allowed this year’s competition to be more of a pure horsepower and torque building exercise. With updates to the event posted daily on www.powerperformancetv.com, fans could see the competition unfold as it happened.

Mopar Muscle editor Randy Bolig said, “This year's Amsoil/Mopar Muscle Engine Challenge is a little different from previous years. In the past, we let the engine builders choose the parts they felt would work the best while staying within a specific set of rules. After the challenge was over, we tallied each engine's total peak horsepower and torque from a single dyno pull, and divided that number from the retail cost of a pre-determined list of hard parts used (e.g. heads, rods, etc.).”

Check out the upcoming issues of Mopar Muscle for the full results and an indepth behind the scenes recap of the event.