572ci Big-Block Chevy - Heavy Metal

UNOH is an amazing school. Pulling onto campus you would think you arrived at gearhead nirvana. Tractor trailers, combines, diesel and gas engine vehicles, and race cars were being worked on by students more than happy to get their hands dirty while pursuing baccalaureate degrees. Besides art and history, students have access to one of the greatest motorsports education programs on the planet. Multiple buildings filled with state-of-the-art equipment that was kept operating-room clean showed the Challenge competitors that this school meant business. One of the buildings housed a pair of identical DTS engine dynos that we would test our engines on. Calibrated to less than a gnat's short hair difference of each other, the DTS dynos boast the ability to pull just about any engine down to less than 2,500 rpm without any struggle at all, and produce repeatable, accurate results.

We bolted our pile of heavy metal to the dyno and hooked up 13 feet of 3.5-inch exhaust pipe to the loud end of our Magnaflow mufflers to best simulate the real-world performance of this pump-gas, crate engine imitator. When we fired it up it sounded pissed off at the world, and ready to rock 'n' roll. The little hairs started to raise up on my arms. The conductor with his hand on the dyno stick jammed it forward. The engine screamed so loud and mean, you just wanted more. More than the 845 horses it was pumping out. More than the 750 lb-ft it was blasting. More loud exhaust. More pressure pounding on your chest. More of everything. Just more.