I've had great luck with both.. But If had to pick one it would be the Q-jet. Great economy and drivability with great performance..Holleys are just great at what they are meant to do... PERFORM.. Just my 2 cents
holley vs q-jet
- Thread starter megaladon6
- Start date
I have used Holley, Carter and Quadra-Jet. I Did not like the Holley much, but to be fair, I have spent the least time with them. The Carters/Edelbrock that I have run on a few have been great. easy tuning and good performers. I had a Quadra-Jet on my big block truck and as far as I am concerned, it is the best all around. Now my truck is used as a daily driver and tow vehicle. Not an all out race set up, for sure. However, with the Carter on it now, it does not perform as well and gets worse mileage than it did with the Q-Jet.
412CID said:
Huh? really?
Each was designed for a specific purpose. For an all out race car a Holley has advantages but for a street car, the Q jet wins for fuel economy and performance. I've run both on my car and have always gone back to the Q jet.
Anubis said:
I think they both offer advantages depending on the application a Quadra-Jet is great for a stock to mild performance engines and can be upgraded to perform well at some higher horsepower levels, the spreadbore design does have advantages for mileage but not for the top end performance.
I definitely think for all out performance and high rpm usage and also ease of working on goes to a Holley style carburetor which could be made by Holley, AED, Demon,Quick Fuel or any other reputable builder etc. that are based on Holley's design.
I think a lot of people just don't take the time to really learn how to tune a specific carb or they expect out of the box perfect performance and I am sure some even base their conclusions on which is best from someone elses opinions or even on how it looks (think Predator carb) rather than real world experience.
As far as "Street Cars" that really depends on your definition since even though my car is not a daily driver I still consider it a street car but there is no way a Quadra-Jet is going to be comparable to my Quick Fuel 1150 which performs flawlessly on my big block.
This tells me that you don't know much about Q-Jets. I use a Q-Jet in my 85 Cutlass street car with a 403. I run high 12's on motor and mid 11's with a 125 shot.412CID said:
cant remember which one it was but on my 75 trans am, i got the best power/drivability with a large cfm quadrajet from a cadallac. tried holleys and carters both and ran way better with the qjet. found a old school guy here in town that was a wiz at tuning them and recurvining the distibutor to get the best out of it.
Just my two cents......
In my 30+ yrs of automotive experience, I can say that a Q-Jet is by far the most reliable, predictable, and economical carb I seen for street use. I owned several cars with them and I cannot remember having to rebuild or replace any of them. I just installed a Eddy 600 avs on my SBO about 6months ago and I am already looking for a Q-jet to replace it. It leaks, bogs when cold, and hard starts when warm. The Rochester 2bbl I replaced was original (I rebuilt it myself) and it ran fine, started fine, and never leaked. Having never used a Holley, I cant speak for their quality, but I have heard enough about them to conclude that they are meant for street/strip or all out racing use...not as DD's.
In my 30+ yrs of automotive experience, I can say that a Q-Jet is by far the most reliable, predictable, and economical carb I seen for street use. I owned several cars with them and I cannot remember having to rebuild or replace any of them. I just installed a Eddy 600 avs on my SBO about 6months ago and I am already looking for a Q-jet to replace it. It leaks, bogs when cold, and hard starts when warm. The Rochester 2bbl I replaced was original (I rebuilt it myself) and it ran fine, started fine, and never leaked. Having never used a Holley, I cant speak for their quality, but I have heard enough about them to conclude that they are meant for street/strip or all out racing use...not as DD's.
I should really read more of this thread before i put in my 2 cents but here i go.
Ive never had a used Qjet theve all been remans but there about the closest thing ive gotten to a perfect working carburetor out of the box and ready to bolt on. I had a 350 a few years back that with a Qjet i was getting better gas milage than most of my friends were with the 350 tbi. On average there fuel injection was getting them about 16- 18 mpg. On my Qjet in a truck about the same size and weight and 4x4 as that i was getting about 16- 18 mpg with no adjustments anything and it still made great power and yes these were factory 350's. And to add to that every Qjet ive bought I STILL OWN still working amazing outlasting most motors there on.
Heres my experience with holleys. Has one every left me stranded on the side of the road well not that i can remember il give them that but converting a Qjet to a Holley on every stock 350 ive done street driving i never noticed diffrence in power and i never got one working out of the box. Ive always had to do jet changes, power valve changes, float adjustments the works. Then when they were working like i felt they should gas milage always jumped into the toilet untill i broke the bank and eventully put the Qjet back on. And it seemed like everytime winter and summer would show up no matter how i adjusted the choke i always ended up doing a jet change everytime the season changed. No dont freak and say im knocking holleys because for the track they seem like a great carb but thats about it.
So if this is a street/strip car or just a stock driver a Qjets the way to go. But if your doing track and only track you can run a Holley.
But incase you didnt tell the Qjet is always the one i flock too ive never had a bad one. Ive had a few good carters and edelbrocks too and one good thermoquad but still il choose a Qjet over any
Ive never had a used Qjet theve all been remans but there about the closest thing ive gotten to a perfect working carburetor out of the box and ready to bolt on. I had a 350 a few years back that with a Qjet i was getting better gas milage than most of my friends were with the 350 tbi. On average there fuel injection was getting them about 16- 18 mpg. On my Qjet in a truck about the same size and weight and 4x4 as that i was getting about 16- 18 mpg with no adjustments anything and it still made great power and yes these were factory 350's. And to add to that every Qjet ive bought I STILL OWN still working amazing outlasting most motors there on.
Heres my experience with holleys. Has one every left me stranded on the side of the road well not that i can remember il give them that but converting a Qjet to a Holley on every stock 350 ive done street driving i never noticed diffrence in power and i never got one working out of the box. Ive always had to do jet changes, power valve changes, float adjustments the works. Then when they were working like i felt they should gas milage always jumped into the toilet untill i broke the bank and eventully put the Qjet back on. And it seemed like everytime winter and summer would show up no matter how i adjusted the choke i always ended up doing a jet change everytime the season changed. No dont freak and say im knocking holleys because for the track they seem like a great carb but thats about it.
So if this is a street/strip car or just a stock driver a Qjets the way to go. But if your doing track and only track you can run a Holley.
But incase you didnt tell the Qjet is always the one i flock too ive never had a bad one. Ive had a few good carters and edelbrocks too and one good thermoquad but still il choose a Qjet over any
Can anyone point to a resource for rods/jets for a Quadrajet? I live at high altitude, and so far have had the best luck with the Edelbrock 1406. Unfortunately, its tuning is generally a compromise, and I change elevation 2000-3000 feet on a regular basis. Going to fuel injection eventually.
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