[Jeff Chambers]

The Holley is a good intake, that's for sure. This year FFW allowed the EFI cars in Trophy Stock to choose from the Holley and the Edelbrock Performer RPM, in addition to the previous GT-40/Explorer/Cobra intakes. Us EFI guys needed something that breathed a little better than the Ford intakes in order to keep pace with the carbureted guys. The Ford intakes just give out above 6000rpm.

About half the guys went with the RPM and half with the Holley and we all saw about the same gains on both the chassis dyno and the flow bench. In general, we gained about 15rwhp over the GT-40/Cobra combinations. But, we're limited to 65mm throttle bodies which are now the restriction in the system. The real key is to get your intake system flowing at least 15% over that of your heads. My GT-40 combination only had two or three runners that flowed as much or more than my heads when flowed with the upper/lower/spacer/TB. After switching to the RPM, all runners had at least the 15% buffer over my head intake flow. On average, I picked up probably .2 to .3 seconds and maybe 1.5mph over the GT-40 combination. The motor is alot more free revving though, real noticeable, especially above 6000. The Holley guys saw about the same pickup.

I personally went with the RPM because of the port size. The GT-40P heads I'm running love port velocity, so I wanted to keep a smaller port cross section (Fel-Pro 1250) to keep the velocity up. I also wanted to retain some of the low end torque that I think you loose with the Holley because of its large port cross section (Fel-Pro 1262). Some other things that I liked better about the RPM are the removeable plenum cover, lighter weight/less thermal mass, and easier installation. The Holley kinda blocks access to the FPR on a stock rail assembly which can be a PITA. The Holley is a *******' monster, size-wise. The RPM also clears my tall valve covers with the 1/2" spacer, which the Holley won't.

Both intakes are good intakes, with the Holley probably being a little bit better if your combination can utilize the extra flow. The RPM will support a huge amount of HP through a wide power band though. All-in-all, I think its six of one and half-dozen of the other.