351 W Vs Modified 302
 

guy's i have a dilema. My block has nearly 200,000 miles on it and i am thinking of the future. I am trying to decide what i want to do. I always wanted to put a 351W under the hood, but now i am thinking of keeping a 302 and just putting a little more on it. I have a few friends at the track that have supercharged 302's and juiced 302's and they run 11's and still get 20+ miles to the gallon. I guess my only doubt's of going with the 351 is having to buy new parts to fit the 351 like: lower intake, headers,.... and so on. And is the 351 as long lasting as the 302? What is the gas mileage comparison? Not that it makes a difference but if i can fly and get better gas mileage at the same time then i will take it. But i think the 351 under the hood of a fox is cool, because of the torque and so on. I know that back in the day cubic inches made the difference, but now days i don't think it is that necessary. what do yall think?

Keep the 302. The 351 is a stronger block, but I don't think you'll see as good of fuel economy from it, and to really get any more power out of a 351 vs a 302, you have to have the parts to support that power.

shoot, must be nice to get 20+ mpg, even high teens would be nice :rolleyes:

whats fuel economy ?????
go with the 351 it gives you room to grow also i would think my 393 with the boost turned down has to get better milage than a blower car turning the blower in traffic.

I would have to say that if you wish to make more than 450-500hp the 351 would be the better choice, but that would require forced induction on either engine. I find the 302 can run stride for stride with the 351 for a street combo.