[Adam C.]

And so this brings us to our last topic, displacement.

In reality the displacement should be the first thing that is set, and then all other parameters determined. Suppose that for this case we have built our little 302, spent a ton of cash on ported heads, a custom cam, and custom length manifold and headers, but we aren't happy with the insane amount of power we are making.

So we pull out the crank and start stroking the engine (well past what a 302 block can hold).

First we are looking at VE for engines with displacement of 302, 327, 351, 377, and 402 CI. If there is some flow potential left in our cylinder heads or if our resonance tuning is set a little too high in the RPM range for our 302, one of these engines should exploit it.

In looking at VE, we are measuring how well the engine is being filled. Because we are increasing the displacement, the same VE at a given RPM in a larger engine would mean that we are actually taking in more air.

By increasing the displacement, we are shifting the resonance tuning further down in the RPM range. Notice that the peak VE is also lowering in magnitude. So are the bigger engines making more power? To know that for cedrtain we need to look at horesepower.