I don't really know about maximum horsepower, but I sure like the idea of 5 main bearings when you're trying to make max power out of an engine. If I had to guess, I'd say the Dodge.
it's remarkable how similiar in size they are to each other, my 241 short block was sitting next to a flathead short block when i got the idea to build myself a poor man's ardun.
I don't have an answer to your specific question...but one might hurt your wallet, while the other will m***acre it.
Keep you honest. It's Ardun after Zora Arkus Duntov. The design is overhead valve. I agree with tubman.
One would ***ume the greater engineering resources available to Dodge would have resulted in better port shapes and valvetrain geometry than that of the Ardun, in turn allowing for greater performance potential from the Red Ram. You realize they're both OHV and have a hemispherical combustion chamber, do you not?
One factor to consider is that a 241Hemi putting out 300hp will cost about $5k to build, while an Ardun would easily cost double that... So consider that you can literally build a 100% Billet internal Dodge hemi for the cost of an Ardun, so I'd imagine that you could definitely see the Dodge win at the end of the day. That being said, the record HP for an Ardun is somewhere north of 700hp and blown, and the highest HP 1st Gen Dodge Hemi I've heard of was somewhere in the 500-550 range naturally aspirated, just because Dodge guys don't go in for forced induction typically. If someone knows of a 241-325 Hemi putting out 600+ HP, feel free to share.
The 700 + HP Ardun with a blower was the top of the heap for the blocks and CI available for those Ardun heads to be bolted on to. That was the max HP that engine design could make. Why would anyone that is perusing max HP of an engine design limit them selves to the 241 -325 CI Dodge Hemi, which is pretty much the bottom step on the Hemi CI food chain? The expense of adding a blower to that small CI Dodge doesn't make much cense when much more power is available in the larger CI Chrysler motor of the same design. That larger Chrysler Hemi that has the potential of doubling the Ardun's max HP, by simply adding that blower. The reason no one added the blower to the small Hemi is because it didn't make much sense, there was no reason or advantage to see how much HP could be made by maxing out the small Dodge Hemi with a blower when 500 HP could be derived by being naturally aspirated, and more power was available by simply going to the bigger Chrysler Hemi. When you chase after the max HP for a motor design, you don't start with the smallest CI available. If you want to compare the engine design differences, either both need to be without forced induction, or both with forced induction. If one gets forced induction and the other doesn't, the one without should at least be able to take advantage of the most CI available from the engine design during the time frame of both designs, which I believe extends up into 59?
I got to thinking about the Ardun heads . Then Googled it and found Bang Shift video with Ronnie Roadster and explained it all. Thanks @ronnieroadster !
Gene, if someone is chasing the ultimate HP/TQ results then the engines we typically play with will not be on the list. The aftermarket 426Hemi packages are simply insane....10,000 horsepower is now the little kid. So, let's consider a couple of reasons to put a pump on an itty bitty 241-270. How about ci restrictions in cl*** racing? How about the small physical size actually fitting in some ch***is where the 392 wouldn't fit no matter how big the shoe horn. How about some folks just liking the challenge of working on a smallish displacement? I am confident that if a blower manifold, of whatever design, were readily available for the 241 that alot more would be building them. Gary