Although the head’s superior physical strength will allow engines to make more power, the real advantage of a billet head comes about when port designs are considered. It is only to be expected that a head shop that deals almost exclusively with professional racers in top echelons of both circle track and drag racing is running an ongoing R&D program. This is a
must if they are to stay at the forefront of race engine development. Proof of Ultra Pro’s commitment in this area is the impressive successes they have had in Pro Stock over the last five years.
All this shows when the heads are flow tested. Although available with valve sizes from 2.180 to 2.250 for the intake and 1.6 to 1.625 for the exhaust, there was only the opportunity to do a quick test on the biggest valve variant. The test was done on a bench that I was the last to calibrate, so you can take the numbers as within about 1%. On the intake the flow reached 457 cfm at 0.850 inch lift with a fat curve all the way up to that figure. How fat? Fat enough to pass the 200 cfm mark at 0.250 lift and on my regularly calibrated bench. I have never seen a figure that high for a small-block head!
 With the ability to flow 290-plus cfm this port can dump copious quantities of exhaust, making it good for turbo and nitrous applications. The round configuration at the header face also simplifies header production. |
In addition to very strong flow, the swirl this Ultra Pro port developed was also very good. All this was achieved with a port cross-section smaller than you might normally expect. The resulting high port velocity proves good for a wider power band as well as more top end along with the ability for the output to hang on longer after peak power rpm.
On the exhaust side the flow was also very strong. At 0.850 what went out of the exhaust port bettered 290 cfm. That’s better than some race heads with exhaust valves 0.200 inches bigger!
Source:Ultra Pro Machining |
To be of any use all this flow capability needs to be translated into horsepower. Don works closely with his most loyal customers and they get stuff like this first. Results to date have turned in 850 hp 350-inch endurance engines at one end of the scale to 2500-plus hp turbo motors at the other.
At $7400 a pair race ready, but less valves and springs, these heads are not cheap, but if winning races is your goal then sooner or later you may need to up the anti.
