Coinciding nicely with the fact that Holley, in its rush to emasculate itself has decided to quit producing ANY carburetors, Edelbrock, which evidently still has some actual men, is stepping up to the plate and hitting an absolute home run with their version of the venerable and world-famous and historically significant Holly 4150 Carburetor. Among the many good features are the thicker, sturdier butterfly shafts, the sturdier 3/16" stud for the air cleaner or blow-through boost hat, multiple throttle position air bleeds accessible right from the top of the carburetor, anti-slosh bowls, anti-pump-up-due-to-cornering-loads float bowl floats, idle air bleeds that are easily adjustable, etc. Oh, but it's just the beginning. Coming soon are the 750, 850, and 950, with replaceable different booster venturis. Truly a leap forward for carburetor fans, and fans of all things mechanical. Not all fuel metering has to be done by a made-in-God-knows-where electronic box.
Many wonder, if fuel injection is the superior way to deliver gasoline to your engine, why do some owners prefer carburetors? This is because older engines can make a ton of power relatively cheaply and they are set up to use carbs. Carbs can also be tuned for altitude relatively quickly if you know what you’re doing. Changing out a carb is also easier and faster than swapping injectors and programming a new fuel curve to an (expensive) standalone ECU. So, the primary factors are: Cost Ease of use Compatibility/ease of configuration
One of the older systems is constant-flow fuel injection systems. With enough mechanical trickery, one must be able to set those up to respond to altitude automatically. Unlike a carburetor, it just has a barrel valve and a fuel butterfly, controlling fuel flow based on RPM and throttle opening, preset by the bypass "pill" to relieve pressure from the injectors. I would think an ambient-pressure-regulated pill could more accurately match the fuel flow to the demands of the situation. These were used to win Can Am for years before Porsche came with their timed-injection Bosch systems mounted to their 917/10 and 917/30 race cars which sent Can Am into a Typical American Racing Tantrum when they used fuel limit regulations to ban the Porsches. At least they didn't invade Germany and rape all the children in Berlin like they did last time.
Addendum: Holley has not ceased carburetor production, but Edelbrock's new 4150 is a gem in its tunability. I was wondering. To achieve maximum fuel vaporization and minimum droplet size, why not just draw the air from under the carburetor, with the fuel already in it? You'd need a Dominator (or two)-sized carb(s) to do the airflow properly, but, hey, why not? Mixture homogenization would reduce IAT's as well as produce more power on the same air:fuel ratio.
