The ultimate Carb

[askalbert]

It probably depends on what the "ultimate use" is.

Many people swear by the single 1 3/4" for good power with ease of tuning, economy may be better with a 1 1/2".

Twin 1 1/2" lovely with a race cam at full noise but may loose on torque lower in the rev range to the factory 1 1/4" setup.

Sidedraft Webers have great power, Dellortos similar. 40mm throats are preferred by some over the 45s for drivability.

Downdraft Webers are used by many car manufacturers to great effect. (I mean the common type, not IDA - forget those.)

Main issue with a few options is available space, and noise intrusion into the cabin.

If you can find a copy of Vizard's book on the Mini, or the A-Series to loan there is enough there to get you going with what you have, or what is local to you. Twin carb or other manifolds can be made if unavailable. Don't get too caught up with the exotic, the factory in the UK tried twin cam heads in the 70s but found that torque suffered. My personal wish is for a seven or eight port crossflow head with fuel injection coming in from the front, I guess we all can dream...

For those with money to burn, the Specialist Components BMW motorcycle twin cam head conversion when set up properly has an addictive sound, KAD Twin Cam similar.

KAD 5 port with sideraft Weber on dyno:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOZkRQzGQk4

Arden 8 port in car (my fav):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHjf9zhQIRk

For an example car build, can't go past the Janspeed project Mini with Cooper S engine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzoLw6o3_f0

Here is David Vizard in a lecture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow5cGV7bXCw