Why Fuel Injection?
When considering the costs of retro-fitting a vehicle to EFI or upgrading a current TBI vehicle to Port Fuel Injection the question has been raised: Why Fuel Injection and not Carburetion?
It is true that Carburetors have been around for nearly a century now and the aftermarket offers a vast array of parts and modifications for these devices in order to modify, restore or improve their performance. This makes the cost of doing these modifications quite low in comparison to the initial cost of fuel injection.
The question has been raised: If carbs make more horsepower, why inject? The fact of the matter is carbs do make more power than fuel injection. More peak power, that is. The theory behind this explanation is that on a carbureted engine, the fuel flows along with the air the entire length of the intake runner. Many say, this is what allows the intake charge to remain at a lower temperature than just air alone thru the same intake. This is true to a point. Others argue that a wet-flow intake (fuel and air) flows slower than a dry flow (air alone) intake which would seem to contradict the fact that carbs make more peak power.
The Truth: Well, yes, carbs still do make more peak power when tuned correctly for the atmospheric conditions. But, it is nearly impossible to accurately tune a carburetor and keep it in tune for changes that occur throughout the day, let alone the year. Combine that with the fact that a wed-designed PFI intake will yield a far better torque and horsepower curve than any wet-flow intake could ever hope to do. Also, on a PFI intake, fuel gets injected in equal quantities to each cylinder regardless of manifold design. what does this all mean? Well, more simply put, peak power is nice, but if you are only hitting that briefly during a run, then the relatively flat torque curve of a comparable PFI engine will get you every time. Also, electronics make it possible for the PFI system constantly tune and compensate for changing atmospheric conditions in ways that carbs cannot even dream of.
The Conclusion: Well, this one is up to you. The facts are out there. It just depends on, would you rather spend a little more now for the EFI or about the same (or more) later in jetting kits, intakes and other things needed to maintain those carbs. Besides, if carbs were so great, why aren't they an option on today's high-horsepower factory vehicles???