The Power of the Duesenberg

The Power of the Duesenberg Sir,

Anthony Blight asks if I really know the power output of the Model ” J ” Duesenberg engine and I have to answer truthfully that I do not. However, when I fitted my example into the 8-litre Bentley chassis I had to replace the original twin-choke carburetter and manifold as these were missing. I therefore fitted four horizontal choke S.U.s direct on to the siamesed inlet ports and this probably improved the breathing a little over the original. The S.U. company kindly let me put. the whole car on their roller dynamometer in order to check tnixture strengths throughout the power range. Unfortunately their dynamometer was only capable of absorbing 180 b.h.p. at the hack wheels and my car reached this limit at 3,100 r.p.m. on full throttle. The manufacturer’s maximum engine speed was 4,200 r.p.m. and I would think that another 40 b.h.p. would be a reasonable assessment of the power at this speed. That gives us 220 b.h.p. at the hack wheels and perhaps 240 b.h.p. at the flywheel. The engine was extremely willing to go right up to its top speed and the breathing with four valves per cylinder and excellent porting would, I think, make the above figures logical.

My feeling is that with the original carburetter and inlet manifold the engine gave somewhere between 220 and 230 b.h.p. at 4,200 r.p.m.

Streetly. B. Mottuax.