Agreed w Chilly I too really like this thread & am learning a whole lot from it.
One thing I can combine about what Blair & Brent & others have said here, regarding the Gonkulator:
If I didn’t say it strongly enough, the MOE (Mean Observed Error) in anything the Gonkulator spits out is typically +/- 3% on an engine, or typically over 15 ponies on the table above. That translates to over 1% in ET_MPH, or over 1mph and .10 sec. And that’s in the GONKULATOR, where magically the car and (each lane of) the track are held constant.
And that 3% on the engine Gonk is just the MOE MEAN error. Sure, the Gonk is off on rare occasions by 10% - not so much on the FE but on some of the obscure Brand X stuff. Sometimes it’s just missing data or even bad data (that does happen as noted by all here!), and sometimes it’s wrong or incomplete physics, which I try to improve when I have time. I’m glad the Gonk is helpful to some, and maybe even helps enthusiasm for the 60s era – but indeed, it is important to note when all those numbers are effectively “the same”, and would likely change rank order on a different build.
So anything in that table, if it’s within say less than 15-20 ponies and 1-1.5 mph, it’s basically THE SAME as far as the Gonkulator can separate. Lacking any other info, I’d still bet on the Gonk, and often do. But there IS other info – from various credible sources, and sure we often argue with each other because we CARE about this old iron (and aluminum). So as already stated all over the thread, it’s important to consider everything.
Somebody needs to invent Internet Beer.