Carburetor vs Fuel Injection

Carburetor vs Fuel Injection, which one is better? Which one should you choose?
Let's talk about Cost, Ease of Installation, Ease of Use, Performance, and Fuel Economy.

1. Cost - Carburetors are more affordable, no matter which way you cut it. I tell people it usually cost about $2,000 to upgrade to EFI regardless of which system you buy.

2. Period correct - OEM, Classic look. Most classic cars came with carburetors, so adding an EFI unit is not period correct. It’s not OEM, so the Carb wins another one.

3. Ease of installation - Carb is easy. There’s no additional wiring, no tablet or hand held controller. No switching fuel pumps. The carb is easy to install.

4. Ease of use - but once it’s installed, you don’t ever really have to touch the EFI again. You don’t have to retune an EFI every time you drive it. Or tune it depending on your elevation. I’m not a pro carb tuner, so my bronco kept failing emissions with the carb. I tried lots of times. But the first time I put my FiTech EFI on, I passed emissions.

5. Performance - Carb makes more horsepower. There are a ton of videos that prove this. But I will say, adding EFI to my engine was a fun upgrade that woke it up! Now I didn’t AB compare my Bronco, it's my seat of the pants feel.

6. Fuel Economy - EFI is a better fuel economic option. The wide band 02 sensor is reading your fuel air ratio and making changes as you are driving. Is it a ton? Well, it’s probably about 1-2 extra miles a gallon. So let’s say you drive 10,000 miles a year. And like me you were getting 9 mpg now you are getting 10 mpg. That would mean that you saved over 100 gallons of gas in a year, that could be a savings of around $300!

7. Final thoughts: the carburetor is easier, cheaper, and makes more power. But the EFI just makes life easier. For me, the weekend mechanic who wants to drive his classic car during the week without popping the hood every time, the EFI is the better system. My garage doesn’t always smell like a gas station, my Bronco fires right up no matter the weather, and it’s fun to drive!

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[artummomenti]

Great points. Like I tell my kids, "Listen to me! I have made all your mistakes for you." Keep em coming!

[jimpalmer]

The one main thing about EFI is that you need to be ready to buy a bunch of other stuff, because it will un-mask all of the issues with your ignition, wiring, fuel delivery, etc. My honest opinion is that if someone is going to switch, save your money and get an "all-in-one" system like the pro flow. Then be ready to buy other stuff too. Do it for convenience, safety and confidence and not as a rationalization to saving money, and you will be very happy.

[johnkirby]

My carbureted car I step on the gas twice and tern the key and I’m gone even in -40

[rckldoit]

This video was just what I was looking for. Thank you for the no-nonsense look at the difference. Not a Ford guy but that's OK. I drive a 59 Apache as my daily driver and I get 9 mpg but am looking to update to the EFI system. Might see you at Cars & Coffee in Cool Springs if you go there. Just look for the 59 with the reverse hood and Apache murial on tailgate. Brentwood was here.

[schristiansen]

I have a 73 Bronco that I've done most major mods to, 4-wheel disc brakes, Atlas II transfer case, gears, and lockers, York air compressor, long-travel suspension, etc. The single best thing I ever did was transplant a 5.0 fuel injected motor in for my old 302 with the Motorcraft 2-barrel. I now have MUCH more power and get another 100 miles out of my 24-gallon gas tank, not to mention having the engine run smoothly no matter what angle I get into when I'm rock crawling.

[vladimirvladimirovichputin]

Not every fuel injector is electric. They can be mechanical but nice vid

[JukkaVaan]

If your bronco failed on emissions it was because the carb was worn or out of tune. Having that said, i have played with both efi and carbs, it really comes down to what you want. User friendlines of efi or "character" of carb'd car. In the end arguing which one is better for a non daily driven stress reliever is as pointless as defining what is a hot rod or where is the line between street car and a race car.. pointless but entertaining. Both need attention, maintenance and tuning, one maybe more than other. Both are in the end fairly easy to tune, one can just be tuned without owning a screwdriver. Both are fairly easy to use, one is just tiny bit easier and does not require "special" skills with the loud pedal on cold startups. Both are a pain to live with if the system is setup incorrectly and neither of them will fix your car if there are other issues: charging, wiring, worn engine etc.

[wildhorsesx]

Buff John is back! haha great video, dude!

[Dannysoutherner]

For pure reliability and ease of repair in the woods, carb hands down. I got rid of Holley Fuel Infection and went with Holley 750 carb. It just works.

[HarleyDynaFXD]

With a AFR gauge you can tune a carb to a point that it would compete with fuel injection. But for horsepower I would do a carburetor or TBI injection it has the cooling effect when it atomizes in the intake manifold. There are plenty of people who turbocharge an engine with blow thru carburetors or TBI injection without a intercooler because the intake temps are so low you don't need one on port fuel injection. You need a intercooler if you are using port fuel injection over 4 to 5 psi of boost. I seen people run over 12 psi of boost with a blow thru carburetor without a intercooler E85 even more boost because it run cooler.

[markmcc]

I have FiTech. No issues (yet). Definitely runs better than my untuned old carb!

[TimHWolfe]

Last summer I had a local small shop put a FiTech on my 86 C20 with a crate 350 Vortec. It still doesn’t run when it’s cold. Get’s 11mpg, Been all over YouTube trying all the fixes. Reset it several times. I’ve decided that I will just bite the bullit and go with an Edelbrock Avs2 650cfm carb. The FiTech will go in a box in the garage. I wouldn’t sell this thing to anyone else and put them thru this, let alone have them throw their money away too.

[robertstewart]

After experiencing glitch after glitch with the FiTech, I got my money back and went Holley Sniper ! Right out of the box it was way better ! Engine must get to at least 160 degrees for the system to be happy. Switching to EFI was like going from, Old tired 460 to Fresh Macho 460 ! My 6000 lb. F250 will lay posi stripes clear across the intersection with 305-70-R16s without power breaking ! Just stabbing the throttle ! And it's getting better mileage ! When I can control my self

[kennyreynolds]

Will it still work out if you have a high performance cam

[drcerverap]

Gracias, me ayudaste a decidir por la tecnología EFI

[erickimatu]

One more subscriber, great content. :)

[CJColvin]

The Bronco is coming a long way brother. Have you heard of the new 7.3L Godzilla V8 that Ford is making for the new 2020 Ford Super Duty.

[Lifesrad]

Automatic choke works wonders if you know how to adjust it but I will agree I just like the hit the throttle and it goes unlike a carb.

[thomasflowers]

I have a twin engine jet boat. Want to install efi. O2 sensors and wet exhaust dont like each other. Can you help

[robertmorrison]

The question you have to ask yourself is if you are going to spend 2K on a EFI kit, why not just do a full LS swap? You are already kicking the bucket with period correct, you might as well get 500 hp and a new motor if you are going to toss thousands at it. You said it freshened up the engine, it would do a bit more than that. With a rebuilt LS being as low as 5k now, EFI just seems really unattractive. Going back to the carb/EFI battle. If you know how to pull a carb apart, clean the jets and tune the vacuum, you can fix about anything with the fuel system/air system with a screw driver. The EFI, you are at the mercy of the electronics codes which may or may not point you to the root issue. Lastly, you said EFI is outperformed by carbs, that is typically not the case.