60's 425 vs. 455 Olds engines

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Old June 21st, 2023, 07:15 AM
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60's 425 vs. 455 Olds engines

Good day all,

Just a little nerdy discussion for us noobs who are just learning. I always wondered why the 68' Toronado 455 engine somehow had less power than the 66' Toronado 425? The engines seem to share a bunch of components and you'd think that the 455 would be a more powerful engine considering it's a bit bigger. Just wondering if anyone knows if there is there more to this story?

I often wondered if the 455 was actually more powerful but got de-rated due to insurance or something along those lines. I know quite a few engines of that era were significantly de-rated for one reason or another.
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Old June 21st, 2023, 07:36 AM
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Check the torque numbers.
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Old June 21st, 2023, 11:14 AM
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The top Toro 425 was rated at 385 HP/480 ft-lbs. The top Toro 455 was rated at 400 HP/500 ft-lbs. What was your question again?
FYI, in both cases peak HP was at 4800 RPM and peak torque was at 3200 RPM. Of course, one should take these numbers with a grain of salt, since no one can assume that Olds put the development effort into the 1970 W30 motor with unique heads, intake, carb, distributor, and 328/328 cam just to make 30 HP LESS than was already available with that Toro motor.
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Old June 21st, 2023, 11:20 AM
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Originally Posted by joe_padavano
The top Toro 425 was rated at 385 HP/480 ft-lbs. The top Toro 455 was rated at 400 HP/500 ft-lbs. What was your question again?
FYI, in both cases peak HP was at 4800 RPM and peak torque was at 3200 RPM. Of course, one should take these numbers with a grain of salt, since no one can assume that Olds put the development effort into the 1970 W30 motor with unique heads, intake, carb, distributor, and 328/328 cam just to make 30 HP LESS than was already available with that Toro motor.
The 455 had 400hp? I thought it had 375?

I must have my info wrong obviously.
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Old June 21st, 2023, 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by ourkid2000
The 455 had 400hp? I thought it had 375?

I must have my info wrong obviously.

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Old June 21st, 2023, 01:39 PM
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Originally Posted by joe_padavano
Ohhh ok, I see......there was an optional pkg available on the Toronado 455 that bumped it up to 400HP. The standard Toronado 455 had 375HP.....that's where I got it mixed up.

So as there was no other engine available in 66-67 on the Toro, the standard later 455 was down 10 HP from the 425 in typical form. I wonder why the reduction in HP?

Last edited by ourkid2000; June 21st, 2023 at 02:07 PM.
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Old June 21st, 2023, 01:45 PM
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Originally Posted by joe_padavano
The top Toro 425 was rated at 385 HP/480 ft-lbs. The top Toro 455 was rated at 400 HP/500 ft-lbs. What was your question again?
FYI, in both cases peak HP was at 4800 RPM and peak torque was at 3200 RPM. Of course, one should take these numbers with a grain of salt, since no one can assume that Olds put the development effort into the 1970 W30 motor with unique heads, intake, carb, distributor, and 328/328 cam just to make 30 HP LESS than was already available with that Toro motor.
I would love to see one of those 1970 W30 motors.....I bet that thing is madness
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Old June 21st, 2023, 01:58 PM
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Originally Posted by ourkid2000
Ohhh ok, I see......there was an optional pkg available on the 455 that bumped it up to 400HP. The standard 455 had 375HP.....that's where I got it mixed up.

So as there was no other engine available in 66-67 on the Toro, the standard later 455 was down 10 HP from the 425 in typical form. I wonder why the reduction in HP?
The 1968-up motors were tuned for toque over HP.
The 1966-67 425 in 385 HP form used cam P/N 390961 with 281/282 deg duration and 55 deg overlap
The 1968-70 455 in 375 HP form used cam P/N 400117 with 258/272 deg duration and 44 deg overlap
The 400 HP W34 motor used cam P/N 400165 with 287/287 deg duration and 57 deg overlap. Note that 400165 was also used in the 1969 H/O, the W33 Delta, and all 1970 442s with automatic (including AT W30 motors).
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Old June 21st, 2023, 02:29 PM
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This is really good info, thx Joe!
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