Horsepower shortcut? EFI systems that replace your carb

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Adding electronic fuel injection to your car has been made ridiculously simple in recent years. While EFI used to be a mess of cables, control units and lines, now you can replace a carburettor with a unit that has all of the computing power contained in one package.

These units look like a carbie still, but inside is a self-contained EFI deal. Installation is a breeze with no need for major changes to the vehicle. Most gearheads (except our hardcore carb veterans out there) would have a hard time telling if the vehicle is actually running old school air and fuel or modern EFI!

There are a few players in this game right now, here are a few of our favourite units.

Holley

Holley have been the major name in carburettors for as long as muscle cars have been around. What they learned using analogue technology has now been applied to digital. If you have an existing Holley carb, the switch to EFI coudn’t be easier.
The NHRA chose Holley to provide the EFI systems that are now used on their Pro Stock cars.

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Holley 550-511 Sniper EFI Four Injector, up to 650hp

Suitable for a pretty powerful street application, the 500-511 is a genuine bolt on replacement that can fit single and dual carb manifolds. The amazing thing is that the handheld monitor that comes with the unit asks a few questions about your engine to create a base map, and then learns on the go. It’s like having a tiny crew chief underneath your bonnet.

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Holley 550-842 Sniper EFI Eight Injector, up to 1500hp

Probably more at the race end, the 550-842 can handle up to 1500 horsepower, with double the amount of injectors of the 500-511. There is a built in data logger you can download to an SD card and it even has built in controls for single stage nitrous applications. It’s at the larger end of pricing but has the strongest feature list, plus the Holley name has a long history in motorsport, so you can trust their reputation.

FiTech

FiTech is one of the new players and they have a good range of systems to suit all horsepower needs. Unbelievably, you can get EFI on to your motor for under a grand and a few hours in the shed. Like the Holley, the FiTech units are self learning, taking the hassle out of tuning.

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FiTech Go Street EFI 400HP

The entry level FiTech would suit a mild street application. We see this one as a cure for street type performance troubles, like cold start and vapour lock. Note that this one is only for naturally aspirated applications. Not that 400 horsepower is going to see you hanging around! It even comes with a hand held tuning module.

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FiTech Easy Street EFI 600HP Gold

For looks, the FiTech Easy Street EFI 600HP has the win. We love the gold finish so for engine dress up purposes this unit could really fit in well. It has a few more features than the 400HP unit, and its four 80lb injectors up the amount of fuel and air you can put into your motor. This will fit any four barrel intake manifold.

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FiTech Go EFI 2×4 1200HP

Want to get crazy? You can even go with twin units! This one is for the guys and girls who have 6-71 and 8-71 roots superchargers or make up to 1200HP naturally aspirated on their dual quad setup. One throttle body handles all of the brains while the second holds four additional injectors plus the IAC motor for idle stability. There is pro tuning software thrown in, allowing more control by using a laptop instead of the handheld monitor. Like the upper end Holley, this system also comes with nitrous control. It’s at the more serious end of these kind of systems, but the ease of use remains.

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