Which do you guys think is best. List pros and cons of both with examples.
They both have their positives and negatives.
iron is best becuase its a billion times stronger the minus is that it weighs more the aluminum isnt as strong but it lighter.
Iron all the way
Hey isn’t the CA18DET an Iron block?
ya thats one of the reasons it was scrapped, it cost to much to make it
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
ALUMINIUM = BIG BOOST
IRON = BIGGER BOOST
need better internals for bigger boost :S
- metal headgasket…
you shouldnt need a metal gasket if detonation is not present.
When you’re pushing boost you should plan for some accidental detonation…
I’ve heard the CA actually weighs less than the SR because it has a timing belt instead of a chain and it does’t require rocker arms since it’s got 16 lobes for 16 valves. The SR also is a lot thicker to make up for the weaker aluminum.
NOTE: I haven’t weighed it myself so take that with a grain of salt.
If it doesn’t weigh less it probably weighs the same.
This discussion is useless. A well built aluminum block will be strong and make good hp and a well built iron block will be strong and make good hp.
exactly… it depends waht your intentions are for the motor.
too many variables to decide a winner in my opinion.
and personally i would always go with a metal head gasket and upgraded head studs when upping the boost to much higher level
however like i said… too many things to consider.
you would need a flow chart to even think of discussing this with any proper arguement.
nehoo
continue to debate if you want
GT
We’re talking about Blocks not Heads 
and talking about a flow chart not a chart that shows teh flow.
different things yo
GT
:stupid:
theres a reason the SR is so popular…
dont second guess the pro’s.
ARUMINURMN BROCKK!!! DORIIIFFFTTTTOOOOUUUUUU!!!
iron block is stronger, but i would choose aluminium for one reason, we have aluminium heads!!!
aluminium and iron have different expansion rates, using dissimilar metals is never a good idea, with iron blocks and aluminium heads u tend to get head warpage more than u would iif both were aluminium,
also aluminium dissapates heat quicker than iron, exactly what u want in a high performance motor, less chance of heat soak into the engine bay after engine shut off as well, cuz as we all know heat soak creates a whole whack of problems!
Engines with dissimilar metals for head and block tend to have more headgasket problems as well!!
just my two cents
And you got this information from where?
it does kinda make sense, w/ the different expanding rate for each metal,
and they do expand at different temperature, (according to my physics text book 
)
idealy no one would want to have something that expands and different temperatures and have it break b/c of that
Do you know exactly how much the difference is?
Not much, IIRC .05mm^3/1000deg…