The Chrysler-owned Dodge and Plymouth Three hundred sixty one cubic inch V-8 engine is a lenghty forgotten, inappreciable appreciated workhorse that initially powered the legendary One thousand nine hundred fifty nine Plymouth Sport Fury before existence pushed aside by the Four hundred thirteen V-8 and Four hundred twenty six Hemi. Although its handle in cars was petty, the Three hundred sixty one powered trucks and buses over two decades.
Background
End of Days
The Plymouth SonoRamic Commando's esprit was mini. It was discontinued in One thousand nine hundred sixty one in favour of the 413, which generated added horsepower at 375.Torque Matters
The Three hundred sixty one was called the SonoRamic Commando in Plymouths and D500 and Super Cerise Ram in Dodges. The Three hundred sixty one was essentially a bored-out history of the 350, with its Muzzle enlarged from the 350's 4.06 inches to 4.12 inches. The 361's stroke was 3.38 inches. In the Dodges, the D500 featured a 10:1 compression ratio and dual four-barrel carburetors to allow it Three hundred ten horsepower and a massive Four hundred thirty five foot-pounds of torque. Torque, not horsepower, was what mattered, and the D500 Three hundred sixty one offered superior torque to the Dodge 383, which generated Four hundred twenty five foot-pounds of torque and the two-barrel carburettor 318, which wielded Three hundred fourty foot-pounds.
Devil in the Details
While the SonoRamic Commando compellation sounds conforming a 1950's marketing gimmick, Chrysler engineers offered some logic to the moniker. The Three hundred sixty one developed a compression wave that forced the air/fuel alloy buttoned up a 30-inch text into the intake manifold, hence the word "sono." The "ram" quota of the nickname stemmed from the air/fuel mixture vitality "rammed" against the closed intake valve, which then became at the moment available to ram terminated the combustion Hospital ward when the valve opened. The combination of the compression wave of air/fuel concoction and the ramming of that combination against the intake valve, until it opened, if a expanded Strong combustion in the Hospital ward to supply better horsepower.
In the tardy 1950s, the USA was undergoing a massive infrastructure buildup of multi-lane highways. On the contrary most of the society yet consisted of undivided two-lane roads. Automakers focused on developing engines with portion of torque to come across their cars lasting acceleration for passing know-how. Chrysler's "B" engines, specifically the Three hundred fifty and 361, were engineered with massive torque to fill these requirements.
On the contrary the Three hundred sixty one lasted longer than the Chrysler 350, which lived and died in 1958. The Three hundred sixty one featured fuel injection single in 1958. Fuel injection was expressly an experiment conducted by Chrysler for its Dodge and Plymouth wrinkle of cars, nevertheless it failed miserably, with matchless a handful of unreliable "fuelies" produced.
Truck Uses
The Three hundred sixty one lived on in Dodges for a miniature interval. Moreover to the Plymouth Sport Fury, the Three hundred sixty one was used in the Dodge Crown and the Dodge Regal and Custom Regal. Industry of the Three hundred sixty one for automobiles ended in 1966. Later in the 1960s, Dodge trucks, commercial vehicles and school buses were equipped with the Three hundred sixty one that featured a single two-barrel carb to generate One hundred eighty six horsepower. The Three hundred sixty one was in production as late as One thousand nine hundred seventy eight when it was installed in recreational vehicles. The Three hundred sixty one was discontinued after 1978.
