cory, a 300 WHP N/A VE is quite rare as I'm sure you know.
You may also know that it likely takes a good bore job to get there, if not both an increase in bore and stroke is in order. That paired with the advantage of variable valve lift and duration gives you an N/A engine with a seriously broad power curve. It is entirely possible that you could end up with more power pretty much everywhere on the N/A VE build than on a typical 300 WHP DET or DE+T turbo setup. Certainly you could have much more area under the curve where it counts.
I know my turbo setup is not typical. I make less power in the mid range and down low than most because I'm making the power with low boost (efficiency) and revs. But here's a dyno overlay I did that you might recall just to refresh your memory. Top black foreground is 303WHP T28 setup. Red background is 307 WHP N/A VE. (Bottom black foreground is 150WHP N/A DE setup.)
While I agree torque means nothing in the 1/4 mile, I will question your assumption that the N/A VE would necessarily have less "torque" or a narrower powerband. That just does not have to be the case. And if it were, that engine would lose those races instead of win them.
I think I said it well (below) in that thread. This applies to our discussion 100%:
Originally Posted by
BenFenner Cliff, if I were to plop in some cams, and somehow get the valvetrain to stay together at 9k rpm, and lower the boost down I'm pretty sure I'd have a top end pretty similar. But we're talking like 6 psi here (to mostly make up the difference in displacement). Obviously the more boost you run the harder it gets to compare the two.
What's really happening here is that 2.4L and revs are winning over 2.0L. There's no surprise there. Your typical 2.0L, 300 WHP turbo setup isn't going to even begin to compete because of the lack of displacement and revs which narrows that powerband quite a bit. A 300 WHP 2.4L turbo with revs could have a power band more suited for drag racing. But I guess that goes without saying, and isn't the point of the argument?
N/A gets bonuses for smooth, predictable delivery.