RB Holley 465 vs. Sterling: opinions and expierence
 

So with the recent news that Sterling is diving head first into making his notorious carbs, I'm curious about people's expierence with the Holley 465 vs. the Sterling carb with drivability, with fuel economy, power, etc. I have a RB Holley 465 with -6 lines and a blue pump, and it absolutely screamed on my '82. I have a basically stock '85 now with just a RB exhaust, and I'm thinking about putting my RB Holley onto the '85. If anyone has any input on whether there is a huge difference between the RB carb and the Sterling carb, it'd be greatly appriecated.

Thanks

Jim

Holley = Pistons

Sterling = Rotary

/thread

i don't own a sterling yet. but it flows just as good as the holley if not more, and sterling has built it specifically for our cars, and from what i hear they are eaisialy tuned too.

and wait till he starts doing manifold work. there will be no comparison.

I've never tried a Holley carb, but I love my Sterling. Also, no need to change the manifold with a Sterling carb...

That Sterling guy offers a thirty day money back warranty (I wish people would read all the info!) :) .

I don't have hard data yet comparing the two aside from flow testing. But it's just a matter of physics that the Sterling Nikki is going to flow with higher velocity in the lower RPMs, and higher velocity means a better signal to the primary fuel circuit. With a fully tunable emulsion system, the mixture can be customized throughout the power band.

Holley would outdo a sterling on a bridgeport. On a streetport or stock you surely can't beat the sterling. The sterling combined with the ports on a stock intake are optimized for a stock or streetported 12a. Plus, you keep the stock mop, don't deal with float issues and no fuel slosh issues during cornering. Think about it, a carb that was disgned my the manufacturer and improved by a tuner, or a carb that was designed for a v8 that is modified to work. For what it's worth, my edelbrock beats my holley and my barry grant hands down!

I just wanted to let you know that I hate you. I was saving up to buy a SV650 a friend is selling, and now I have to buy one of your carbs. I don't have cash for both. :(

I disagree, and I aim to prove that this year. ;)

what would have to be done to get a sterling carb on my stock '79

Bad-ass. Sterling carbs elude me somehow. I have money to buy one, but PBandJ racing doesnt have a phone 3 on their page, and they never respond to my inquiries.

However, i do want the sterling, as well as directions on how to de-smog my car, to be completely done this spring. Sterling, If you do want to help me acquire one of those carbs, PM me please. BTW, in the long run the holley would just seem wrong, Its a holley. Everybody knows that the most common hot rodders part is a holley carb. why something so common on such an uncommon rotary engine?

Patience there young one. Sterling carbs have been in a higher demand than he's been able to keep up with. Now that he's going into them full time, I'm confident that demand will be met. It's always worth waiting for the best, accept no substitutes.

I do stock carb rebuilds on a drive in/drive out basis for local guys. There's no way I would even try to compete with Sterling's carbs and his mods.

Sterling cars are a work of art!

no problems with mine. but would like to try an edelbrock tho.

I've tried an Edlebrock on a Camden SC. I've never tried a Holley but my friend has tried them. Way back in '90 he did the streetported 4 port 13B in his REPU and that thing was great. Old school RB modded Holley 550 on a Racing Beat manifold. It had its quirks but when it was running right, it was somethin' else.

Coming from the old school 13B rotaries as I did, I never had the opportunity to try any Nikki. Back in '04 I took the plunge and decided to mod a Nikki I had sitting around for several years. Thanks to Sterling's mech sec and accel pump mod info, I was able to succesfully mod my carb. Then a couple years later I finally had a 12A project come up in an FB so I could test my modded Nikki. It ran really well. Then due to emissions reasons, a stock setup had to go on. The performance went down. Then a little later I put the modded Nikki back on and then experimented with jet and air bleeds. The difference was night and day. From that point on, I was hooked on Nikkis and have set my sights on a Sterling.

My apologies! I have spoken out of context as I have no personal experience with a Sterling carb. I was making as assumption based on cfm capabilities.

I'm definitely looking forward to the results of that. :icon_tup:

The Sterling Nikki flows as much as the Racing beat 465 Holley.
The biggest difference is that the primary venturi diameter in the Sterling is much smaller, which translates to higher velocity, which means more signal to the main circuit down low in the RPMs, and also better emulsification & atomization of the fuel throughout the RPM range.
The cfms is just the maximum flow rating. The stock manifold begins to be the bottleneck for the Sterling over 7000 RPM, but due to it's ability to be precisely tuned, I believe it may slightly outperform its Holley counterpart at wide open throttle.
-It's not because the Sterling is so great, it's because the Holley just isn't conducive to being so fine tuned.
I believe that the Sterling would outperform the Holley at wide open throttle by a long shot with a ported (or different) manifold.
Down low, there's just no question that the Sterling will catapult you faster off the line than any Holley could.

But hey, don't take my word for it. ;)

Go to www.sterlingmetalworks.com all info you will need is there. Sterling is very prompt in returning all emails, which is something I'm willing to bet Holley isn't as great with. There's nothing WRONG with putting a Holley on a rotary, but it's not designed to run with a primary and secondary intake system, it's designed to huff air into a V8.

I will also let Sam(dj55b) test out my car once I get my Sterling on. He owned a Holley 465 until he switched to EFI, so I'll see what he has to say about the comparison.

And get on those manifolds Sterling *shakes fist menacingly*

There's only so much you can do with an FB manifold. Maybe it would be worth while to borrow an RX-3 manifold from somebody and start making sand casting copies. Or perhaps the lost wax method. :) If there is enough demand, do a run of 50 and they'd sell like hot cakes. Also do some for 4 port 13Bs for people like me. :)

Okay, I'm convinced a sterling carb is better than a holley 465.
That said, how does it stand up to the two barrel carbs like a side draft weber 45 or a down draft weber 48?

No experience here, but the obvious thing would be, the 2 barrels tend to be more for mid-high RPM performance, whereas the Sterling is an all-rounder. Of course anything can be made to drive well with proper technique.

Be my guest, Jeff. Cost them out and see for yourself just how much per piece a "run of 50" will be, here in the states or in China.
-Got a couple grand to invest?

...All in due time, Jeff.

Hey Whitey, if you still haven't made up your mind by springtime, come on over for a meet or an autocross and I'll take you for a ride. There will be no doubts in your mind after that. :)

Welp, im definately sold now that your here trochoid. Nice car. How much ya want for it, lol? (you dont gotta tell me, i cant afford it!)