Billet Block Engine Builds On The Street | Impossible, Or Just Different?

We recently released a fantastic interview with Herman Urriola of Platinum Racing products, who discussed an upcoming aftermarket cast RB26 project with Crest CNC. Unfortunately, it caused some confusion and a few phone calls, so let's set things straight!

You can drive anything you want on the street (laws aside) to work any day of the week. A Le Mans prototype, 6-second 4-cylinder drag cars, a jet-engined sprint boat or a WRC spec rally car is possible if you have the budget. How many times, how far you get and how reliable any of those applications are on your commute to work over time compared to the likes of a stock Toyota Corolla will all be different. Different compromises and considerations just like a cast iron block vs billet aluminium has.

In this quick #update done live before a members webinar lesson, Andre highlights when it comes to bearing clearance and cold start considerations, there are differences between the materials used between cast and billet engine blocks and some people are happy to work around that for street applications, where as others don't want to deal with that side of things as all as Herman stated is the case for many of his customers.

After all if you are stretched to buy a billet block a considerable investment into a dry sump system on top of that might just be too much leaving an aftermarket cast option as an ideal alternative.
Alternatively, if you have a high performance build you want to be able to drive on the street and a billet block is the answer for your requirements hands down, a dry sump system was probably something you planned to fit anyway noting the the context they are discussed in here is FAR from the only advantage they bring to the table.
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TIME STAMPS:
0:00 - Today At HPA
0:11 - Aftermarket Cast Blocks
0:40 - Billet & Street Applications
1:32 - The Problem With Billet Material
2:03 - 'Can't Turn Over Cold' Myth
2:24 - Cold Starts
2:56 - Cold Vs Hot Clearance Solution
3:15 - The Downside: Low Oil Pressure
3:30 - The Fix: Drysump
3:41 - There Are Tradeoffs For BOTH Options
4:11 - BUILD.TUNE.DRIVE