What is a 4-barrel carb?

Answer by  Amber40 (24961)

When talking about a carburetor the barrels refer to the round openings where fuel metering venturies are located. Most modern carbs are four barrel but back in the day two and one barrels where more popular. The more barrels a carb has the more fuel delivery and air flow capacity.

Answer by  mammakat (11147)

A 4 barrel carb is meant to hit the best of all worlds- a multi barrel carb is meant to optimize higher air flow for a high performance engine, the secondary barrels open when the engine is working hard, but can be inefficient at lower air flows. The 4 barrel means to address this inefficiency and equalize the work load.