ORIGINAL: vti-chris
I've seen both and owned the blue head v-spec.
Not much differences if at all any, as far as performance is concered.
Yes it does have silicone in the crank, and inserts and PLA PLA PLA but all these at the end add to costs and offer "not much" in performance.
As for fuel economy if you do read all the threads available on these two engines from this forum and others you will get different opinions.
Other say the speed has more runtimes but others suare by the blue head that gets better.
You can't get a true answer on this topic...yes an estimation on what it can do but not the real thing.
I bet both get excellent mileage but IMO i wouldn't be paying almost $200 more to get the speed.
Get the original blue head...break it in fully (1-2G) and then replace the rod and the bearings with ceramic and you are done for the rest 7-8 gallons and more.
I've DRIVEN both and tried them in the same car with the same pipe and the same equipment, i can assure you that the speed gets better fuel economy and the power is much more manageable.
I wouldn't insist on this if i didn't think it was fact.
I will agree with you on the fact that the price/performance ratio is on the weak side, but it's still ignorant to claim that there's little to no difference between engines.
We must also admit that we (average drivers) might never use any of these engines to their full potentials but if a pro is able to cut 3 seconds of his best lap and run two laps more between pit stops, it's probably worth the extra 200$ now you have to decide wether or not you can put this engine to good use or if you'd be better off with a standard v-spec.