There is one thing you cant get away from on Earth, just like gravity, quad ports rule
I've run a ported 046 and ported 461 back to back w/o noticing any earth shattering difference.
And I've run a ported 372, it was very fast and very strong, but only wearing a 20" bar.
Hey, if I listened to everyone who told me one of my Mustangs (specifically the 390 & 427) back in the day could not beat this 440 or that 454, well, often they were wrong. The 390 really got no respect, and it was faster than the 427 (and my 428), and the 440 six pack SuperBee it ran. In fact, that 68 390 was my fastest car ever, (including the current one), and the only car I NEVER lost a race with. The canted valve big block chevys should have been faster, but they were not.
I even beat 5 other cars in an 1/8 mile competition, and I had 3.25 gears, no posi, and no traction bars. All the other cars had gears, posi & traction bars, and none of them could believe I won, especially the guy who got in my face before the races started and told me "390s don't run, w/o gears & posi, you don't have a snowballs chance in H***!" I beat 3 of the cars once, the built 455 GTO twice, and the built 340 Challenger (with the mouth) 3 times. He just would not believe it.
I don't expect to always win, but competition is fun, and sometimes not what was predicted.