Dyno tuning - what do you guys think?

[Jerryl]

The shop I selected seems to have good general dyno tuning knowledge, but not Buick specific experience. . . . . I will be making the changes.
Is this a concern you think?

 

[salvageV6]

No as long as they get a good tach. signal and you are able to use their wideband O2 sensor even if you have one it helps for comparison.

Assuming you can tune your own car....

 

[TurboTnZ06]

I've put my T on 4 different dynos between living in Dallas, Denver and FL. It's cool to do and if the track isn't open you can tweak some things, but I always just tuned it at the track and took it to the dyno with no changes to see what it made out of curiousity than anything else. All runs locked in 3rd. First three here were the exact same engine. I'd get a second wideband bung in your downpipe so you can use your wideband and they can install theirs to log on the dyno.

12.0 @ 112 dynoed 378/491
11.8 @ 115 dynoed 403/545
10.9 @ 127 dynoed 595/695 (I may have cranked it way up on fresh 116 gas for the dyno)
11.2 @ 121 dynoed 490/600

 

[TurboBuRick]

Personally chassis dyno's are a waste of money. With the logging equipment we have on board, we can tune right on the street. That's allot more fun too!

RL

 

[bison]

Personally chassis dyno's are a waste of money. With the logging equipment we have on board, we can tune right on the street. That's allot more fun too!

RL

I disagree. I've fixed many issues that were very repeatable and safely observed on a chassis dyno. Countless sets of springs and ignition issues diagnosed and fixed in a short period of time. Logs don't tell you everything either especially valve springs that are on the edge. I don't want anyone driving my car 140+mph on the street trying to diagnose an issue either. I think it's hilarious how many "tuners" there are with the wideband stuff out there now. Seems like everyone is a tuner but when the engine is off 100hp from where they should be they want to point fingers at everyone else.

 

[TurboBuRick]

LOL! Got some attention with that one.

I can't disagree about doing 140mph on the street. That's a little extreme for sure but 100-110 is doable. It's only a few seconds. Once the car is running good on the street then a couple dyno pulls to optimize wot would be in order.

Strictly my opinion.

RL

 

[bison]

LOL! Got some attention with that one.

I can't disagree about doing 140mph on the street. That's a little extreme for sure but 100-110 is doable. It's only a few seconds. Once the car is running good on the street then a couple dyno pulls to optimize wot would be in order.

Strictly my opinion.

RL

110 may only be 5400rpm on an 800hp engine. If the engine is falling off at 6000rpm you won't see it. Things typically go ugly the last 300 feet. Keep in mind that's a car that traps 140-150. What about 160-170? You aren't going to be running something like that on the street under full power out the back. If it runs like ass on the dyno it will run even worse on the pavement. Nothing like trailering your car 120 miles and not being able to make a pass because of some oversight that could have been addressed with dyno time.

 

[Grumpy]

What about 160-170?

ummmm.. how many cars are like this on this site ?? I bet I could count them on one hand and I am missing a few figures

 

[bison]

ummmm.. how many cars are like this on this site ?? I bet I could count them on one hand and I am missing a few figures

Not many but this thread is about dyno tuning in general. I saw at least 15 cars dynoed last year that ran to at least 160mph on the dyno and had enough power to run that fast in a quarter pass.

 

[HelloBozos]

ummmm.. how many cars are like this on this site ?? I bet I could count them on one hand and I am missing a few figures

Tada! Count me in...lol

 

[HelloBozos]

What about 160-170? You aren't going to be running something like that on the street under full power out the back.quote]

Standing Start to One Mile,Get your Ares to FL...8^)

 

[HelloBozos]

The shop I selected seems to have good general dyno tuning knowledge, but not Buick specific experience. . . . . I will be making the changes.
Is this a concern you think?

All dyno's are not equal (make sure one you use is calibrated recently)...There ok to fire a motor for first time an get a basic tune,or if it's raining you can do road test's indoors an trouble shoot, But as for real world (air friction/flow,rolling resistance,etc,etc), There crap!! Best to do it at track or like the man above said nice long back Road!!! 8^)

Enjoy!

 

[TurboDave]

All dyno's are not equal (make sure one you use is calibrated recently)...There ok to fire a motor for first time an get a basic tune,or if it's raining you can do road test's indoors an trouble shoot, But as for real world (air friction/flow,rolling resistance,etc,etc), There crap!! Best to do it at track or like the man above said nice long back Road!!! 8^)

Enjoy!

Unless you're on Richard's dyno, which is calibrated to simulate wind drag and rolling resistance. Your HP readings being "dinged" accordingly. The higher the speed the higher the HP "ding".
Kinda disheartening for some, but at least ones numbers will be closer to real world conditions.

 

[bison]

Its very apparent most posting in this thread are missing the point. Any of the high hp cars I referred to weren't looking for a number. They are looking for problems and relative tune. I saw the silver bullet on the dyno at Richards. It was apparent within about 2 seconds that it needed a fresh set of plugs on it's first hit. Perfect time to find that out. Finding that out after you just trailered your car to the drag strip would suck. So a fresh set of plugs went in. Next time on the rollers I saw a fairly long pull and some rpm. I expected to see 155-160mph. When i looked at the screen I saw 133mph. I dont even recall the hp number. It doesn't really matter because the engine drove over the converter so hard the car would never e.t. with the current combo. Now its entirely possible the converter wasnt filled but i dont know anything about the car other than the dyno pulls i saw. Never saw a log or anything. There is no magic tune to cure an engine driving over a converter that hard. So within 2 dyno pulls two major obstacles were uncovered and one corrected. How much fun would that be at the strip with those problems there. It's possible it could have been two trips to the strip wasted. Would this be something that could have been addressed on the street? Maybe. Most wouldn't risk it though. I've done hundreds of dyno pulls myself. I can often tell right away if there is something major wrong.

 

[Jonasterg]

I agree with Bison; if you assume the dyno is measuring the car's ability to move a mass under the rear wheels, then the nature of that mass is secondary (not unimportant, but maybe not the most important factor).

The dyno should be able to tell you the relative behavior of a drivetrain. Translation of that behavior to a specific ET or MPH might not be reliable. Increasing the drivetrain's output via a dyno should *usually* translate to better real-world performance (I think).

 

[bison]

I agree with Bison; if you assume the dyno is measuring the car's ability to move a mass under the rear wheels, then the nature of that mass is secondary (not unimportant, but maybe not the most important factor).

The dyno should be able to tell you the relative behavior of a drivetrain. Translation of that behavior to a specific ET or MPH might not be reliable. Increasing the drivetrain's output via a dyno should *usually* translate to better real-world performance (I think).

On any given car on any given day if the average road horsepower increases the car will have more potential to be quicker. Trying to compare one car to another is not so easy.

 

[Jonasterg]

On any given car on any given day if the average road horsepower increases the car will have more potential to be quicker. Trying to compare one car to another is not so easy.

Thanks. That's a clearer version of what I was trying to say.

 

[bison]

Thanks. That's a clearer version of what I was trying to say.

People are too often caught up in the peak power number.

 

[TurboDave]

People are too often caught up in the peak power number.

So true! Even me. But..... Since it was so quiet Fri, and since I nor my car had ever been on a dyno in our lives, I wanted to see what it would do. Made 4 pulls with appropriate boost tweaks between runs, and the only trend I was interested in is that the car loves boost. Made it to 20# in third, so I now know what the car can handle.

You're right though, and I agree with what you're saying, the number wasn't so important, as much as the "trend", and fault proof pulls.

 

[Jerryl]

............ You're right though, and I agree with what you're saying, the number wasn't so important, as much as the "trend", and fault proof pulls.

Dave,
I agree, and very well stated . . . . I am really not interested in a number . . . . more int a trend.
The owner already told me the dyno is called “Heart breaker” because many people get disappointed.
The way I see it . . . . even if the dyno is off, if the output trend moves up, the tune is getting better.
Now . . . Not going to lie , I have an expectation at XX boost. If I can get close, I will be happy . . . . actually . . . . ecstatic!

People are too often caught up in the peak power number.

100% correct . . . . I get caught up into it as well, because performance calcs are typically around HP numbers . . . . area under the curve (and Torque!!) are much more important to me, especially on a street car . . .