Dyno tuning - what do you guys think?

[Jonasterg]

Jerryl, you're on track. Don't worry about the exact numbers that the dyno shows. More important is the shape of the power curve, area underneath the curve (measure of "energy"), and trends at the dyno. If you tweak and tune the car to get a higher peak number, good. However, if you do it at the expense of the overall curve integral, you've actually lost energy and may run slower at the track. Trends matter. Exact numbers may not.

I'm not an experienced tuner at all, so take this with a grain of salt. I can talk textbooks all day long, but folks like Bison and Dave have the real-world experience to make this stuff matter.

 

[bison]

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!

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 . . .

If you use hp vs speed you can see what's important. The converter has a huge effect on this. The engine will be very close to peak power most of the pass if the converter is right.

 

[krom]

If you are going to get your car dyno tuned make sure you are there to watch. I would never leave my car with a tuner unless I knew him personally.

 

[Jerryl]

If you are going to get your car dyno tuned make sure you are there to watch. I would never leave my car with a tuner unless I knew him personally.

Good advice! There are a few people (about 5) that I have never met, but would trust . . . . they are on this board.
For this time, I plan to be in the passenger seat with PL runing, and VERY specific instructions on the operating parameters.

 

[Mr.Spool]

the dyno is a great tool for tuning and catching things that will limit power and shorten your day at the track just as bison has said.can't tell you how many cars i have seen on the dyno and none of them didn't leave without either needing valve springs,blowing out spark,ignition limitations,out of injector or pump.what i will say is that don't put your car on kill mode on the dyno then take the car to the track on that tune as the car will for sure lean out.even a street tune will require a different tune then on the track.