Dyno Vs.Drag Strip Testing
Oh boy, here we go again ……… LOL
My current engine was broke in and tuned on a dyno. It was the best money spent on the build, I’ve said that many times. A dyno is a comparative tool and a very good one.
There was an issue in my valve train that I wouldn’t have found in the car until much damage was done. Plus the tuning saved a bunch of beating on it at the drag strip. Once in the car a little jet adjustment and it was good.
I’m a firm believer that the time slip is where the rubber meets the road. Most guys that I know that spend the time and money to dyno a engine don’t put it in a junk car. It may take some tuning on the entire combo to make it work but that’s part of it.
How many times have we seen guys show off big numbers only to get their feelings hurt? Unfortunately there are engine builders and dyno shops who make money off inflated numbers.
My engine hasn’t ran the numbers the dyno said it should, it’s pretty close (depending what calculator you use) and I’m good with it. Because we used their ignition and dyno headers, with nothing driven off the crank. Plus, the day we ran it the air was great.
The shop owner is a engine builder and drag racer. After all the pulls were done he and I were talking about my car and I told him I was expecting 6.30’s out of it. I asked his opinion, he agreed if the car was right it should run what I was looking for. After much work two weeks ago it ran 6.33. Hell, it may go .20’s this fall. Great if it does but no big deal if it doesn’t as it’s met the goal I set when I started gathering parts.
All this and $1.75 will buy you a cup of coffee in some places.
The BEST answer yet. Any calculator is a very best case scenario.
Roughly, how much difference in HP from the dyno to the time slip? Just curious.
You’d be surprised the number of guys who dyno something and put it in the car and the car is junk.
I had a customer running his mouth about my dyno numbers so I went to the track to see what the hell was going on.
First pass and anyone with the IQ of a bag of hair could see the converter was toast. This guy was swapping carbs, borrowing ignition boxes, changing valve lash...about everything under the sun. And the time slip never changed.
He didn’t want to hear the truth. His high dollar converter wasn't right. It couldn’t be the converter. He called the converter people and they said it was fine. It had to be the dyno lied.
After few weeks last he came by the shop to apologize and said I was right, the converter was junk. I said are you going down to the track and right before first round and publicly announcing that it wasn’t my engine, or tune up, or the dyno that was junk, but the converter all along.
Of course, he didn’t do that.
I could type all day the crap guys do and the engine builder/dyno get blamed for stuff not running.
