ok, you just got your brand new (intake/header/exhaust) and wow you're just itching to put it in. what the first thing you should think about doing?

get your car dyno'd.

why? so you can actually see how much a difference your mod is doing for your car. why not see exactly how much hp/torque your $$$ just bought you?

this only takes a little bit of planning. ideally, you'd want to dyno your car the same day, with appoximately the same temperature conditions, but since most installs can take many hours, the next best option is to dyno in the morning right when the garage opens, then go install your mod, then the next morning the same thing. take note of the ambient temperature if possible both times you take your car to get dyno'd. try to work out a deal with the shop and let 'em know what you're doing. they're performace guys, and they'll very likely appreciate the fact that you are taking your performance mods seriously.

and then, what's the next step?

post your results in s2ki.

remember:
day 1, morning: dyno the car as stock (or current configuration)
day 1, afternoon: do install
day 2, morning: dyno the car again


I've been doing a lot of searching thru the site for actual proven performance gains when people install an intake or exhaust and other than all the comments about how great their car sounds, from what I've found, few if any people think to get their car dyno'd before they do the install, or if they do get it dyno'd, they let many months pass before getting it dyno'd which isn't conclusive since the weather conditions have changed, and your car has a few more miles under it's belt.

if anybody knows of any dyno graphs for before/after mod comparisons, please post them here.

EDIT: if anybody in the SF Bay Area is putting in a PRM intake, I'd be happy to help out somewhat with the cost of the dyno for a peek at the before/after #s.

in fact, since these #s would benefit everybody on the site, how about we try to establish local dyno-assist $ pools, wherein people who are considering putting in an intake/header/exhaust and know of somebody local who is putting in that that same mod in their car, help 'em out with the dyno costs, since their dyno results will help us in our decision-making process about the mods we do. it's only fair.

 

i can attest that it definitely helped. Me and WIS2K would race stock vs stock, and he would pull on me for some odd reason or another....

Then, I got the PRM.....and the tables were turned. I pulled on him every time....

Then, he got the 4IG/AEM intake, and we were back to square one! He beat me.

 

I have AEM and PRM and dyno'd both. PRM has very nice lowend and flat torque curve but suffers between 5000-6000 rpm . AEM gives nice hp and torque increase at 3500 rpm and between 5000-6500 rpm. I switched back to AEM but will keep PRM for rainy seasons.

 

4IG had a very good point (I posted this in the SF Bay Area forum too) about dyno-ing with the hood down since otherwise it's not the usual underhood environment-- especially relevant for the PRM. really, I'd expand on that and say that all pre-/post-intake install should be done with the hood down, incl. the CAIs, since with the hood up it pretty much negates heat soak.

 

 

yep he's right

 

Although I enjoy reading dynos, but I don't follow the religiously.

You can dyno the car in the morning, and dyno in the afternoon and you may get different results. This is not to mention after you install the part, the ECU needs to adjust to adapt to the new part, and the time required to do so is too long to have consistant dyno runs.

Truth is, I think modding is not always about how many hp you get on the dyno. As long as the part makes you enjoy the car more or becomes faster, who cares what the computer says. There are too many variables.

No flames please, this is just my opinion.

 

your opinion is always welcome, and a very good point.

 

You mean the a$$ dyno

Mustang Dyno 10% less than
Dynojet which is
10% less than a
Dynopack!!!

F'n Dynos!
Also, biggest factor in a consistant dyno is radiator temp, if it is not consistant to your previous dyno your readings will be off... dont forget variables like air temp, air density, stuff like that

 

I will add to the mix by saying this...once installed, allow the ECU time to learn what your new mod is doing to your engine. Now this kind of throws away the whole day-after-install dyno check, but it's not really a fair comparison if the next day dyno shows great gains only to the gains mostly lost after a few days of driving due to the ECU learning curve.

In today's society of smart ECUs, valid dynos are becoming more and more difficult to find and compare.