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So, my experience at the dyno yesterday was less than encouraging. I arranged with Redline Performance in Arlington, TX to perform the first of three sets of runs I planned to do. I wanted to one set when I was completely bone stock down to the OEM Acura panel filter, one with the J37A4 intake manifold to finally put that thread to rest and one with the manifold, ported runners, 76mm throttle body and stainless headers. The shop manager knew this going in and told me it would be $50 for each set of pulls.
I showed up yesterday and the shop manager was not there. The other guys were fairly polite and handled the dyno runs for me. It had been raining on my way there, but had stopped for about 30 minutes by the time the car was strapped down (this is relevant in a moment). We performed the first run and got 216.07 hp with no torque reading. There was a wire running back to his computer that was taking an RPM signal from the engine that was broken and twisted together. It came untwisted for the first run and that's the reason I was given for there to not be any torque reading. Fine. We had two more runs so I figured it was not a big deal.
The operator performed the next runs in 3rd gear because he said he was getting up to 130mph in 4th gear and didn't feel comfortable doing that with the tires still being a little wet. He assured me the correction factor would handle it. I understand math and I'm okay with that. I also know that While 4th gear is ideal, 3rd isn't awful from a ratio perspective. The second and third run were done fairly close back to back. The broken wire was twisted back together and we were getting an RPM signal this time. The second and third runs were 16-22whp less than the first run!
I asked why and he said that the decline was due to heat soak. I did drive the car about 45 minutes on the freeway, and another 15 on city streets to get to this place, but that doesn't really add up to me. I'm very non-confrontational, so I didn't press further with the operator. I went inside to pay and ask the guy who was running the shop in the absence of the shop manager and all he did was go get the operator so that I could get the very same explanation. No help there. So, I paid and left. I really want to email the shop manager as I planned on using this place two more times to get all of my upgrades recorded. I just didn't leave there very confident at all.
Can someone else give me an opinion based off of what I've read and let me know whether or not I'm being overly dramatic about this? I don't plan to make trouble with negative reviews or anything, but I still don't feel that I even got the information I went in there for. What good is a baseline if it's not accurate? To be completely honest, I don't think that the 216whp is accurate, but with dynos being so different, only the gains from that point on the same dyno are relevant.
Last edited by JarrettLauderdale; 09-10-2015 at 11:14 AM.
<p>a base line is just that, a base line.</p><p>you would base your next runs(with mods) off of the 216 number. if you increase from the baseline, you know your mods made power.</p><p> </p><p>Dyno's are not an accurate test of how much power your car has. a better test would be the quarter mile.</p>
My last sentence reflects that same sentiment. However, I would have preferred to have the three runs I paid for to average them out. If I feel that the second two were not accurate, how can I feel that the first one was? Especially when I know it's missing information.
My last sentence reflects that same sentiment. However, I would have preferred to have the three runs I paid for to average them out. If I feel that the second two were not accurate, how can I feel that the first one was? Especially when I know it's missing information.
</p><p>call the manager that you spoke with and let him know your concerns.</p><p>i agree the twisted wire that came loose on first run is not considered a run, if the information isnt there</p>
If you want a good base dyno, then you need to find a better shop. It would be ideal to use the same shop for all your runs, and i wouldn't go back to that shop.
09-10-2015, 11:05 AM
