Having spent countless hours watching the rollers spin while other enthusiasts put their pride and joys to the test, I firmly believe there has to be more to this scenario than a cold printout and a hot clutch.
What transgression or series of unfortunate events trigger the pilgrimage to the dyno cell for these enthusiasts? What do the squiggly lines and numbers mean? The hard facts of a dyno chart certainly tell a tale, but much can be gleaned by delving into the backstory lurking beyond the rollers. Not only investigating the cause and effect of adding components but also what happens when things don't go off according to plan. The following charts are from real shops, the events depicted are true and no names were changed to protect the innocent.
[1] A properly set up electronic...
[1] A properly set up electronic boost controller can be far more effective than a cheap eBay-special manual one.
At Drift-Office, a performance tuning shop in Kent, Washington, a client had an FP Green turbo installed on his EJ20. Other supporting mods were STI "Pink" injectors and a Walbro 255 fuel pump. The customer had a mechanical eBay boost controller, and for the life of him couldn't figure out why his car was only making a hair more than stock, even with the thing cranked to 22.5 psi.
Drift-Office's Bob W. tried to explain to him that his boost controller, though it qualified as "functioning," was really unable to control boost in any way, shape or form. After all, not all boost controllers are built alike and a "great price on eBay" raised flags, not expectations. So Drift-Office told him he would be better off with a brand-name electronic boost controller (EBC) of some sort, and a GReddy PRofec B was suggested.
Bob W. says the boost controller was called into question because of the ragged boost plot line that the dyno was picking up [1]. All things considered, it doesn't look too bad on the graph, but if a boost line isn't smooth and flat, something is amiss and you're not going to make optimal power.
"In his frustration, the customer went so far as to say that we were inadequate tuners and that's when we defended ourselves decisively," Bob W. says. "Armed with a Blitz SBC Spec S, our lead tech Billy Lee busted out the tools, installed it and we proceeded to set the boost to the same level: 22.5 psi. Needless to say, without touching the tune whatsoever the car catapulted to a whopping 293 awhp and 265 ft-lbs of torque! The customer was rather elated thereafter, and I told him he could come back and pay us for the EBC, and since it was already in there, I wasn't going to charge him for the labor. He comes back a week later, handing us our SBC back and said he bought his own controller-a PRofec B."
[2] Note the massive dip...
[2] Note the massive dip in the chart-that's the result of an ignition misfire. If your dyno chart exhibits the same dip, then it's more than likely an ignition issue.
As Aaron O'Neal of Vancouver, Washington's, English Racing was flash tuning his EVO to its impressive 574 awhp (see "Tales From the Dyno Cell: Part 1," Jan. '10) there was a bump in the road. "Driving the car, this felt like a slight hiccup and some bucking," O'Neal says, "but on the dyno sheet it lost 100 whp during the misfire event
[2]. The 3586 (turbo) hit harder and at a higher rpm, the stock ignition couldn't keep up, resulting in a misfire near peak power. I changed to a SparkTech Non-CDI and have had no problems."
The Case Of The Overbearing Cam
Speed Factory is a go-to shop for Honda enthusiasts in the Tacoma, Washington, area. Owner James Kemph and his crew stay right on the leading edge of all things Honda because credibility is everything. This involves a lot of hands-on testing and when Speed Factory found itself testing a gaggle of cams for the D16Z6 SOHC VTEC powerplant Kemph took some notes for us.