Dyno Test
K&N has recently fitted a second all-wheel drive dyno from Superflow. With the twin side-by-side set-up, our testing moved quicker than ever. And to guard against complaints of inconsistency between the two models, K&N spent the entire previous day calibrating the Superflow in inertial mode to match the output of the Dynojet unit.
Not many competitors seemed to realize it, but, as with last year, our dyno challenge divides into two categories: Peak Power and Power Delivery. Anyone with a well-tuned street car can tell you the latter is much more important in practice. Nevertheless, we assign 110 possible points to each category, which means it's possible to find a full 220 points on these rollers.
Which is just what the R34 of Jacko Luong did. Strapped down and with dyno fans blowing, the GT-R belted out 588 wheel-hp, at perfectly streetable rpm levels. But while it's never much of a surprise to see an R34 make tons of usable power, it came as quite a shock when Brent Mattraw's unassuming 2001 Audi S4 got within 16hp of the gnarly GT-R. Fact: the S4 has another tenth of a liter on the GT-R, and this particular car is loaded with modified turbochargers from the autobahn-pounding RS6, on top of a small squeeze of happy juice.
More cars than ever made it into the 500hp club, loading the Peak Power category as well as the Power Delivery category with high earners. The top seven contenders sat in a narrow range of 22 points in Peak Power. No one blinked an eye when the LS6-powered Corvette span out 514hp, but jaws dropped when Ron Pippin's WRX STI edged out the big-cubed Chevy, with an honest 517hp run. Big power-that's rare in a WRX.
There's always one car whose trunk needs to be filled with five-gallon water jugs and groupies with a death wish. You'd think dyno owners would have invented separate hooks in the cement for suspension compression straps by now. This time, the need for extra trunk weight came in the form of Ryan Hawkins' Supra Turbo, which turned out 505 wheel-hp with four jugs of water and one reluctant K&N employee crammed in the hatch.
At the other end of the spectrum were the cars that didn't make 500hp. There was quite a contrast, because these cars really didn't. The next highest post after the Blacktrax 300ZX's run of 500hp was the Ariel Atom of Mike Kim, at 212hp. That's an almost 300hp gap between the two groups. Shamefully, the little guys didn't pick up many points for power delivery, either. The highest score for the back of the pack was once again the Atom, at 15 points.
-James Tate
The Dyno test began to show the true character of the cars and their owners. The almighty Supra clearly had some serious power under the hood, but the rollers were unable to keep up with the engine speed. At the time, everyone thought it was a traction issue, but there were hints of larger problems lurking beneath the surface.
The first blast of the S4 caught everyone's ears. The team removed the exhaust, creating a menacing sound that seriously contradicted everyone's initial impressions of the German luxury sedan. When K&N's dyno operator called out a torque figure of 622lb-ft, a shiver ran through the group. Suddenly, it was a contender.
People gathered around the S4 as it rolled out of the dyno bay and up onto jack stands. Mattraw, the S4's owner, crawled under the car with wrench in hand. As per the rules, he had five closely scrutinized and timed minutes to reconnect the catalytic converters for the smog test. Mattraw got it done in just under two. Then, it was off to Emissions Test operator, Ryan McKay, for the sniffer test.
By Edward Loh
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