Dyno tuning - or not?
06-27-2003, 01:58 PM
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Dyno tuning - or not? There is quite a bit of chatter on these lists about dyno numbers and the occasional comment that the strip is what matters. So, I thought I would share a story to give a little back for all I've gotten from ls1tech.
A long time ago I had a half fiberglass 55 Chevy with a 440 inch 409, Racer Brown roller, B&M hydro, 3000 stall converter, 4.56 posi, 10.5" Goodyear wrinkle wall slicks, etc. This was my street racer and daily driver. It was quite successful; I never got beat. It would pull the front wheels when you nailed it from idle. But I wanted more. I was young and still learning, so I went to the dyno shop that everyone said was the hot thing. The operator ran my car and couldn't belive how it could run, the primary jets in the dual quads were way too rich! So he rejetted the AFBs and picked up 10 hp, and I went home quite a bit poorer. It wasn't too long (that night, in fact) that I discoverd that I could no longer pull the front wheels! But even worse, it was a tenth slower! The only good news was that the gas mileage went up from 5 to 7 (yes, five to seven) MPG.
The moral that I took away from this experience was that the dyno is not the road in general, or the strip in particular. A dyno can be a handy tool, it is only a tool. It _is_ possible to run slower with more horsepower.
A long time ago I had a half fiberglass 55 Chevy with a 440 inch 409, Racer Brown roller, B&M hydro, 3000 stall converter, 4.56 posi, 10.5" Goodyear wrinkle wall slicks, etc. This was my street racer and daily driver. It was quite successful; I never got beat. It would pull the front wheels when you nailed it from idle. But I wanted more. I was young and still learning, so I went to the dyno shop that everyone said was the hot thing. The operator ran my car and couldn't belive how it could run, the primary jets in the dual quads were way too rich! So he rejetted the AFBs and picked up 10 hp, and I went home quite a bit poorer. It wasn't too long (that night, in fact) that I discoverd that I could no longer pull the front wheels! But even worse, it was a tenth slower! The only good news was that the gas mileage went up from 5 to 7 (yes, five to seven) MPG.
The moral that I took away from this experience was that the dyno is not the road in general, or the strip in particular. A dyno can be a handy tool, it is only a tool. It _is_ possible to run slower with more horsepower.
