In the aftermarket automotive industry, it’s very typical to see performance parts improvements measured by a dynamometer, (dyno for short). But what is a dyno, and what does a dyno graph mean to you? Essentially, a dyno is just a tool to measure how much power and torque a vehicle makes at wide open throttle as the engine sweeps through an RPM range. By comparing changes back-to-back, the improvements can be recorded and displayed for reference.
There are two (2) different dynamometers for measuring power increases, and their measurements are a bit different. One type is an engine dynamometer which measures the power and torque of an engine on a stand outside of the vehicle. This is typically done in a facility that has a separate room just for the engine stand and dynamometer setup. The engine dyno measures exactly what the power and torque coming from the engine is at all of the RPM points. Engine Dyno numbers are what vehicle OEM’s quote for power. The other type is a chassis dynamometer which measures power and torque at the tires during the RPM sweep. The power measured at the tires on a chassis dyno does not account for the power lost through the spinning of the drivetrain (transmission, driveshaft, differentials, axles, wheels, and tires). Because of this, chassis dyno power and torque measurements are lower than engine dyno numbers by roughly 10% to 20%, or more in some cases. The benefit is that the chassis dynamometer shows the true power that a vehicle is putting to the ground.
At Hypertech, we test and measure our tuning improvements with chassis dynamometers. To accurately measure the performance improvements our tuning makes at all RPMs, we test each vehicle in a single gear through the broadest RPM range possible. If possible, this gear is the 1:1 ratio gear of the transmission, which minimizes the drivetrain loss. For automatic equipped vehicles, we apply the torque converter clutch at all speeds during the testing which will simulate a manual transmission type lockup. Our testing and tuning processes are very detailed to allow ample time between measurements which ensures that operating temperatures of the engine, transmission, and even dyno equipment are stable and consistent. This guarantees that our measurements accurately show the improvements that our tuning is providing without errors from outside influences. This is very similar to an engine dynamometer testing process.
Once we have repeatable dyno measurements for our tuning improvements the information is put into a dyno chart with a graph to show the improvements. There is a lot of information to make note of when looking at a dyno chart. Not only does this chart show the maximum power the vehicle puts to the ground, it also shows the RPM where the improvements made the biggest gain. Although the maximum horsepower and torque numbers are great for bragging rights, the biggest difference you will notice is the RPM where the gain is highest. But there’s more to performance improvements than just the biggest numbers. You don’t drive at just one RPM point, so it’s important to note the power improvements all across the curve. The additional power from the Hypertech tuning at all RPMs at wide open throttle translates to improvements at part throttle. With this in mind, it’s important to make note of the improvements in and around the RPMs which you drive in the most. A normal daily driver can benefit from torque improvements at lower RPM range, while someone who tows or races will benefit from better power in the higher RPM range.
As you can tell, dyno charts are a very important tool for you and us. The attention to detail necessary to guarantee repeatable and reliable data for each test is very time consuming, but that level of detail let’s us provide thorough results that we can all rely on.
Year
Model
Engine
Power GainsHP/TQ
PowerTuning
DTC
0-60 MPH Electronic Throttle Restriction*
CoolingFan
RevLimiter
TopSpeed
2010-07
MazdaSpeed3
2.3 Turbo
TBD
Prem.
Yes
-
2009-07
RX-8
1.3L
2009-06
MX-5 Miata
2.0
Please check back, more infromation coming soon.
2008-03
Mazda3s
2.3
+7/+10
Reg./Prem.
2008-06
MazdaSpeed6
Mazda6
*Available for automatic transmissions ONLY.
*TBD = To be determined
V-TEC Controller
S2000
2.2L
Civic Si
2.0L
+10/+9
2006-06
Civic
1.8L
+2/+3
2007-03
Accord V6
3.0L
Accord
2.4L
2009
370Z
3.7L
+6/+10
2008-07
350Z
3.5L HR
+7/+5
2006-03
3.5L
G37
G35 (2 door)
2009-08
Lancer Evolution X
2.0 Turbo
Impreza WRX STi
2.0 HO Turbo
Impreza WRX
2.0L Turbo