Denis' Chevy II Dyno Results
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Denis' Chevy II Dyno Results |
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The funny part about the dyno experience is that I went up to Martel Racing in Manchester, NH
with a friend's Porcshe group. They are a great bunch of guys with very expensive cars. I went with them
because they had reserved a day for themselves, but needed to have 10 cars to get a discount.
I took advantange of it. All the Porsches went first. The best one was a late 90's 911 turbo (big money).
It put out a respectable 290 horse and 311 ft/lbs of torque. It had some things done to it to give it
more power.
I think they under-estimated the Nova. I put the car on the lift and backed onto the drum. The
dyno operator strapped the car in. He turned to the Porsche guys and said "Now your gonna see
some really power". Most of they guys were talking amongst themselves, not paying too much attention.
He instructed me on what to do, and I put it in gear. When I reached third, he counted down and then I
hammered the throttle. OH MY GOD! It sounded so awesome! If you have never been in a garage with an
american V-8 wailing at 6000+ rpm, you have not lived! It rocked. When the car finally whined down, I heard the guys
saying how great it sounded. No one there had spun up the drum that quick. So much for the Germans...
I dynoed the car in Auust of 2001. I had
the stock 882 cast heads on the 406 at the time. This engine configuration is what let the car achieve 12.5's in
the quarter mile. As some of you may or may not know, the numbers that are given are based
on rear wheel horsepower. In other words, there is roughly a 22% loss in drivetrain from an
automatic and rear end. This would make the engine be about 334 horsepower and 453 ft/lbs of torque.
It doesn't sound like a lot, but most people think their car has a 400 horse engine, but can only pull
a 14 1/2 second pass down the quarter mile. The dyno doesn't lie.
Under wide open throttle, the car seemed to be at the right combination for power. 12.5 to 1
is theoretically the best for power. 14.7 to 1 is best overall, sacrificing some power for economy.