dimebag

theres usually the one in glasgow de, in peoples plaza shopping center every summer. thats what i meant.

vanquish

nice i'll definately try and remember that.

dimebag

it sucks, i never know when it is, then ill drive by and hey look a car show, lets go... one of those deals... ill try to look into it

cliffyk

There is nothing magical about a "dyno tune", in fact the presence or lack of presence of dynamometer has nothing to do with tuning an engine.

The dynamometer is just a convenient way of measuring the success or failure of the changes to the tune. As stated above it has nothing to do with tuning the engine, and there are other ways of measuring changes in engine output that are just as accurate, and arguably more accurate, than having the car tied down and sitting in one place, with one or more fans blowing on the radiator.

The G-Tech type accelerometers are very good for determining changes from a base performance reading, I have one of the original G-Tech models that's nearly 10 years old and use it all the time. Also even an experienced butt-dyno can often work well.

I've made at least 200 dyno pulls over the years, I've done 4 sessions (14 pulls) in the 2 years I've had my '03 GT, and have tweaked things between pulls on nearly every run, which is "dyno tuning"--however I have also almost every time gone directly from the dyno shop to a track and/or lonely stretch of back road to really get things dialed in. The dyno can give you some numbers to see where you are but that's about it...

As to the OP's question, regardless of whether it's a "dyno tune" or "a person with a sniper tuner and a wideband sensor..." there will be a wideband O2 sensor involved. If you show up for a dyno tune and they don't have a WB sensor then find another shop.

My final comment is that if a "dyno tune" were the ultimate in optimising engine performance why do you see racing teams retuning on race day, and often during the day as weather and track conditions change, without using a dynamometer? I mean couldn't they just tune it in the shop and be done with it?

I have three tunes that I regularly used in my GT, one for each of the 2-1/2 seasons we have here in Northeast Florida (nice, OK, and HOT)--that is one of the significant advantages of having the tools and KSAs (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities) to do it yourself.

02dkbluegt

Aside from AFR, what is a typical tuner at a "dyno shop" looking at when tuning a car? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

cliffyk

Fuel (AFR) and ignition timing are the two primary considerations--and I really don't mean to sound like a broken record here, but a dynamometer doesn't measure either of these.

You tune fueling for the desired AFR, and timing for maximum HP/torque. This latter generally happens when the spark is advanced as far as possible without causing detonation, however this is not always so. Rule of thumb is that target AFR at WOT for n/a is 12.5:1 to 13.0:1, however I like to run a bit richer at 12.2:1 to 12.5:1 as it lets you push the timing a bit harder.

02dkbluegt

thanks for all the help cliffyk, what i was really trying to figure out is if a professional tuner using a dyno had any advantage over me tuning my own car on the street with the proper equipment (basically a wideband). i'm a do it yourself kinda person, and id really like the idea of being able to tweak my tune whenever i want

justinschmidt1

+1

My car was also street tuned my Matt at PE.

I beat the **** out of my car with 10 psi, daily drive, have yet to have any kind of problem