I've heard that dyno numbers can be tweaked and non-streetable tunes can be put onto a car to make it show a much higher HP # than would actually be useable.. my question is, what does the tune do that makes it unusable on the street? or how do they fake the #s? this question is spawned from this thread:

http://wrxmodders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10262 a few posts down they talk about a 700hp sti.. although i can't see all that was done to it.. it smelled a bit to me.. I told my friend who was looking at it that it probably wasn't a useable tune or real HP figures but he doesn't believe me...

 

the dyno itself can be tweaked to read pretty much anything you want it to.

 

hmm.. alright.. i guess either that'll have to be a good enough explanation for him or he can believe that an sti is capable of 700awhp on a streetable tune with the stock engine..

 

all you have to do is tell the dyno that the cars weight is different then what the dyno is registering and you can have a geo metro produce 1200 WHP, but not every dyno program has this capability but most do, but then again its possible to have a 700 hp sti, depending on mods

 

well im guessing a streetable tune is one thats safe for the car. you can put more aggressive tunes on the car but they can quickly become horror stories by trying to squeeze an extra few horsepower from the motor when there isnt any to be had. its not going to be alot at by any means, but you can squeeze a couple.

you can program different gear ratios and crap into the dyno that could make the car read more or less horsepower than it has (like on a mustang if you change the rear end gears, you no longer have a 1:1 ratio in 4th gear like the dyno is supposed to run on. so if its not a 'mustang' dyno you will read less horsepower on the dyno than you actually have because the dyno doesnt know about your gears). so its not hard to make the dyno read higher numbers than your really putting down.

i doubt that a stock sti motor will stay alive on 700awhp. just post on a sti forum and ask what the max horsepower on stock internals is for one of those. your talking stock rods that are supporting over 200+ hp if you got 700 at the wheels in a 4 banger. i dont think those motors are forged like a cobras but that just seems a little out there to me.

 

ya on a stock motor it wouldnt happen but i read the post on the WRX forums, the 700 whp STI never had the mods listed for all we know its boosting 50 PSI

 

I'd believe a 700 hp STi. A couple of local guys here put down some seriously impressive numbers.
"Streetable tune" and an "over the top" tune can be different. Race gas, tweaked A/F, timing etc and all be set just right to crown a dyno queen - but the instant you get onto it in a real street situation, you run her lean to do starving a fuel pump or something and you're dropping in a new motor after you sweep your connecting rods off the street.