The modified car scene is a highly competitive one, where credibility is sometimes as important as the quality of the car itself. One of the current 'ins' we've picked up on is to have your car chassis dyno'd - even better if it's in front of an audience at a 'dyno-day'. Here, the more power a car can roll out at the wheels, the bigger the owner's ego can inflate to... POP!
However, people are getting caught up in all this hype and forgetting one very important fact - a dyno doesn't actually tell you how fast a car is. The reading you end up with is merely a quantification of power output at the wheels (and often only peak power). That means you're not taking into account vehicle weight, gear ratios, traction and numerous other things - which are crucial performance factors. I can't count the number of times I've seen or heard about some demonstrably powerful car, which later turns out to be a dud at the track and not-so-awesome on the road. Let it be known, dyno performance is often very different to driving performance.
On top of this, the accuracy of a chassis dyno read-out can be questionable too. The results can be s-o easily fudged by the operator it's a real worry - and even when there's no foul intentions, they might be unintentionally using the equipment incorrectly. There are so many ways power output at the wheels can vary - bonnet up/bonnet closed, location of the air temp sensor and a whole host of other variables.
And those afore-mentioned dyno days are even more sus if you ask me. The problem here is time. You see, when you've got a long string of cars to set up on the rollers and do a power pull, there's often not enough time to make sure that there's no wheel spin, stabilise temperatures or perform the proper ramping techniques. That means the results can easily be out. So at the end of the day you might walk away with an inaccurate graph showing just one facet of automotive performance - great...
I'm not saying dynos are a waste of time - far from it - they're tremendously important for many things. But they most certainly aren't the be-all and end-all for the performance car enthusiast.
So alrighty then Mr Smarty Pants, what method do I suggest to test a modified road car - the quarter mile drags?
Hmm. I've gotta say, I'm not convinced about that one either - but it is certainly more appropriate than a quick blast on a chassis dyno. Driving into a drag racing venue is like entering another world where the level of testosterone and competition are both sky high. And, unfortunately, the fear of losing your run (or even being ridiculed) is quite overpowering - which is why you see so many people adding extra octane booster, removing spare wheels and dropping tyre pressures. In more severe cases, boost pressure goes up and the exhaust and air filter are removed. All of which makes me wonder what the whole point of the exercise is. "Yeah, my car will do a 12.3 when I turn the boost up to 35 psi, remove the interior, fit slicks and activate the nitrous. But, of course, I never run it like that on the street..."
To me, that's total crap - who cares? That means Granny in her Diesel Gemini can lunch you on every other day of the week!
And then we come to the argument about how sticky the track is - it's funny how people always tell you how slippery it is, isn't it? If they get a slow run, it's always because of the "massive whelspin". And how about those people that pack their air-to-air intercoolers with ice before making their pass? Although, I can sort-of understand their justification - you never sit in a slow moving line for 5-10 minutes, switch your engine off and maybe open the bonnet before nailing it 100% for 15-or-so odd seconds, do you? The heat soak, tyre, oil and coolant temps leave a lot to be desired...
So after spending your hard-earned dollars for a run down the strip, you come away with a slightly dubious time slip along with a whole bunch of "what ifs" and "yeah buts" to go along with it. And unless you're gonna run your car in exactly the same configuration on the street, you've just completely wasted your time.
Okay, I'll stop being a negative bastard now and give you my suggestion...
I reckon a G-Tech accelerometer is an excellent proposition for the average punter. With this device you get to do the run where you want, do all the preparation yourself and have no-one else pressuring you. You set the scene - there's no one or nothing else to take into account. And, above all, you get to "keep it real" coz you're still on the street - where the car actually belongs!
We've used a G-Tech in the past and found it to be a great little device - easy to use and deadly accurate. Various magazines and other G-Tech owners also share my views. One person that recently vouched for the little black box is Nick Tsemitsidis - the owner of the hyper Supra turbo featured in our Supra Supreme feature. After making some further mechanical mods, he G-Tech tested the car and backed it up with a line of officially timed ¼ mile runs - all of which were within 1-2 tenths of a second of the G-Tech. You can't get much better than that!
Their $330 (including GST) asking price is pretty reasonable considering the flexibility and accuracy you get. And, above all, the device actually measures how fast your car is in its real environment!
Hooray - no more beating around the bush and making excuses!
|