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To downpipe...or not to downpipe?? Is Stage 2 worth it?
- Thread starter PENROSE
- Start date
Hilfloskind
Go Kart Champion
Seriously...I have been looking at those graphs in utter disbelief over at vortex since they started posting them for their down pipe a few months ago. At first, the addition of water/meth made everything seem less precise as far as isolating gains from the down pipe being advertised. I swear, if my magna flow catback was producing those kinds of gains, I'm pretty sure a company such as that would be posting those numbers all over their website as a selling point...and they aren't.
Will@R.A.I.
Ready to race!
The gains found from adding the cat back seem high in comparison to the downpipe, but is what we tested that day. True, the runs were done on different days with slightly different conditions but all test were done in third gear.
In reality it is more likely that the power levels should have been higher with just the addition of the down pipe and tune. At the time of the hp testing we were facing 90* ambient temps, high humidity and a car that was already heat soaked (the small w/m nozzle used to combat this was later upgraded to a larger size) as we were logging a new tune. For what it's worth, these tuning runs were not horsepower measurement runs but constant load runs. After the constant load runs were complete our team did a few horsepower pulls just for baseline testing.
The last dyno was done later with 80* ambient temps (not 8am) with much better overall conditions (temps, barometric pressure, humidity etc). I can get the specifics if requested, we have all recorded, it just doesnt all fit into the description box on the graphing screen. Also when testing the full exhaust, we didn't do as many logging runs, keeping the car and IAT's slightly cooler and the larger nozzle reducing timing pulls.
I will make it a point to get our engineer to re-dyno the various components. We also work with another shop not too far away and use their dyno for the much more favorable dynojet numbers so we can present both. For the sake of accuracy and information I will get new "same day" information as soon as I can. (Unfortunately our development car is now under the knife for our upcoming K04 system and reverting back to K03 would be counter productive. As soon as we get another development car in to redo the testing with we will republish our findings.)
All said and done, and taking all the factors into consideration we felt these dynos reflected an accurate (if not conservative) depiction of what our downpipe and exhaust paired with the proper tuning can produce power wise. Our intention was not to deceive or advertise false gains, but simply report our findings. We use our dyno's as a tool to get a general idea of the cars performance. Our true test will be how well this setup performs in the quarter mile, so stay tuned because we will have that info in the coming months. If anyone is local, interested in our exhaust system and would like to see the gains for themselves, feel free to contact me or the shop and we will get you squared away with a few dyno runs free of charge.
In reality it is more likely that the power levels should have been higher with just the addition of the down pipe and tune. At the time of the hp testing we were facing 90* ambient temps, high humidity and a car that was already heat soaked (the small w/m nozzle used to combat this was later upgraded to a larger size) as we were logging a new tune. For what it's worth, these tuning runs were not horsepower measurement runs but constant load runs. After the constant load runs were complete our team did a few horsepower pulls just for baseline testing.
The last dyno was done later with 80* ambient temps (not 8am) with much better overall conditions (temps, barometric pressure, humidity etc). I can get the specifics if requested, we have all recorded, it just doesnt all fit into the description box on the graphing screen. Also when testing the full exhaust, we didn't do as many logging runs, keeping the car and IAT's slightly cooler and the larger nozzle reducing timing pulls.
I will make it a point to get our engineer to re-dyno the various components. We also work with another shop not too far away and use their dyno for the much more favorable dynojet numbers so we can present both. For the sake of accuracy and information I will get new "same day" information as soon as I can. (Unfortunately our development car is now under the knife for our upcoming K04 system and reverting back to K03 would be counter productive. As soon as we get another development car in to redo the testing with we will republish our findings.)
All said and done, and taking all the factors into consideration we felt these dynos reflected an accurate (if not conservative) depiction of what our downpipe and exhaust paired with the proper tuning can produce power wise. Our intention was not to deceive or advertise false gains, but simply report our findings. We use our dyno's as a tool to get a general idea of the cars performance. Our true test will be how well this setup performs in the quarter mile, so stay tuned because we will have that info in the coming months. If anyone is local, interested in our exhaust system and would like to see the gains for themselves, feel free to contact me or the shop and we will get you squared away with a few dyno runs free of charge.
Hilfloskind
Go Kart Champion
Seriously, will...I think that a finely crafted and well designed down pipe sells itself if the price is right and the marketing is strategically sound. That being said, fuzzy math will counter any gains made through the above methodology in the form of skepticism.
Basically, if its made well using quality materials and craftsmanship, a good down pipe sells itself without dyno claims. Everyone sort of understands what they are getting when they invest in one.
Basically, if its made well using quality materials and craftsmanship, a good down pipe sells itself without dyno claims. Everyone sort of understands what they are getting when they invest in one.