So i went on a limb and had my car dyno'd tnight at a local dyno party and was a little disappointed when my car only put down
~160whp and just over 140wtq

ill post the actual graph later, but instead of being smooth or even having a little "wobble" in it, the curve looks like a seismograph during an earthquake.. although it does climb linearly to redline with HP...
my mods are in my sig, and i do not have a tune, but even without a tune i thought this was a little sad :/
(the MAP sensor reads a max of 30psi at redline and with it bieng ~14.4 psi atmospheric up here that means I'm boosting 15.6lbs)
(i do have an SEL, btu its for a p0171 (system lean) which is caused by a problem with my exhaust. (obx header is leaking at the doughnut gasket, actually creating a vacuum and pulling o2 (atmospheric air rather) into the exhaust causing the ECU to think im running lean, and it richens the engine as much as it can.. then still thinks its lean and throws a code... im working on getting this fixed... could this be the main problem ?...)
thanks for the help and as soon as the shop emails me the graphs ill post em.

edit: got the chart!

 

What kind of dyno was it?

 

dynojet

 

My car also throws the lean code from time to time and I notice it don't pull quite as hard when it does.
As for the rest of the results, you need to figgure that MINI advertises 168hp, which is measured at the flywheel count in the drivetrain losses,and the fact that real atmospheric conditions are nowhere near ideal, not to mention any problems with the car your hp numbers can drop off rather quickly. I would say that 160hp is rather low on a 15% car, but is probably fairly accurate given your circumstances.
You need to get that leak fixed and maby you will get some power back once the light goes out(it could take 85 start ups with no problems to turn the light off)
The main thing to remember is what does big HP numbers matter as long as you are happy with the performance of your car. A 60HP Suzuki Samurai can be more fun to drive than an advertised 276HP Mitsubishi Evolution, I know from experiance.

I say "advertised 276HP" with the Evo because there are some rare instances that a manufacturer under estimates HP. The Japaneese companys couldnt advertise any car over 276HP due to the "Gentlemans Agreement". In all reality at 6000 feet of altitude on a hot day I dynoed my Evo and saw almost 290HP at the wheels toatly stock!

 

Your numbers could also be affected by the vehicle weight that was entered into the system.

 

dynojets don't require that, only Mustang dyno's like you dyno'd on

 

Some dino's read high, some low...so in relation to other similar Mini's how did you do!?
The numbers a Dino gives you are just a tool for the tuner...a way to judge before and after, or compare different cars on the Same Dino.
Depending on many factors, I might wonder if the sparkplugs are the proper ones temp wise, and I would wonder if the belt was slipping a bit...along with the basics like filters, etc. Dino'ing a car with known mechanical issues is one thing that will never please the owner....and you have a known problem...
Add to that varrarations due to fuel, tempture, altitude, and general motor health, and folks get numbers that are literaly all over the place..heck, the plant in Brazil that made these motors were known for making a bunch of strong motors on the right days, and weak ones on the wrong days, with most of the better days beaing later in production as quality standards were tightened.
Get your "defered" matainance item fixed, and I am sure you will be more happy next time!!

 

was there any correction for the dyno? Mine got dyno'd at 168 or something with a CAI, 15% pulley and cooler plugs, but they said that their dyno read 10-15% lower than most other dynos so i ended up with close to 180. i finally got exhaust and now i cant wait to get it re-dyno'd after i get my tune!!

 

haha. idk. the car before me was a 1976 datsun 280z that didnt even have an ignition (twist wires together and touch another to start it :P [project car] that was turbo'd and it put down 480whp... {should have seen all the civic owners faces there :D } )
(i live in ricer central lol. one of the worst places in the nation for street racing. and because of that we have a twin turbocharged dodge charger built by Hennessey H.E.A.T. police office r(the Hennessey part is rumored, but i can attest for the turbos, they dumped BOV's next to me the first time i saw it when we were leaving a stoplight and he shifted and i abut **** my pants... ) [H.E.A.T. stands for Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic and its black with a nice exhaust, had brembo brakes on it, it was lowered a bit, nice aftermarket wheels, and in police gaudiness had flames around the letters H.E.A.T. that were painted on the front quarterpannels.) basically where i live gets a lot of grant money due to it has the highest crime rate per capita in the nation... so the cops said.. if y'all street race.. y'all at least can't outrun us... ever since i saw that car for the first time I've been going to autoX and tract events ...

wow.. sorry that was way off topic.. just realized i went off on a tangent, but now that ive typed it i dont want to delete it... odd...

i should have the dyno sheet tom. and ill post it up BTW... it is a funny looking thing.....

 

LOL - well I for one actually found your tangent entertaining. I can just imagine the SC cop with a drawl saying that... " y'all at least can't outrun us..." Anyway, hope you figure out what's up with your dyno numbers.

 

updated first post with dyno chart.

 

Two questions...
When is the last time you gave it a tune up? (plugs, wires, coil, air filter, etc)
What were your tire pressures? (low tire pressures can cause low dyno readings)

 

wires and coil are stock i believe. plugs were changed ~5000 miles ago and i gapped them myself. air filter was cleaned yesterday, but before that it had been 25k miles. oil was 4000 miles (royal purple) and tire pressure is 32psi which is what my tires wear evenly at (when i do higher like the door and tires recommend they bald in the middle)
car has 94900 miles on it

 

Multi-prong plugs such as Bosch +4s and NGKs are pregapped from the factory and should not be moved.

If the lean condition is consistent, your computer will attempt to enrichen the fuel mixture. Because a lean condition can also indicate an increase in exhaust temperature, the computer may possibly retard your timing to prevent detonation. Both of these can take away HP. Reference this article: http://www.murmini.com/articles/2007...agnostics-pt-1.

Yes, get the header gasket leak fixed. This will continue to mess with your air/fuel mixture readings.

 

Couple of notes:

A post-cat lean code will not impact performance.

Dyno software has graph smoothing features which take the wobble out of the graph line. If it didn't, your chart would literally look like a seismograph: just a scribbly line. You do have a loss at about 6500rpm which needs addressing, but the other fluctuation is not a concern.

Getting a single, unreferenced pull on a dyno does not tell you much. The actual numbers that you get from a dyno pull are not absolute from dyno to dyno, so don't get too wound up about what you made. If you had a number of other similar MINIs that were making more power than you on that day that would be a different story.

 

Bring it over to Atl and we'll tune it then you'll see some better numbers.

 

When is the last time you changed your supercharger belt? My car was on the dyno when my belt was slipping and the numbers dropped off at the end like yours...

 

about 6 months ago, but i had already thought of that, so i bought a new belt just in case. the old belt looks fine on a visual inspection though, and i know its not a rule of a guide, but there is 1 hole on the tensioner showing.. so at least its applying some pressure. ill either be fixing my exhaust or reverting back to stock until a later date this weekend.

 

Dyno numbers are garbage unless you have a baseline to compare it to. The numbers are relative and should only be used a very general tool. You simply cant compare one number from one dyno in one location on one day with one car to another vehicle.

This is why I strongly push 1/4 mile times as the determining factor for modifications. Trap speed and 1/4 mile times are much more reliable numbers to determine if the car is getting faster over a period of time, and they are much easier to use to compare car-to-car.


Don't get worked up over it.

 

^+1^

You cant cheat a quarter mile, if the pedal stays on the floor.
Plus its a lot more fun than straping your car to a treadmill and watching the wheels turn.

 

These last two posts remind me of a saying, "All the power in the world doesn't mean anything if you can't plant it on the ground."

In a previous writeup I've read, a stock 1st-gen MCS put down 155 HP and 139 lb/TQ making a 3rd-gear pull on the dyno. That is kind-of what I have used as a baseline, since I never did one myself with my old or current MCS'. I have heard before some dynos don't read the same compared to others (I cannot tell you how many stories I've heard of some dynos around here catering to Mustangs). Perhaps there is another where you live you can go to (once the lean condition's remedied)?

As for belts, stock is 1388mm. I currently have a 1374mm installed. 8-10mm on the tensioner shaft should be showing, which does come out to about the entire first hole.

 

Ok, so the next question would be, what a compression test or leak down test yeild?