Let me start by saying the results were surprising, but in a good way.
First off, the results:
Evan's car made significantly more power than before, and the SSR header made a few HP more in the upper midrange than the Kiddracing header. The ECU is supposedly tuned for the SSR header, but I think both headers would have a smoother powerband with a better tune. I do not think that peak numbers would change significantly with a better tune.
Here are the plots of the SSR with the exhaust on:
The motor made similar power with the 3" exhaust on. However, the bumps in the torque just after the VTEC changeover are present in the plot. Those bumps were cited as an issue on the original test results, but they are still present here. They're related to the nature of the exhaust on Evan's car, not anything to do with how the car was run on the dyno.
Here's a comparison of the SSR with exhaust vs. open header:
You can see that with open header, the midrange is smoother, but there's not much change in top end power. This is typically the case with a k-series and a 3" exhaust. That the SSR was run with an exhaust and the kiddracing without an exhaust was cited as a problem with the original test. These results show that there isn't much difference between 3" exhaust and open header for peak power.
Just to be complete, here are all the pulls made with the Kiddracing header.
Also, engine tempreature was possibly listed as an issue on the last test. This test, within 3 pulls, the engine was warmed up. The engine had sat for more than an hour prior to making the first pull. By the end of the 2nd pull, it was fully warmed up. It made peak power on the 3rd pull without any special measures to warm up the motor. The runs on the dyno do a pretty good job of warming up the motor. By the 4th pull, power had started to drop, probably due to heat soak starting to take its toll.
The final point I'd mention is that the tach on Evan's dash is way off. On the previous test, it was mentioned that the SSR wasn't revved out all the way. I can see why that would happen, I had the same problem initially, going off of the tach in the dash. Once I realized that the motor wasn't revving out, I used the tach on Evan's laptop. The day the 1st test was conducted, there was no laptop in use so it would have been hard to tell where to actually stop the pull going off of the tach in the dash.
Last time the Kiddracing header won by a few HP. This time it lost by less than 1hp peak, and by a 2-3hp margin in places in the midrange. Why the results are so different from last time, I couldn't tell you. There are other variables involved, such as the throttle cable issue, but discussing them takes us too far into speculation. The bottom line is that this test wasn't conducted that much differently than the last. We just tried to account for certain variables that were questioned in relation to the last test. However, it appears that there was some other even bigger variable affecting both the SSR & Kiddracing header last time around. This time around both headers beat their previous numbers by a significant margin, and it had nothing to do with engine temp, whether or not an exhaust was bolted up, or how far the car was revved out.
Anyhow, I'm glad this is all settled. I hope everyone understands that Mike didn't do anything on purpose to throw the results off. The test procedure last time around wasn't perfect, but the SSR wasn't going to beat the Kiddracing header on that particular day. I'm sure of that. There were enough pulls made on that day to justify that statement. The engine made its peak numbers by the 2nd or 3rd pull. Yesterday, there wasn't any way the Kiddracing was going to beat the SSR. It's a different day, the car has had some miles put on it since the last test, etc etc. I'll never be able to explain why things panned out the way they did last time, nor will I be able to explain why both headers made so much more power this time around. It just demonstrates that you just have to let the dyno do the talking. The dyno just reflects back to you what you strap down to it. Simple as that. There's no way to trick it into making torque bumps or reading more power. If it shows up on the plot, that's what the truth is for that particular day.
It was a lot of fun, till next time!
Originally Posted by Vteckidd
