EDITORIAL

If there is one thing that we receive correspondence about more than any other, it has to be power figures. Most of these are requests for kilowattclub stickers, with 400kW being ridiculously popular, but, then again, it should come as no surprise in this day and age of cheap performance parts and gigantic super-efficient turbos that this is the case. Hell, we even had to start making 600 and 700kW club stickers not that long ago. We are now in a situation where the number has become the almighty calling card of a build and an unhealthy infatuation has festered. This is why we also receive correspondence calling BS on claims once in a while.

We currently don’t require a dyno sheet to be shown before printing a figure in the magazine, but we do need to see one before handing out our kilowattclub stickers. However, we are starting to think that requiring one for both might be a good way to keep everything above board. My only reservation about this is the additional admin involved of chasing endless dyno sheets for very little gain. Yes, we don’t want to be publishing incorrect info, but then there is still the “his dyno reads high” or the classic fiddled correction figures to deal with. So, would it really achieve anything? Do figures really mean that much? Shouldn’t we just settle these disputes on the track in the real world instead?

Now, I can hardly talk about dyno figures without mentioning correction factors (CFs), the big bad wolf of dyno figures. But that stigma placed on CFs is often misunderstood. Yes, it’s an easy way for a tuner to inflate the figure if it’s set at higher than 1.0, but this does not automatically mean that they are cheating the system by doing it. If you were to run back-to-back runs and bump the CF up then, yes; but there are actual reasons. The reason that you can even adjust CF ratios in the first place is to obtain repeatable results with the same car, no matter the temperature, humidity, or barometric pressure experienced on the day.

There is also a ton of other ways that these figures can be manipulated — or cheated, if you will — but, at the end of the day, we all need to understand that the figure from one dyno to the next will be different, and unless you can have every single variable condition identical, no two readings, even on the same machine, are going to match day to day.

But does obtaining a number really matter that much? After all, a dyno figure is only a by-product of a dyno tune, which is a tuning tool, its the cars real world performance that should matter. I feel that we need to get back to proving performance on the drag strip or the circuit, a place where no one cares what paperwork you might have unless you’re the one holding the chequered flag. If you’re running, say, 350kW and able to chop a car claiming 500kW, isn’t that all the kudos you need? Well, it’s all the kudos I’m ever shooting for.

In saying that, though, there is no shame in advertising that you’re running some muscle under the hood, so fire us your dyno sheets via email or Facebook. But don’t try pulling the wool over our eyes, as the super sleuth Jaden will call your bluff.