Dyno Shootout on Speed Channel

[496fe]

Did anyone else see the muscle car dyno shootout tonight? I need to find where that dyno is.

637 Hp with a stock 427 tunnel port? Come ON!
Over 700 Hp with a stock 426 Hemi? Suuuuuuure.
Over 600 Hp with a stock L88 with 10.25:1 compression?

My engine is good for about 810 Hp on that dyno.

Brian

[mpanten]

There was a lot of flap over that episode. The chrysler guys admitted that the hemi was juiced and the producer came right out and said that the number were not correct. The Hemi was especially funny. It sounded like they reved it up to about 10k.

[pgermond]

Yeah, I saw it...... makes for good urban legends. It was nice to see that the 409 was included. I remember those Impalas in high school - twisting axles and trannys.... torque galore

[Brent Mills]

Hmmmm...That was interesting, but hardly stock, or else the dyno was dorked up. I think the hemi had over 800hp in relatively stock configuration....uh huh.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Hi,
It sure IRKS me to see these FAKE tests, blueprinted motors with cheater cams.Open dyno headers,etc. In the real world I actually raced many of these muscle cars at the old Mission raceway, saturday run what you brung drags was $5. My 750 Honda was basically the fastest "street " vehicle there 12.2 ET. Hemi barracuda went 13.8 ,396 chevell 13.4, 429 SCJ torino 13.2, full house tunnel rammed 350 nova 12.5 There was a 401 AMX ringer there with slicks that went 12.0
There were faster cars that were race cars, but not any street cars back then. You have to remember that there was no electronic ignitions and points were good for 3 months and then the engine wouldn't rev properly until you filed and gapped the points again. Gas mileage was a joke, 6 mpg was the norm playing around.
Jeeze, these tests raise my blood pressure...........
Perry.

[496fe]

This is in comparison to Hot Rod Magazine and others, who spend considerable money and time making sure the tests are good.

I was so disappointed. I had my DVR going, the popcorn was buttered, the dogs were outside with the wife. First one up was the 409 with 406 Hp. My heart's racing when I see the 427 and, and, and... 637 Hp or something like that, and everything goes limp. I've been had.

I did enjoy one comment though. He said the noise of the 427 "is like no other engine ever built". I agree.

Brian

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Hi,
It sure IRKS me to see these FAKE tests, blueprinted motors with cheater cams.Open dyno headers,etc. In the real world I actually raced many of these muscle cars at the old Mission raceway, saturday run what you brung drags was $5. My 750 Honda was basically the fastest "street " vehicle there 12.2 ET. Hemi barracuda went 13.8 ,396 chevell 13.4, 429 SCJ torino 13.2, full house tunnel rammed 350 nova 12.5 There was a 401 AMX ringer there with slicks that went 12.0
There were faster cars that were race cars, but not any street cars back then. You have to remember that there was no electronic ignitions and points were good for 3 months and then the engine wouldn't rev properly until you filed and gapped the points again. Gas mileage was a joke, 6 mpg was the norm playing around.
Jeeze, these tests raise my blood pressure...........
Perry.

Zactly, I remember is the early 70's going to the local drag strip with a buddy, I was his "crew", didn't even have a drivers license yet, we towed a 69 Mach I SCJ behind his dads tow truck and when we got there, I'd jack it up one wheel at a time and put on the front skinnys and rear slicks and the driveshaft, it was NOT street legal, strictly a drag car and if I remember right he ran in the low 12's.........

The top dog at the drag in the "street legal" class was another buddy on his bone stock 750 Honda, he had the record for quite some time........


Seems to me, the guys that drove their cars to the track,mostly SS 396,Mach I,Z-28, and the odd Dodge or two never ran much better than mid 13's........that was real street legal cars on street tires, most had a few mods, mostly headers and carb stuff.......

I too saw the show the other day and laughed at the "stock motors", what a big fat lie!!!!!!!!!!

David

[BMK]

Isn't there two different settings on the dyno equipment..

One will give a higher reading..



Even so the numbers given do seem extreme..

Having watched a number of dyno tests, I have seen HP drop once revs increase beyond the limit. Guess we have all experienced the over revvvvved situ..

[Cobrabill]

A dyno is a "tool"and that's it.But have you noticed how absolutely everyone selling their car has a 500HP motor in it?

[neverwouldof]

In American Muscle Car episode 'The Fastest Musclecar Engines of All Time', a 1966 Dodge street Hemi engine, built and tuned under the factory stock condition, produced 820 HP and 689ft·lb of torque...at least this is what Hemi supporters would like to be carved into stone as gospel truth. In actual fact, Darren Tedder who works at Engine Systems in Tucker Georgia, and who worked with the producers of the show had this to say about the episode:

We built 3 motors for the show titled “the fastest muscle car engines of all time”. We did an L88 Chevy, a 427 tunnel port FE Ford, and a 426 HEMI for them to dyno test. The motors were to have things done to them that would have been done by places like Yenko, Mr Norms, and so on. I have no idea what kind of spin will be put on this show, but I can assure all you guys that MOPAR will be properly represented. Though the Hemi is a pump gas motor, it may have a couple more twists of the wrench than the others, but don’t tell any of the Chevy or Ford brethren. Everything had to be put together from the parts we had available. The end result should please all you guys. Yes that motor has more work in it than it should, but we used what we had at the shop for motors in progress. (note: a 500 cubic inch short block was in the shop at the time...) Remember television is for entertainment, much like the internet, so don't read too much into it. Also, it's not like it was a secret kept from the production. I worked most of my life in underwater production. Every thing I've ever shot has had some unrealistic spin put on it by, post production, or an executive in the production. Unfortunately in most cases (not saying this is the case here) the people in post don't know the first thing about the subject matter. It's just a fact of TV. Two of the most discrediting things said about anything are: I saw it on TV, or read it on the internet. Enjoy it for what is, have a good laugh, and be glad YOU guys know something the VAST majority of viewers don't.

And some opinions posted in response to Mr. Tedder's post:

820 HP out of a stock HEMI? Can you say "SUPER STOCK"??!! If we have a hard time believing it what are the Ford and Chevy guys thinking? 820 H.P. "BLUEPRINT" I SMELL A RINGER. The Ford was cool. Cool show, nice motors, but I'm thinking I spent a lot more money than I should have to make the 800 hp mine puts out. Stock motor w/ inline Pro Systems Holleys? What was I thinking? I could have gotten stock heads, stock cam, stock intake, and only 426 cubes to make 820 hp. That show was supposed to prove who was the baddest of the bad? It proved nothing at all in my opinion.

[Excaliber]

"Used the parts we had available", I guess that means the best parts available for that engine within the time frame (60's) the motor represents? As opposed to modern 'replica' heads, cam, etc from Dove or who ever.

Lets assume the Tunnel Port heads on the 427, darn good heads right out of the box and with a little tweaking even better, were in fact iron 'period correct' heads? Could these heads support 600 plus horse? I totally believe they can! So what about the cam profile? It would be interesting to see the specs on that cam. As the tunnel port heads easily support 7000 plus rpm Ford made a flat tappet cam that would indeed support that rpm range 'back in the day'! 12 or 12.5 to C.R. was typical for a well built side oiler. Pump gas? Todays 'pump gas' or 'back in the day' pump gas when 100 octane was readily available? Yes, I believe that 'stock' side oiler could in fact produce 600 plus horse! As to the 700 h.p. of the Hemi, I don't know as I don't have any direct personal comparison to go by. BUT, it does NOT surprise me! Hemi's RULED NASCAR in that time frame!

But I DO have personal knowledge of MY side oiler as delivered when I bought my ERA. The engine and the car came with a LOT of documentation and history, including hand written notes from as early as 1984!

High riser STOCK iron heads and matching Ford OEM alloy 2X4 intake with twin 660 carbs. 12.5 to 1 Ford pistons swinging on a 428 crank. Dynoed at 667 flywheel horse power. The ONLY difference between what you COULD have built in 1965 and what WAS built in 1986 was the solid roller cam! All other parts were 'stock' as you could have run in 1965. This was a 7000 rpm motor. No other 'special' parts or 'special' work outside of blue printing and balancing (which WOULD be typical of any well built motor, now or then). While the High Riser heads are good, they aren't as good as the Tunnel Ports, which would have made even more power!

As to the L88, again, I have no personal knowledge for a comparison. WERE these engines 'ringers'? I wonder, maybe, but maybe they were just carefully built utilizing all the best components and MATCHING the components correctly makes a HUGE difference in the final performance.