Dyno At Kaizen

I had decided last week that I'd like to finally get a dyno chart of what the heck my car is doing and outputting. I never got the chance to get my last RX-8 to the dyno, nor did I get a baseline of Serenity before I began to modify her. That being said, it also made sense to get a dyno chart of my car before I install my header over the winter so I can compare the two. That's when I had Jeff (MazdaManiac) give my current tune another look-over, and then gave Scott at Kaizen Tuning a ring to schedule a dyno appointment with their tuner, Rob Baker.

There are a few things you should know when taking your RX-8 to the dyno. For starters, there is an issue that many people have encountered in where the RX-8 gives off very low dyno numbers, and they always seem to be consistent between each RX-8 (between 160 HP and 170 HP). Unfortunately, it isn't very clear what everyone on the forums is doing for setups on their dyno machines. At Kaizen, we were a little unsure of what to do as well, so we had put into the DynoDynamics dyno computer that the RX-8 was a 6 cylinder (since they did not have rotary as an option).

After rereading Eric Meyer's post on RX-8 club about his experience on the dyno (thanks for the tips Eric, especially about having a warm differential!), Rob and I decided to have a couple of pulls in 4th gear and then in 5th gear. At first, with the dyno in "Regular" mode, it said the car had only 177.6 HP and 127 TQ. Clearly, that can't truly be the case. Rob then changed the settings of the dyno to go into "Shoot Out" mode, in where it simulates readings as if the dyno was a DynoJet dyno (DynoJet's apparently read higher than other dynos). The numbers were much higher and a lot closer to what I was originally expecting, coming in with a reading of 218.4 HP and 160 TQ in 4th gear, and then a reading of 221.2 HP and 160 TQ from a 5th gear pull.

I'm still not completely confident with the numbers. Given that so many people have had similar numbers to me in regular mode (again, regardless if it's a stock RX-8 or heavily modified), I can't help but feel like my numbers may have been misread by the dyno. Something to consider however is that Eric Meyer's dyno that he posted up was done on a dynojet, with readings of 223 HP and 150.3 TQ. If the DynoDynamics dyno at Kaizen is really true on the "Shoot Out" mode, then that means my car is right up there with Eric's old Koni Challenge RX-8 build… And I don't even have my header and final tune yet! I suppose for now, these numbers will have to do as a baseline until I can find someone who can explain what mode we should be dynoing the RX-8's in.

In the end, it was still a fun experience as I have never seen a car on the dyno before. Big thanks to Rob and Scott over at Kaizen for making this possible and showing me how the car is doing. Be sure to check out the videos below of a pull in 4th gear and then a pull in 5th gear. This Sunday is my last race for the season with SCCA...And it is a VERY close battle, so stay tuned.