Worth Having Dyno/ Tune?

B

Brianf60

Member
I know this isn't an easy answer without seeing it but.. Is it worth it to have my engines run on a dyno and tuned? We have been racing the 206 for a few years and I think I have gone about as far as I can with tuning and I'm always wondering what I might be missing.

Sprint racing/ cadet class
Red slide

If so how do decide who to do this? Always wonder if I take it someone will they give it 100% or will they hold back for their regular customers? Im sure i can find tge money to tgis once a year but some of completion is paying for services weekly. What is reasonable to expect?

Thanks in advance for the advice.
 
depends on what they can do. if jetting, it needs to be done near the track. if the dyno is at an ocean town in NC and you race in the mountains you could make it worse. I pay for all of my predators to get a pull on the dyno just to see if they are any good and to see where to set the clutch and gear it. I wanna know because you cannot always trust what other people claim. when I see people say gear it here and it should be hitting this most of the time I'm rolling my eyes. knowing is half the battle YO JOE!!!
 
Brianf60 said:
I know this isn't an easy answer without seeing it but.. Is it worth it to have my engines run on a dyno and tuned? We have been racing the 206 for a few years and I think I have gone about as far as I can with tuning and I'm always wondering what I might be missing.

Sprint racing/ cadet class
Red slide

If so how do decide who to do this? Always wonder if I take it someone will they give it 100% or will they hold back for their regular customers? Im sure i can find tge money to tgis once a year but some of completion is paying for services weekly. What is reasonable to expect?

Thanks in advance for the advice.
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I'd say 75% of our L206 customers ask to have their engines tuned on the dyno, which is fine.
Do we see big gains? Not very often.
Is it worth peace of mind to the customer to know that their engine has been tuned properly and is making good power? Absolutely.
I would say that if you're competitive now with the tune you have, then save your money for tires and more practice days (especially in cadet.)
If you want that peace of mind that your engine program is on par with others, then by all means, have someone reputable set your engine up for you.
As far as builders playing favorites...that certainly can be an issue, although my belief is that it should not.
All of our customers receive the same service, treatment, and price.
Price will be similar from one builder to another.
We charge $100 for dyno tuning (incl. fuel and your choice of oil.)
And forget about dyno numbers -- they are supplied more for sales pitches than actual comparisons by some builders. Also consider that every dyno reads differently so comparisons from one dyno to another aren't of much value - especially considering operator "input."
What you need to know is that your engine is on par (or better) than others.
Bottom line, take your engine business to a builder you trust.

-----
🏁Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
Carlson Motorsports on Facebook
32 years of service to the karting industry ~ 1Cor 9:24
Linden, IN
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
 
All of what Brian said.
Plus, be wary of people who do boast and brag about their gains in a 206. They will either be lying, or breaking the intent of the rules. The biggest gains in a 206 are not big and the people whom by and large find them will be he professionals who attend to their work with professionalism and a keen attention to detail.
 
Dyno tuning is a thing of the past when engines were not made well and required extensive blueprinting. Today there is nothing to tune beyond general maintenance unless you're in a class that allows engine mods. If you want to get into it more, start looking at head warping and valve seal.
 
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sundog said:
Dyno tuning is a thing of the past when engines were not made well. Today there is nothing to tune beyond general maintenance.
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I disagree. You can change jetting and dyno tuning will show you what make more power on the motor, you can change timing a little bit by pulling the flywheel off, it will show you where you motor makes peak power and torque with the parts you put the motor together with so you know what rpm to run the motor and what clutch setup you want, and it lets the builder run the motor through the rpm's and they can make sure it is ready to rip before they send it off. I think it gives the builder and the customer valuable info on their motor.
 
sundog said:
Dyno tuning is a thing of the past when engines were not made well and required extensive blueprinting. Today there is nothing to tune beyond general maintenance unless you're in a class that allows engine mods. If you want to get into it more, start looking at head warping and valve seal.
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you will never know how to gear or where to set your clutch without putting a motor on a dyno. If i was to ask 10 people racing one class about the clutch you will get 4 different answers and some times you'll get 4 different answers from the same person depending when in the week you ask . the only way to cut through the bologna is to put your motor on a dyno. I don't care about his hp vs her hp i wanna know where hp peak is and where torque peak is. without a dyno readout your just guessing.
 
Thanks for al the feedback. Brian thanks for your honest opinion. If you weren't 8 hours away i would already got you to run it on the dyno. And maybe i will take a road trip this winter if they ever open the boarder. I feel like I have already been to the end of internet and back looking for good tuning advice. It takes a lot of track time to really make changes and test. And all that time consumes tires so the $100 Is not what is holding back. I check the head for leakage few times a season and have had the seats cut on the head in the winter. I know the biggest gains will be in the driver but that takes time and i want to cover as many angles as a can/ can afford to.
 
A dyno is like sending the engine to a hospital. The more wires and sensors that are hooked up, the better to diagnose it's health. Some of the dynos can chart head temp, exhaust temp, CO2, fuel flow, intake flow, knock sensor, and a host of other things. HP and torque is just the end result when there is so much more data to be collected.
 
Brianf60 said:
I know this isn't an easy answer without seeing it but.. Is it worth it to have my engines run on a dyno and tuned? We have been racing the 206 for a few years and I think I have gone about as far as I can with tuning and I'm always wondering what I might be missing.

Sprint racing/ cadet class
Red slide

If so how do decide who to do this? Always wonder if I take it someone will they give it 100% or will they hold back for their regular customers? Im sure i can find tge money to tgis once a year but some of completion is paying for services weekly. What is reasonable to expect?

Thanks in advance for the advice.
Click to expand...
The key is find someone that has a high level of engine building / tuning knowledge and has a good quality dyno machine.
They are far and few !
 
Brianf60 said:
Thanks for al the feedback. Brian thanks for your honest opinion. If you weren't 8 hours away i would already got you to run it on the dyno. And maybe i will take a road trip this winter if they ever open the boarder. I feel like I have already been to the end of internet and back looking for good tuning advice. It takes a lot of track time to really make changes and test. And all that time consumes tires so the $100 Is not what is holding back. I check the head for leakage few times a season and have had the seats cut on the head in the winter. I know the biggest gains will be in the driver but that takes time and i want to cover as many angles as a can/ can afford to.
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Feel free to ship your engine. An L206 engine can be shipped in it's original box just about anywhere for $25 - $50. You'll burn up that in gas alone to drive it here. :) We have a commercial account with FedEx and can even offer shipping labels and call tags to be billed at our discount level to our account. We'll do what we can to help out our customers. Whatever it takes.
 
So what are bone stock Briggs L0206 dynoing at? Reason I ask is I saw someone post a new 2022 engine dyno'ed @ 12.63 HP? Up in Canada we are not allowed to change anything, motor has to stay stock
 
agepag said:
So what are bone stock Briggs L0206 dynoing at? Reason I ask is I saw someone post a new 2022 engine dyno'ed @ 12.63 HP? Up in Canada we are not allowed to change anything, motor has to stay stock
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different dynos different readings depends on altitude temp two many variables pulls can be slightly different when done in a row. all a dyno pull tells me is where the power is so i can gear and set the clutch and if its time to rebuild. try to get all my motors done by the same guy and on the same day.
 
agepag said:
So what are bone stock Briggs L0206 dynoing at? Reason I ask is I saw someone post a new 2022 engine dyno'ed @ 12.63 HP? Up in Canada we are not allowed to change anything, motor has to stay stock
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According to the briggs build sheets they are about 8.8 hp peak.

https://www.briggsracing.com/racing-engines/206

I can guarantee you someone advertising a legal 206 at 12.6 hp has a poorly calibrated dyno or is lying.

J'-remy said:
different dynos different readings depends on altitude temp two many variables pulls can be slightly different when done in a row. all a dyno pull tells me is where the power is so i can gear and set the clutch and if its time to rebuild. try to get all my motors done by the same guy and on the same day.
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A good dyno hooked to a good weather station with the right correction factors can account for that. However your point is valid, unless they are calibrated the same way, a dyno can say anything. With a couple clicks of the mouse, I could build you a 20hp 206 on my dyno.

OP, in our market, dynos are a comparative tool. You cant compare builder A's dyno numbers to builder B's unless they are sharing the same dyno. We use our dyno to compare engines to known good or to each other. We center ours at 10hp because its easy then to compare engines to see how they size up. But, we dont go advertising our engines based on peak hp. That would be careless and silly.
 
fatboy1dh said:
According to the briggs build sheets they are about 8.8 hp peak.

https://www.briggsracing.com/racing-engines/206

I can guarantee you someone advertising a legal 206 at 12.6 hp has a poorly calibrated dyno or is lying.




A good dyno hooked to a good weather station with the right correction factors can account for that. However your point is valid, unless they are calibrated the same way, a dyno can say anything. With a couple clicks of the mouse, I could build you a 20hp 206 on my dyno.

OP, in our market, dynos are a comparative tool. You cant compare builder A's dyno numbers to builder B's unless they are sharing the same dyno. We use our dyno to compare engines to known good or to each other. We center ours at 10hp because its easy then to compare engines to see how they size up. But, we dont go advertising our engines based on peak hp. That would be careless and silly.
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Couldn't agree more with everything Derek just said.
There are a lot of "crafty" salesmen pushing dyno numbers.
Dynos are comparison tools and to be used for that purpose only, not as marketing tools!
 
A lot more factors that that. when was the dyno pull made? Was it done 400 races ago? or did they put that open animal on the dyno and then claim it was the 206 they're selling? I can make a chart that looks like a dyno run in Adobe Illustrator too!;) im gonna need a video of the engine being dynoed with a closeup of the serial number while your holding a current newspaper LOL
 
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