I am considering putting my car on a dyno meter and have no experience with the use of these devices and would appreciate some advice. I have seen these devices used on such TV shows as Horse Power TV and I am familiar with typical horse power and torque curves on graphs.

A local shop is offering a special of two runs for $40 instead of its usual price of three runs for $100. I have completed all the modification to this engine in my car and have ordered a custom PROM chip and would be interested in a before and after results of the chip installation. The car is running very good and was recently tuned up and I should be getting the chip in a week or two.

Do you get an accurate read on the first run on a dyno meter? Do shops normally offer multiple runs for tuning adjustments? Do these shops let you rev the car or do their technicians do this? If I am going for an accurate first run maybe it would be best to let their technicians rev the car. What other things should I consider when paying someone for a dyno meter use?

 

It really depends on the individual shop. If they're selling a set number of runs, then they're not likely to provide a whole lot in terms of tuning in between runs. They'll want to get you on the dyno and off as quickly as they can. If you just want before and after numbers from a chip change, that's probably fine.

For more extensive tuning, some shops will sell you dyno time instead, so you pay for the dyno and a tech's time for as many runs as you want. If you're going to be doing lots of tuning, it's a better way to go. For just a before and after run you could be done well before their minimum time is up.