1st VW Trends Dyno Day
We Organized It; a Herd of VW Enthusiasts Came... and They All Loved the Sound of the Roaring Flat Fours!
By Stephan Szantai
Photography: Robert Hallstrom, Stephan Szantai
Any car magazine can sponsor an event. But to us at VW Trends, there is much more than supporting a show or race. We want to interact with our readers and show them our appreciation as well. We therefore pride ourselves in putting together events that allow you to be involved either as a participant or spectator. Our Charty Cruise, set in October, naturally comes to mind--see April 2002 issue. If this wasn't enough, we recently decided to organize another mind-boggling get-together, which would involve a bunch of high-performance aircooled Volkswagens. There you have it: the First VW Trends Dyno Day!
This happening took shape and blossomed during one of our staff meetings, while brain storming over a simple concept--test driving a fast Bug from Der Kleiner Panzers (DKP), a well-known Cal Look club from Southern California. Ideas quickly came flying: "Why don't we measure the car's horsepower on the company's dyno?" followed by: "We could actually put some other DKP rides on the dyno!" and finally: "Yeah, let's organize a Dyno Day open to everybody!" Well, the rest is history as they say. Due to time restraints, we weren't able to truly advertise the event, but we made sure to mail some written invitations to our local advertisers and quite a few other Volkswagen related companies. We hope we haven't forgotten anyone...The Internet played a key role in letting everybody else know about this last minute deal.
Getting access to a dyno was the least of our worries, as Primedia--our publishing company --owns a Dynojet model, located walking distance from our offices. Thanks to a fruitful business partnership, the dyno itself sits in a famous street rod shop, which has produced various award-winning vehicles over the years. What a great place! In order to entertain participants and spectators alike, we supplied some food and drink, kindly served by a couple of VWT girls. It seemed also appropriate to bring along Dyno Don Chamberlin, the "voice of the Volkswagen" for about three decades. He did a great job as usual!
Before starting our busy day, the person in charge of the dyno, Dominic Conti, gave us some key information about the horsepower figures we could expect. Most numbers published in our articles are typically measured at the flywheel, with the motor out of the vehicle. However, the dyno utilized during our session runs differently, since it calculates the horsepower at the rear wheels. As a consequence, you always endup with less horsepower at the rear wheel than the flywheel--the transmission "steals" quite a few horses indeed! Dominic advised us not to try to compare both numbers, as results are bound to controversy. But from our conversations with engine builders, it seems safe to estimate that the discrepancy for an air-cooled VW motor is around 15 to 20 percent. In other words, a flat four making 200 hp at the flywheel will wind up with 160-170hp at the rear wheel.
By 8am, the parking lot adjacent to the dyno room started to fill up with Volkswagens. Our goal was to run ten DKP cars first, followed by a few turbocharged rides and other normally aspirated Cal Lookers, time permitting. The first VW to be tightly strapped in by Dominic was John Rayburn's blue '64. Its pull, detailed further in this article, set the tone: the Bug made 175hp!
Then came Ben Salazar, who drove his light blue '67 Sedan (2016cc, 78x90.5, Rimco VW Super Rods, Engle K-8 camshaft, 42x37.5 VW heads by Steve Tims, 9.5:1 compression ratio, Weber 48IDAs carbs, Berg 1-5/8in. header). It seems that Ben has found an excellent combo, as the vehicle has run the quarter mile in 12.58 seconds at 105mph with its small two-liter lump! Not surprisingly, this beast delivered 162hp at 6500rpm (torque: 141).
Contestant number three: Allen Wiess and his white '67 Bug, which relies on a fuel injection system (2332cc, 84x94, 5.7in. Eagle rods, SL Racing XR329 camshaft, 42x37.5 CB 044 heads by Steve Tims, 13.0:1 CR, 48mm CB Performance throttle bodies, Berg 1-3/4in. header). Everybody hoped for high figures from this car --afterall it covers the quarter in 11.88 seconds. The result: 168hp at 7700rpm (torque: 143) with the stinger on--all other DKP rides ran mufflers. Allen expected better results... But the following day, he found out that the compression was down on cylinder number one and four!
Jim Kurlinski was next on the agenda with another '67, built as a reliable 12-second driver (2213cc, 86x90.5, 5.5in. Carrillo rods, Engle FK-87 camshaft, 44x37.5 VW heads by Jeff Denham, 8.0:1 CR, Weber 48IDAs, Phoenix 1-7/8in. header). Dominic squeezed a stout 160hp at 6500 RPM (torque: 142) from the green sedan.
Bill Schwimmer followed Jim on the dyno. We won't discuss this pull in length here (see details further in this article)... Let's just say that with 176.9hp, Bill was the winner of the normally aspirated cars that day!
We now reach contestant number 6, Dave Kanase and his '64 Bug (1776cc, 69x90.5, stock 5.394in. VW rods, Engle 120 camshaft, non welded 40x35.5 VW heads by Jeff Denham, 9.0:1 CR, Weber 48IDAs, S&S 1-1/2in. header). You may remember this rare '70s Cal Look survivor from our April 2002 issue. Dave was shooting for 100 HP and he reached his goal--101hp at 6500rpm (torque: 102).
Next vehicle to roll up on the dyno: Russell Sakatani's white '67 (2234cc, 84x92, 5.5in. Pauter rods, Engle 140 camshaft, 42x37 CB 044 heads by FAT Performance, 9.0:1 CR, Weber 48IDFs, 1-3/4in. header). Russell couldn't be more pleased with 158hp at 6500rpm (torque: 147).
Like Russell's Beetle, Greg Brinton's black '67 was built more than 20 years ago. You will find more details about its performance on the dyno further in this article. For your information, the sedan made 176.3hp, a hair less than Bill Schwimmer's '59!
Our staff member Stephan Szantai tried his '57 on the dyno as well (2276cc built by Topline and Jim Kurlinski, 82x94, 5.352in. Eagle rods, Engle FK-10 camshaft, 42x37.5 VW heads by Jeff Denham and Jerry Valle, 8.4:1 CR, Weber 48IDAs, Phoenix 1-5/8in. header). The white Oval Ragtop, built to be driven all over Los Angeles and Orange County, reached the 160hp mark at 6500rpm (torque: 148).
DKP member number 10 was Jim Kaforski's beautiful '63 Bug that ran 12.52 at 106mph at Pomona Raceway (2276cc, 5.5in. Carrillo rods, Web Cam 86C billet camshaft, 44x37.5 VW heads by Performance Technology, 9.1:1 CR, Weber 48IDAs, Phoenix 1-3/4in. header). His dyno pull proved that the engine wasn't tuned properly, as it made "only" 154hp at 6300rpm (torque: 141). Needless to say, Jim wrenched on the blue Cal Looker shortly after the Dyno Day!
Following this gang of normally aspirated cars came a couple of very impressive turbo monsters. Keith Greiner and Robert Hempill's respective performances (259 and 281hp) are detailed further in this article. The third turbocharged contender was Giovanni Torres' street Bug. It utilizes a turbo kit from AJ Sims, bolted to a 1914cc motor. We saw a big smile on Giovanni's face when Dyno Don announced the result: 176hp at 6000rpm (torque: 207).
The following pull (94hp) involved Bill Mortimer's '71 Panel, which you can see if you turn this page. The next player, Don Bulitta who drove from Phoenix, Ariz., for the day showed how well his light blue highway-flyer performs. This '66 sedan has covered over 100,000 miles since its completion in 1995. Thanks to its 2007cc engine featuring a low compression ratio of 7.1:1 and a pair of Weber 44IDFs, it delivered 110hp at 6200rpm (torque: 108).
Matt Harris joined the fun last. His Super Beetle (2165cc, 78x94, Web Cam 121-125, 8.2:1 CR, Weber 42DCNFs), has been driven long distances as well. It packed some very decent horsepower: 137hp at 6600rpm (torque: 142).
So, was this first VW Trends Dyno Day a success? A special thanks goes to everyone that showed up, and two thumbs up to Dominic "The Dynoman" Conti who was patient enough to run a record number of over 15 cars--believe us, it is hard work. A second Dyno Day will be organized this year. From the pictures, you can see that the place isn't set up for large crowds, and with 80 people present last August, it was a bit tight. But we will nonetheless try to invite as many enthusiasts as possible next time around!
GO TO PAGE 2 TO READ THE TESTS ---->
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Here is a view of some of the cars, contestants and spectators, which participated in our first Dyno Day. Smile guys!
Robert Hemphill drove all the way from Victorville--over an hour away from Orange County.
The moment of truth... Dom, our dynoman, checks the computer in order to reveal the horsepower number after a pull.
Welcome to the first VW Trends Dyno Day!
Early in the morning, DKP members John Rayburn, Ben Salazar, Allen Wiess (with coffee mug) and Greg Brinton are chatting near Allen's 11-second ride.
The Trends crew makes some last minute changes on the board.
2016cc, 9.5:1 compression ratio... and 162 horsepower. Ben Salazar's '67 ran some impressive numbers!
Our own staff member Stephan Szantai, who belongs to DKP, couldn't pass up the opportunity to try his 2276cc Oval Ragtop on the dyno. The verdict? 160 horsepower.
Remember Dave Kanase's '64 Bug, featured in our April 2002 issue? The 1776cc powered Cal Looker, built 30 years ago, joined the fun as well!
A few of our visitors included, from left to right: Ron Greiner (SCAT Enterprises), Roger Crawford (Heads Up Performance), Doug Mische and Greg Brinton (both from DKP).
Getting ready for a 281 horsepower dyno pull...
Holding some goodies provided by VW Trends are the winners of the day: Robert Hemphill (turbo car) and to his left, Bill Schwimmer (normally aspirated car).
Among the bunch of '67s on hand was Jim Kurlinski's 160hp green Sedan, which drives with a low compression 2213cc.
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