Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Dyno and Drag Another 3L dyno

"HP wins sales and TQ wins races."

This phrase is used so often & it just bugs me because some people go off half cocked. Drivers win races but what helps them is HP. HP is a rating of POWER. Specifically HP area under the curve in the relavent rev range is what counts (for the SVT about 4.5-7K RPM). Not peak HP as much as a fat band of power in this range. "Low end torque" is great for around town grunt, an ATX, a good push to the backside, and a good launch but once you clear 4500 RPMs in first (in the SVT example) you will never see it again all the way to top speed. Where big torque comes in is that it tends to "fatten up" the HP curve. For example, it is better to make over 180 HP at the wheels from 5-7K RPM with a peak of 185 HP than to make a very peaky 200 HP after a very steep climb, followed by a quick drop off.

Looking at Steves 3L graphs compared to my 2.5L that makes only 11 HP less at the 6800 RPM peak power point, but at 4500RPM he is making about 157 HP to my 130 HP = 27 HP more. So it will feel & be that much faster rowing through the gears.

I'm glad I stuck around to see the CSVT on the dyno, it was cool to hear that engine scream Now how do you go about getting more fuel on the top end, fuel pump, adj regulator, recalibrated chip, or what? I mean his car does make about 35 more hp than a stock CSVT which I'm sure you DO feel and I'm sure he will get to his goal. Also seeing how its 35 more hp to the front wheels, what does that push the engine hp to? I'm thinking he has went from the 200 hp stock to about 250hp and thats still not bad

Steve,

Are you using the SVT 2.5 heads? Any work done to them? How about the cams? SVT's I assume. Did you install them straight up or did you advance or retard them? Did you balance and blueprint the shortblock? Which lower intake did you use? Any port matching? There are alot of little things that will add up to some major HP differences vehicle to vehicle.

Didn't you say the shortblock was around $900 from Bill Jenkins? Did that include shipping? If all you did was add a shortblock then I am going to say this is one of the most cost effective mods I have seen out there on a $ per hp and tq basis.

19 lb injectors should be sufficent for the application. Have you done anything with the calibration yet? Perhaps you should invest some time in a custom program. Paul would probably be able to help you with that.

If you could please share your mods I would appreciated it as I am strongly thinking of doing this over the winter and want to do it once and do it right.

...and how pray tell would he accomplish that? hmmm...

Basically yes, I just swapped shortblocks.
$900 includes shipping, and I probably spent another $100 for head gaskets, bolts, etc.

I didn't do any work to the heads while they were off, aside from cleaning them. I just followed the shop manual for disassembly, then did the reassembly on the new prepped block.
I also figured that if I had the engine out of the car, I ought to put in a new clutch, get the headers on, and have Terry fit me a Quaife. Makes for a big $$ hit for all the parts at the same time, but big savings on labor/time than doing separately.
I haven't had a chance to try anything with the calibration yet, but it's high on my list.
This was all done in about a week and a half (wrapped around 3 more weeks waiting for diff. carrier bearings to arrive in the country!) in a friend's garage.

Only 190? Geez, there's a guy near me with a heavily modded (non-SVT, non S/C, non-turbo) SE that puts out somewhere in the high 180s. I thought 3L put down like 230 at the pavement?

Who is this you speak about. Oh, and what are this guys TQ numbers? Not 187 I assure you of that...

His name is HisSvt2....look in the Chicago forum. He drives a 98 SE with every SVT engine part put in there (essentially an SVT engine). Also has custom-programmed computer, straight-pipe exhaust, KKM, and a few other goodies. It's quite sweet.

He drives a 98 SE with every SVT engine part put in there (essentially an SVT engine)

SVT cams, heads? High 180s would make it the strongest 2.5L N/A (no NO2) street Duratec I know of. I think 184 HP is best I can recall.

By not lining up the cam marks before the chain is installed. Works on 4.6's so I don't see why it wouldn't work on 2.5's. A modular motor is basically a modular motor.