"Dynos are changing the face of the modern-day speed shop and are helping brick-and-mortar establishments compete against the big mail-order companies," said Steve Wolcott, CEO of ProMedia LLC, which promotes street-legal motorsports events and publishes periodicals, such as Race Pages and Fastest Street Car.

"With a big mail-order company, the customer gets good prices but little service," Wolcott said. "The guy taking an order may or may not know the parts well and be able to answer questions accurately. You need to know the part you want, and then you have to install it or have it installed. The modern-day speed-shop salesman can answer the customer's questions face to face and get the parts quickly, and a dyno-equipped shop can install the parts and tune the car so the customer gets the most out of the expensive equipment he just purchased."

Three types of dynamometers are commonly in use in service, repair, and performance shops: emissions, engine, and chassis. The emissions type, such as those used in conjunction with tailpipe sniffers at service stations, are practical for low-speed/low-power testing but are unlikely to stand up to performance applications.

 
An engine dyno is used with the powerplant removed from the vehicle and mounted on a stand or a cradle usually housed in a room with sound-proofing and an air-exhaust system. An engine dyno allows high-horsepower applications to be thoroughly tested and proven, making this type a hands-down favorite among engine specialty shops.

 
The most prevalent type for the majority of speed shops and automotive service businesses is the chassis dyno. With a chassis dyno, the vehicle's drive wheels are positioned atop a roller, and the engine is put through its performance paces while resistance is applied through the rollers to the tires. The dyno measures the amount or torque applied and, using computer software, calculates the horsepower generated. With additional sensors, such as an air/fuel meter, other engine parameters may also be measured.

"Most retail shops use the dynamometer as a 'salesperson,'" said Allison Blackstein, director of sales and marketing for Dynocom Industries Inc. "Many shops will do a free baseline run of horsepower/torque and air/fuel mixture as a 'before' image of the car. Then, after the shop adds various parts to the customer's car, they can offer 'after' reports so the customer can see the gains. The shop owner can post a graph of the specific parts' horsepower/torque value, which keeps the customers coming back and helps sell more parts."

The capacity and cost of a chassis dyno depend on the mechanism used to measure the vehicle's torque as well as its associated computer systems and software, and whether the dyno roller mechanism is installed above or below ground. The most basic and least expensive chassis-dyno systems start at about $12,000, but a typical retail installation with an eddy brake that can load a vehicle to deliver performance data will run $25,000–$40,000 or more, depending on accessories. Most shops also invest in ancillary items such as a specifically outfitted test bench, viewing areas for customers, and safety equipment.

Costs may also include plumbing, ventilation, and noise control. In fact, some shops have installed elaborate sound-control cells and exhaust systems in areas where testing noise is an issue, said Bob Bergeron, president of Land & Sea Inc. Shops must factor in the cost of constructing a concrete pit and electrical conduits for in-ground chassis dynamometer installations, and a basic computer system may also be required, Bergeron added.

"Most shops will insist on a dynamometer that includes both computerized control as well as sophisticated data acquisition to monitor a wide range of engine parameters during testing," he said. "This includes RPM, torque, air/fuel ratio, exhaust gas temperature, fuel flow, manifold pressures, engine temperature, and more. This data can be further processed to return SAE-corrected horsepower, brake-specific fuel consumption, and much more. Real-time display, processing, storage, reporting, and graphing of the data is typically handled on a PC running a proprietary dynamometer software package."

Bergeron emphasized that the software package may be the most important component of the dynamometer system, and he recommended that any shop considering the purchase of a dyno should thoroughly examine and test-drive the capabilities, interface, flexibility, and documentation of the dyno's software.

Once the dyno is in place, selling time on it is one common way to recoup a shop's investment, whether charging by the hour or by the pull. But a dyno can be used in myriad other ways to attract customers, build the prestige of a shop, and sell product.

"It's mostly a performance tuning tool," said John Lowe, owner of Lowe Performance in Alton, Ill., of his Dynocom DC1800X chassis dyno. "We strap the car down and read air/fuel. It's a load-cell dyno, so we can adjust the load and tune individual cells in the maps, but we also use it a lot as a diagnostic tool. For instance, you might have a misfire where you have to drive the car under load but you can't have your test equipment hooked up to it on the street.

"If we have a problem like that, we'll put it on the dyno and do all the testing on it where we have the car stationary," Lowe said. "In those cases, we just make the dyno a part of the diagnostic time. If we're doing a performance test, we'll add dyno time to the bill."

Using a dyno to quantify gains made by newly installed components, such as intakes, exhausts, turbochargers, or superchargers, gives a shop's customers confidence in the work being performed, said Keith Royle, director of dynamometer sales for Dynojet Research Inc., and it takes the guesswork out of the performance gains.

"You can build the cost of before-and-after dyno runs into the installation price of the part," Royle said. "The dyno builds consumer confidence in your shop, and you will be able to sell them parts that you can prove work."

 
Royle also suggested that the dyno be marketed on the shop's Web site by placing dyno graphs next to photos of the shop's latest project car, turbo installation, or nitrous special. He said that installing the dyno in a conspicuous area where customers will see it also sparks their curiosity.

"Any time a performance shop's salespeople can get enthusiasts near their running dynamometer, they inevitably ask the operator's opinion on how to produce more power or fix a problem," Bergeron said. "That provides a great opportunity to land additional sales."

Dyno results can also be built into a database over time that not only provides technicians with information about what parts and combinations provide the best results on a variety of vehicles, but can also serve as an additional sales tool when displayed for customers.

Many performance shop owners said they believe that having a dyno is a necessity, not an option.

 
"For me to do a $20,000 engine and then tell the customer that I can't tune it would be crazy," said Andy Green, owner of A&A Corvette Performance in Oxnard, Calif.

In some cases, being able to perform work on a dyno rather than on the street is more than simply convenient; it's also much safer -- a fact that insurance companies appreciate.

"Many shops have taken advantage of insurance breaks from not having to road test vehicles -- specifically the very expensive ones," Bergeron said. "It also puts their customers more at ease knowing that the mechanics will not be out road-testing their vehicles."

Once the word gets out that a shop offers chassis dyno services, a certain amount of business will come in without much effort, shop owners said. In fact, customers are likely to request horsepower measurements simply to know how their cars are performing. But there are also basic marketing techniques that have proven to be successful.

"We have a sign in front of the building that says we do chassis dyno tuning," Ancona said, "and that gets us some business. We also do Dyno Days, where we'll have a sale on diesel products, for instance. We'll have a big four-wheel drive and banners out front to attract attention, and we'll do discounted dyno pulls that day, just on and off, quick and easy.

"Obviously, we're attempting to sell them performance products -- programmers, cold-air intakes and so forth," he said. "We'll also have clubs come in as a group for a Dyno Day and give them a discounted rate."

"Anybody who is interested in making his vehicle more powerful or perform better is a potential customer for the dyno," Royle said. "Hot rodders, import guys, drag racers, off-roaders -- virtually anybody. Even tow vehicles or pickups can benefit through improved fuel mileage and overall efficiency of the engine and powertrain."

The reality is that a dyno is no longer out of reach for smaller shops.

"A dynamometer is a tool, just like a lift or wheel balancer," Blackstein said. "It provides the ability to troubleshoot drivability issues, to tune more effectively for horsepower or gas mileage, and to compete with other shops."
 
This article was reprinted with the permission of SEMA News.