Guys, do you mind taking this off topic bickering elsewhere? Thanks!
Mike, Rick,
The single biggest question I have is this: Why doesn't the HP listed for the given rpm and torque equal reality? HP is a CALCULATED value, so there is NO reason that the numbers in the article are different than what I calculated in Excel.
To clarify about the before condition, the article spent a whole paragraph explaining that the 313hp was from the engine on the dyno WITH the headers and WITHOUT any of the accessories other than the water pump, which was the same condition for the heads and heads + cam tests as well:
"They first dyno'd a bone-stock Three-Valve engine that serves as an R&D tool. In stock trim, with just a set of long-tube Kooks headers, the engine produced 313 hp at 5,500 rpm, while torque came in at 314 lb-ft at 4,300 rpm.
Did Ford underrate the engine, since we saw 313 hp? In all fairness, the 300 number is probably close. Remember, our dyno engine wore a set of long-tube headers, which probably hurt a little in stock trim. But, more importantly, we ran without the accessories like A/C, power steering, and alternator. Another deviation from stock was that this engine was run with an open throttle body thanks to the FAST XFI fuel injection system. No restrictive inlet tubes or MAF sensor to contend with, and the computer had a custom tune. The VCT was also locked out. So it was slightly better than the way Ford tests its engine."
Here is the absolute worse math error in the dyno sheets:
rpm: 6800
torque listed (heads + cams): 285 lb-ft
hp listed (heads + cams): 439 hp
Math: hp = 6800 rpm * 285 lb-ft / 5252 or = 369 hp
But they have 439 hp listed in the table, so that 439 - 369 = 70 hp ADDED to the listed hp! That is not some "correction factor". Hell, the hp is wrong for all but FOUR entries in the table! FOUR! And that is across the stock, the heads only, AND the heads + cams runs. Four of them are correct...
I'll be blunt: Someone is "cooking the books" here. I don't know who, it could be Livernois, it could be MM&FF. Heck, it could be some individual working at either of these organizations. Whoever it is, they obviously do NOT understand the relationship between HP, torque and rpm, or it wouldn't have been so simple to prove the data was fake.
Also, before anyone decides to jump on me and claim I have something against Livernois, I do not. I have never done business with them, good or bad. Plus, these stage 3 heads are on my list for the engine build up I want to do in the future. Hell, that's why I paid this article such close attention in the first place!
And just so you understand my background, I am a mechanical and electrical engineer by training and a process engineer by trade. I also took a LOT of internal combustion engine design electives while in college as well. So I DO know how to look at a chart full of numbers and make sense of it.