Hello, Got some questions.

I dynoed a few weeks ago. Norris Motorsports (Ocoee Florida)

1998 Z28 A4 2.73, 60,000 miles (if that matters)

SLP CAI, SLP LID, K&N, SLP MAF, SLP Bellow, SLP Loudmouth

314.1 RWHP
311.1 RWTQ

Where did the torque go? I thought the Torque would be closer to the cubic size of the engine.

Can gears actually change the dyno numbers that the car produces? After a lot of thought I'm thinking of going with 3.73's, once the time is right. Will this increase the torque? Will it change the horsepower (I doubt it, but I'm still asking).

How does a torque converter work? On the first run, the converter was locked up (??? I have no idea what this means???), and I dynoed 289 RWHP, 311 RWTQ. HOW???

Thanks in advance and sorry for all of the questions.

 

ok ill try to help here.....

---i cant say anything for ur first set of dyno numbers because i only put down 314 RWHP 312 RWTQ with my 3400 stall unlocked (u lose a bunch with a high stalled converter) so if ur off its not by TOO much....

locked up the car made the 337/349 in my sig.....now what is locked???

---automatic trannies, unlike manuals, slip when in gear....hence why we can keep the car stopped with the brakes with it in gear without stalling...the torque converter just slips in the fluid and the motor keeps turning even though the tranny doesnt.....the converter in our cars is set to "lock up" in overdrive somewhere aroun 40 or 45 mph......what happens is the converter actually engages a kind of clutch that locks the flywheel on the motor to the tranny...now the tranny doesnt slip at all......the reason this happens is because automatic trannies are less efficient than manuals....when we slip, we waste RPMs, this way when the car is in a cruise, we dont have to waste so much rpm slipping the tranny at like 50-60 mph.....

---now that being said, your second set of dyno numbers dont really make much sense to me....i 've never seen a car with a stock converter or an aftermarket converter dyno LESS with the converter locked up....its kind of illogical since when your locked the motor is more efficient, thus getting more power to the rear wheels....those numbers might make sense if the 289 was unlocked and the 314 was locked but thats still kinda low for an LS1 car.....not by much just a few lower than id imagine....

---next, gears CAN change your dyno numbers.....i forget whether you get more or less RWHP/RWTQ with larger or smaller gears but there is usually a little bit of variation....it tends not to matter tho....3.73s are gonna make the car faster regardless of dyno numbers...

---lastly, dont say sorry. this is the tech section! i ask questions here all the time! usually someone here has the knowledge to give an answer....

 

Maybe I was confused on the locked and unlocked portion.

(I know I'm not a car mechanic, so it is 100% possible)

How do you lock and unlock the converter? Is there a series of movements you have to do to perform this lock-up/unlock.

 

--locking and unlocking is done by the computer.....under normal driving conditions the converter is locked up by the computer when the car reaches about 45 mph....it will unlock either when the brakes are applied or when the car drops below around 40 mph.....
--on a dyno....usually, the dyno tech uses a scan tool to tell the computer to lock up the converter early (usually in 3rd gear since most people dyno in the 1:1 gear ratio, 3rd in autos and 4th in the M6s....)
--you really cant lock and unlock it urself unless u install a manual lockup switch....my friend has one in his 01 Z.....he can lock it up on his own or have the computer do it for him....its particularly advantageous at the track.....he'll usually lock his converter up manually in 3rd gear near the top of the track for one more little boost in acceleration(since the power will be going straight through to the wheels now instead of slipping at all in the tranny)....
--only problem with manual lock ups are they tend to trigger trouble codes when the computer realizes the lock up solenoid in the tranny is doing something it wasn't told to do....