Dynos and Horsepower

[hemi_fan]

Hey guys... I've always wondered about getting a car dyno'd. I have unanswered questions in my head like "How much would it cost to have it done?", "Where can I get it done?", "What kind of power do the vehicles I drive actually put out?" things like that... Can anyone help me out? Another thing on my mind recently is where Horsepower specs from manufacturers are measured from. My current understanding is that most North American manufacturers measure power from the crank rather than the wheels to give higher readings, and imports do the opposite... Is this true? Because I know theres a big difference between bhp and hp. It seems all I do is ask questions on this board... but o well... u dont ask, u'll never know! pce.

[dragula_bassman]

Good questions, though. The import thing, they do it at the flywheel also. as for bhp and hp, dont know. When you take your car to the dyno, you will more than likely put it on a chassis dyno, which measures at the wheel. This rating usually will drop about 20 to 40 hp from the flywheel rating from what I understand. On the other hand, not all dynos are the same, in the past few months or so in the sport compact mag, they did some testing of dynos and a couple had the same reading, but the others read off my about +-5%. Hope that helps you!