'05-'06 Mustang Dyno Info
I have an '05 Mustang GT, and I'm curious about dyno results on other '05-'06s. According to test results from various sources, these cars should be putting out around 260-265 hp at the rear wheels. After installing various bolt-on items on test cars, I've read about combinations from the following manufacturers.
Steeda: cold-air induction, 90mm mass-air-meter housing, high-flow filter, a computer flash, and on a Dynojet chassis dyno. The numbers were a baseline of 260 rwhp and 276 rwhp with the components installed.
BBK: cold-air system, high-flow filter, 62mm twin-bore throttle body, a computer flash, and on Dynojet's 248C dyno. The numbers were a baseline of 264 rwhp with 292 afterward.
K&N: Filtercharger air-inlet system with high-flow filter and no electronic tuning, again on a Dynojet dyno. The numbers were baseline of 263.45 at the wheels and 278.17 with the K&N system in place.
I've added a K&N Filtercharger and a Flowmaster axle-back American Thunder exhaust system to my car. I didn't get a baseline test, but I just had the car tested on a Mustang dyno 1100-SE with the new parts, and it resulted in a dismal 239.9 rwhp.
I know that many factors, such as heat, humidity, and altitude, can affect the outcome. But is this poor result within the normal range? Is there a problem with the magazine and manufacturer test data? Or should I accept the fact that my car is that far down on power?
Bob Krueger
North Aurora, IL
Everything you've read and cited from here is right on the money. The '05-'06 Mustang GT baselines right around 260-265 hp at the wheels, and a good cold-air kit adds real power that you can actually feel when you mash the gas pedal. In fact, I recently dyno'd my '05 (see photos above), and it baselined right at 262 hp at the wheels on BBK's Dynojet. After adding a cold-air kit, a throttle body, and underdrive pulleys, the car was making 292 rwhp-an honest-to-goodness 30hp gain at the rear wheels, which is more than 40 at the flywheel.
It sounds like your car is also a strong runner, and here's why: Dynojets and Mustang dynos produce different results, as the information you provide proves. The Mustang dyno loads the car down to replicate its weight going down the road. So as a rule, a Mustang dyno usually reads about 30-40 hp less than the more widely known inertial Dynojet. For example, a stock '03-'04 Cobra makes about 350-360 on a Dynojet, and the last time I heard of an '03 supercharged Cobra on a Mustang dyno, it made about 315 at the wheels.
While both the Dynojet and the Mustang are excellent tools for A-B testing to see measured power gains when testing parts designed to increase power output, the Dynojet is clearly the more common of the two.
Making 240 at the wheels on a Mustang dyno is actually very impressive. On a Dynojet, you can expect your car with those intake and exhaust mods to make nearly 300 hp at the wheels. If you were to test a stock '05-'06 3-valve GT on a Mustang dyno, it'd probably make somewhere in the range of 200-230 at the wheels.
BBK's Bryan Rogers, who we've worked with in testing, has an '06 Mustang GT, and it also proves that these new cars respond like gangbusters to the most basic of bolt-ons. They're like a naturally-aspirated version of an '03-'04 Cobra; maybe even more impressive on a proportional basis. With just a BBK cold-air kit, a throttle body, and a BBK prototype crossover-exhaust system, Bryan's car tickles the rollers to the tune of 300.9 hp at the wheels.
Consider testing your car on a Dynojet and get back to me with the results. I'd be interested to see what sort of numbers your car makes.