Power Band

[pwgus]

The 2.3L Pinto motor isn't a race motor yet I've seen some chaotic numbers out of them.

It just looks like he's curious, nothing wrong with that.

After I have access to Alldata back I'll check for you, I'm assuming this is for a F.I. motor?

Yes I have a 94' Aspire so I've got a FI model.

Why does everyone seem to think the B3 is some sort of race engine?

Well theres a time for both... 99% of the time you do like you say and shift at about 2k give or take a few hundred some times. Then theres when some jerk in there cobalt with a bunch of friends are laughing at you and your little red devil so you decide you want to launch it and at least give a go at it, my car may or may not win, but I'm not going to sit around idly and be mocked. Like jacob says, theres nothing wrong with getting the most out of what you've got.

[bhazard]

For some reason I havent been able to run across those people

Do an engine swap so you can really embarrass those kind though.

[pwgus]

For some reason I havent been able to run across those people

Do an engine swap so you can really embarrass those kind though.

Lol, when money makes itself more available.....I will.

And the people are fairly common, it depends on many things though, what time of day, where you are, what youve done to your car (subs etc), and the way your seat is positioned really too in my opinion. Oh and age

[smokeshow]

Well, I don't know of the exact "power" curve of the B3. But if you put it on a dyno it will show up right away. Bigger displacement engines tend to not like higher rpms, that being said. Smaller engines general do. And 5250 rpm is where your hp and tq should meet up. I just imagine that 60-70% of the 68 Hp will show up at the higher end.

[iceracerdude]

The max power is where the max torque curve is as stated by the factory RPM number usually. I don't remember now but In the case of the b3 they claim it's at what, like 4250 rpms? That's why the max power is never the same as the red line number.
You're on the right track here as far as your questioning goes, a lot of people assume the max power is at redline. So the answer is the same for what ever engine you happen to be working with, whether it's for a "race" or "economy" application...so good question.

[Pu241]

Someone has posted a Dyno run of a B3 somewhere on this site.
I'll see if I can find it.
BTW, OEM B3 is only 63 HP.
How is it that you can predict the crossover of the HP and torque curves vs RPM (5250 rpm)?
I would imagine new OEM engines would show a clustering about a specific RPM range for the crossover, and as they age and maintenance varies the crossover would start to spread out over a larger range of RPM's.
Just interested in an explanation.

[FB71]

John, here's a great explanation of HP vs TQ, and why 5252rpm is the crossover;

http://www.revsearch.com/dynamometer/torque_vs_horsepower.html

[Pu241]

Now that makes sense!
Think we might need to copy, with permission of course, and make this a sticky in a tech section or something similar.

I had heard this before that the torque and HP crossover vs RPM was always at a specific RPM. Even heard people say that's how you know the dyno run was real and not faked. But never got a good explanation as to why.

Thanks FB71!

[Festiva_tunner]

Take advantage of it by shifting at 2000 rpms and doing the speed limit. You'll get awesome gas mileage.

Thats the whole point of the B3.

You'll feel accomplished when youre getting well over 400 miles out of your 10 gallon gas tank.

Why not take advantage of its reliability, and durability while having fun with it and only suffer a 5 mpg loss and still getting 39mpg on mixed driving with a lot of back country hard driving and wheel pealing through the city.

[bhazard]

Because 39 mpg aint that great, Im doing better than that with my B6t...

And driving "hard" to keep up with dodge caravans just embarrasses me.

I used to think my B3 was peppy. But the only real time I was trying to pull on someone I lost. It was an automatic neon.

Sure, it is peppy... compared to a 1.0L metro.

[smokeshow]

My mistake on the extra 5 hp... For some reason, I could of swarn somewhere in my manual it said it had 68 hp.. nontheless, its not a powerhouse motor to say the least..

Side note, I have been at the dyno when a few cars have dynoed and their numbers did not cross at 5250 rpms...

Another side note.. Driving a FWD car and getting the max potential out of it is harder than it seems.. You have to shift at the right time and account for wheelspin... and factor in that the wheelspin is what is helping achieve that current rpm, and try to maintain it in between shifts is really hard to do in a low torque vehicle... I.e. Festiva... It can be done.. just not easily...

[bhazard]

I never had a problem with wheelspin in my b3 festy. Unless I dumped the clutch. Even then I quickly found traction. Maybe it was the 175/70/13's.

The B6t is another story. Just hit the gas in first and the back end squats and the front tires go byebye.

[pwgus]

wow, all so interesting, thanks to everyone so far on these most informative answers. And that article is certainly very fascinating. Something to think about for sure. When I think about it, alot of it makes sense, but I seam to be specticle that 5250 is going to necessarily going to be magical for all engines, the fact may be true, but I doubt its a sweet spot for all engines.

[schaefz28]

Side note, I have been at the dyno when a few cars have dynoed and their numbers did not cross at 5250 rpms...

It is likely that the HP and TQ were scaled differently on the graph. At least this was the case both times I have had my camaro on the dyno.

[smokeshow]

Yes, scaling the graph does alter numbers, but mainly that just changes the percentages of the numbers/load perimeters.. but in the cases of the cars I noticed, they all had cam swaps... my guess is that they weren't in time with each other...