Questioning the MM&FF results

[mk2001c]

I'm starting to get the feeling MM&FF has never met a modification they don't like. I just finished reading the Oct '05 MMFF and can't help but question the results from the throttle body swap on an '05 GT. They claim a 16hp and 28 lb-ft torque gain with no other changes. BS. The 55 mm dual bore throttle body on the '05 is already big - big enough to support over 400 hp. If you want an objective idea of how much TB you need, check out Richard Holdener's 5.0 dyno test book. He rightfully points out that a big TB adds no power on a stock 5.0 since the TB is not the bottle neck. Given how big the stock '05 TB is, I'll bet it's the same case. My guess is they retuned it after the TB swap and the gains came from the tune. Then, there's the article on x-pipes. The first photo caption states: "The stock piece was removed and tossed in the garbage. As usual, the aftermarket parts were better." Take a look at the charts; no system gained more than 3 hp, on average, over the stock system. A $450 x-pipe that gains 3 hp is a complete waste of money, and MMFF should have stated that. But that might piss off the companies that advertise in their magazine. Don't get me wrong, I think MMFF is an entertaining magazine. But for objective reporting on modifications, I will look elsewhere.

 

[ctbaker]

Hahah... haven't you seen people running 650 cfm double pumpers on 302s with a stock cam and heads? Over carburation has always existed, sounds like it is just moving over to the next generation.

I read an article in the August 2005 issue of Hot Rod on putting on a Flowmaster exhaust on a 2005 Mustang GT. They got 2hp for $277 (and actually lost HP over the stock system in the low to mid-range). Sounds like the stock exhaust IS pretty darn good! They basically sum it up saying something like "you might not make any power with this but it does sound nice" LOL that is good!

 

[ctfordguy]

I read that issue of MMFF and was a little skeptical about the throttle body upgrade. While I dont dispute the finding , a few pages later they talk about a saleen s/c install in the 05. I was very interested in the article as I am planning a s/c for my 05 and this article pushed me over the edge and I ordered a Saleen s/c for my 05. I was also interested what throttle body they used based on the earlier article, guess what it is stock and making over 400HP.

 

[Turbo 05]

I'm starting to get the feeling MM&FF has never met a modification they don't like. I just finished reading the Oct '05 MMFF and can't help but question the results from the throttle body swap on an '05 GT. They claim a 16hp and 28 lb-ft torque gain with no other changes. BS. The 55 mm dual bore throttle body on the '05 is already big - big enough to support over 400 hp. If you want an objective idea of how much TB you need, check out Richard Holdener's 5.0 dyno test book. He rightfully points out that a big TB adds no power on a stock 5.0 since the TB is not the bottle neck. Given how big the stock '05 TB is, I'll bet it's the same case. My guess is they retuned it after the TB swap and the gains came from the tune. Then, there's the article on x-pipes. The first photo caption states: "The stock piece was removed and tossed in the garbage. As usual, the aftermarket parts were better." Take a look at the charts; no system gained more than 3 hp, on average, over the stock system. A $450 x-pipe that gains 3 hp is a complete waste of money, and MMFF should have stated that. But that might piss off the companies that advertise in their magazine. Don't get me wrong, I think MMFF is an entertaining magazine. But for objective reporting on modifications, I will look elsewhere.

As far as I know all magazines make the majority of their money from advertisers, so it is in their favor to make then advertisers look good. Remind me but I cant recall in most of the mustang magazines I have been reading over the last 10 years much is any articles on how crappy a performance part is. The Manufactures of the parts send free units to the magazine apon request and in exchange get essentially free advertising. ie. twin turbo kit for 05 for free to the magazine and in exchange it is written up to be the greatest kit ever and the manufacure gets the best advertising money spent ever, a trusted writer promoting a product.
It is a sad reality of the magazine business in regards to performance parts. Read between the lines and filter the bs, talk to people that have the mods you are interested in but always remember the magazine is there to make money and they'll tell you every product is the best as long as it will work and people will spend money.

 

[Hal900x]

Yeah, the majority of magazines are biased. I once read an excellent independent article about how almost the entire automotive publishing industry is somewhat sold out. They can criticize, but not TOO strongly...else where are the press cars, free parts, advertising, etc coming from? It's kind of a unique situation for them...without the products, they are SOL.

Here is something else to think about. Almost every feature they get THE best possible installer for each article. As in, the guy who designed the part, owns the company, etc. It's not hard to get results from, say, the Snow methanol injector kit when Mr Snow is the one installing it. Food for thought.

 

[300bhp/ton]

As far as I know all magazines make the majority of their money from advertisers, so it is in their favor to make then advertisers look good. Remind me but I cant recall in most of the mustang magazines I have been reading over the last 10 years much is any articles on how crappy a performance part is. The Manufactures of the parts send free units to the magazine apon request and in exchange get essentially free advertising. ie. twin turbo kit for 05 for free to the magazine and in exchange it is written up to be the greatest kit ever and the manufacure gets the best advertising money spent ever, a trusted writer promoting a product.
It is a sad reality of the magazine business in regards to performance parts. Read between the lines and filter the bs, talk to people that have the mods you are interested in but always remember the magazine is there to make money and they'll tell you every product is the best as long as it will work and people will spend money.

its a real shame that this occurs. I can see the logic from the mags point of view but it is pretty pointless. However iits the readers that need to act. Write in and complain and stop buying the mags until they get their act together. It may be the advertisers that pay for the mag but without readers they'll go else where.

However this does seem to be more of an issue in the US, in the UK if they don't like something or think its crap they say so. I only hate it when its then not justified and backed up, mostly it is though.

 

[DoubleONegative]

I read an article in the August 2005 issue of Hot Rod on putting on a Flowmaster exhaust on a 2005 Mustang GT. They got 2hp for $277 (and actually lost HP over the stock system in the low to mid-range). Sounds like the stock exhaust IS pretty darn good! They basically sum it up saying something like "you might not make any power with this but it does sound nice" LOL that is good!

I lost a solid 3-4RWHP on my 97 GT because of Flowmasters!! I hate them they sound good when they don't drone but thats it.

oh yeah i also found it hard to believe that a TB and CAI would yield that much power after reading that article

 

[Edbert]

I read an article in the August 2005 issue of Hot Rod on putting on a Flowmaster exhaust on a 2005 Mustang GT. They got 2hp for $277 (and actually lost HP over the stock system in the low to mid-range). Sounds like the stock exhaust IS pretty darn good! They basically sum it up saying something like "you might not make any power with this but it does sound nice" LOL that is good!

MM&FF showed that the stock exhaust made more average HP than any of the aftermarket ones. Was down on peak HP to about half of them, but we all know that average gains are more important than peak gains for a street car. Like you said, the stock exhaust is darn good, only reason to change is for sound.

This test was not including headers IIRC.

 

[drbobvs]

Interesting you guys noticed this. The horsepower numbers aren't the only thing fishy here. Look closely at the dyno charts. The name of the vehicle and the number of the runs are off. When you run a car you give it a "name" in the dyno computer. Let's say "Johnmustang1" and you give a stock run, lets say "001". Everytime you do a mod and you run the car, it should always say "Johnmustang1". Any good research/performance shop knows this. Well the names and numbers are different. If they used the same dyno this shouldn't be. I can understand the numbers may be backwards if they did the TB mod first and dynoed it and then removed the mod and did a baseline dyno but the "name" of the vehicle should be the same. Even if they did something stupid like used a different dyno for the two runs you'd think they'd keep the same name. ??Two different Mustangs perhaps????

 

[jlisle01]

Even using two different dyno's would be pretty stupid.