Performance Testing with a Power-Absorber

After the reverse-shift pattern dynamometer disaster and rebuild efforts we decided to conduct future performance testing ourselves. Smitty created a power-absorbing unit that uses a spare rear wheel attached to a large brake assembly.

To gather engine performance data, the operator needs to balance the force of The Red Baron powering the rear wheel with brake pressure from the power-absorbing unit. The brake force is transferred through a metal plate onto a hydraulic load cell, then this pressure is used to calculate The Red Baron’s horsepower and torque.

The Red Baron quickly overpowered the first version of the power-absorbing unit, shown above, burning the brake pads. For the second version, we added cooling ducting around the power-absorbing unit brake assembly and water sprayers, shown in the video below.

This set-up allows us to gather data at ambient conditions similar to race conditions (air density, temperature) to accurately evaluate The Red Baron. We transported the improved power-absorbing unit and The Red Baron to El Mirage on the trailer.