Some of it is pretty good and makes you think.

Basically 3 really smart engine guys, spending someone else’s money, w/access to free dyno time.

I tape all of them to catch what I may have missed.

Recent episodes include testing rod length ratio (different result than expected) and just watched one on oil pans.

This one blew me away.
Their mule was a single plane, single 4 carb’d, all alum GM based, 478 in (I think) making 814 HPs at 7400.

They started w/a traditional baffled sump, windage trayed Pan keeping the oil away from the crank and switched to an $1100 fab’d alum pan w/side valleys, trapped doors etc and gained 24 HP’s!

It also gained torque and HPs from 0 -7500!
As they said, a car would feel that.

In same episode they also referred to a dry sump episode that gained zero!

Though some of you guys building your own motors might enjoy this.

I like stories that make me think, and to question common wisdom, especially from some of the keyboard warriors and even the industry experts which all 3 of these guys are.

Steve Dulcich and the dyno operator Steve Brule’ (you guys may know him as he builds offshore motors) are especially sharp and like to experiment.

I have the motor trend subscription and have watched most of the engine masters episodes. I too enjoy watching there discoveries and what works/what doesn't.

I have MT-On Demand as well. Worth it for $2 a month. Almost wish the episodes on engine masters was a bit longer, dove into data a bit deeper, but love it when they pull up the 8 oxygen sensors. And they do a pretty good job of equalizing oil/coolant temps for comparisons. A number of episodes they have done are certainly applicable to the offshore crowd. The oil control episode especially and the big inch BBC intake shootout.

Have not yet but will certainly check it out. Tks

What was the result of the rod length test?

Next to nothing.

I need to watch it again because at the begging Dave Freiberger commented that they had to reduce stroke by I think .250” to make everything fit and he didn’t expand it.

Same for both rods etc?
1/4” diff in Stroke would surely show on the dyno and skew results if only one set had it.

Their final results w/dyno overlays showed near zero change.

Agreed in episode length too.

814 HP’s (840 ish after pan change) on a single 4 brl on their mule is damned impressive.

Mike Finnegan, also a Hot Rod employee is a jet boat guy and has a hi perf shop in Cal.

I think their episodes depth and quality are improving and wondering if they are expanding them.

Way cheaper to try parts (mostly free for air time) on a dyno than produce a road show in the real world.

Yes I’ve seen all that have been shown on the Motortrend channel. I also catch all the Hot Rod Garage, Roadkill Garage, Roadkill, Faster with Finnegan, and Junkyard Gold episodes aired. All entertaining AF to this guy. Love Finnegan’s Blasphemi ‘55 Chevy. As a kid having grown up watching Two Lane Blacktop I understand why he had to build it. Finnegan and Lucky both have good YouTube channels. I think Tony just launched his. Lucky is a hoot!

Finnegan moved to the Atlanta area a few years back due to family (and just lost his dad). His jet boat is insane. Freiberger is still in CA.

in spite of what a lot of keyboard cowboys claim, dry sump is more about oil control than power. on a road race car, rough water boat, drag car that lifts the front etc, it can be hard to control all the movement of the oil and not have a dip in pressure at times. that or if you have to run a shallow pan for ground clearance. trap doors etc only go so far in some things. I would think that the only power gain would be from windage as with a dry sump you can pull the oil before it drops on the crank but that would be minimal as it still takes power to turn a pump weather it is in the pan or bolted to the block. the other nice thing with dry sump is that you can feed the oil in most anywhere and split it off easier to things like spring oilers and such.
have watched some of the shows and yes some of the results are not what was expected or did better or worse than the internet experts so it is nice to see it in the real world in a repeatable setting. also like that they are willing to admit when things go wrong rather than just fluff it up for tv.

Yep

Just bought a stroked ZO6 powered ‘02 TransAm that I mistakenly thought was dry sumped.

Upon learning it was not, I educated myself on what dry sump is Vs what I thought.
Would do nothing for me.

But as you say, on a road race car or offshore boat....