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Thread: 'cigarette lighter' dyno?

  1. #1
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    'cigarette lighter' dyno?

    i remember seeing somewhere a 'dyno' that you plug into your cigarette lighter and it gives you rough hp, torque, 0-60 data based on the voltage/rpm from the lighter socket? i know they are probably not as accurate as a chassis dyno, but i'd still like one to get baselines and 'rough' data from. anyone know where i can fine one of these? i did a search, but didnt find a whole lot.

    thanks.

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    Do you mean something like this?
    http://www.gtechpro.com/

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    Quote Originally Posted by ComBIRDable View Post
    Do you mean something like this?
    http://www.gtechpro.com/

    Scott
    yup, that would be it! thanks man.

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    The only thing it gets from your cigarette lighter is power...

  5. #5
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    i remember reading a review of one in a magazine, they tested against a dyno and a timer. it wasnt too far off the mark.

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    I would get the Butt-Dyno, I've read some awesome reviews, plus around this time of year there are some great holiday sales.

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    Quote Originally Posted by B.Watts View Post
    The only thing it gets from your cigarette lighter is power...
    And a fair approximation of rpm from signal noise or something some EE would know more about
    -Peter

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    Quote Originally Posted by GotBHP? View Post
    And a fair approximation of rpm from signal noise or something some EE would know more about
    im no electrical engineer. but all that flows through your socket is 12v power. if there was anyother wires maybe it would show more. electricity is like water in a tube just connect it and it will flow. now how are you supposed to get hp and tq and 0-60 times of 12v source.

    it probally has gyroscopes inside of it. thats the only logical thing i can think of unless there aleins from out space trying to estimate our cars hp figures for would domination.

    ya i have a few.

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  9. #9
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    Well there is a certain amount of current flowing in the 12v supply, but i dont think that would vary linearly with rotations of the alternator (which is directly proportional to engine revs). If it did vary linearly with revs of alternator, the exact Alternator revs:Engine revs ratio would have to be input into the mini dyno thingy, and thats just to find engine rpm... So i dont think it would get any information from the cigarette lighter.

    Im thinking more a cross between gps and a g-force meter, but it would still need a measurement of rpms to measure HP??? Hell i dunno!

    But thats all kind of irrelavant, they work, are pretty damn accurate, so who cares how!

  10. #10
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    Think about this. The 12V power socket is limited to ~12V. You will get more of a fluctuation in amps and volts when you use electric windows and your A/C than you will if you rev your engine or if it is under load.

  11. #11
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    well im guessing and this is guess
    that there is prob a couple gyroscopes and maybe a vibration metter?

    but wouldnt that be another gyro.

    and i really dont think there is gps because then would they sell that as another feature?

    and gps alone is expensive

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    Accelerometers, nothing to do with power source. And they are NOT consistent, any elevation change will result in skewed data.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TOOLEAN View Post
    Accelerometers, nothing to do with power source. And they are NOT consistent, any elevation change will result in skewed data.
    ya thats what i was looking for. bejesus have i really had that many wtf time is it anyway

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    Quote Originally Posted by London07 View Post
    yup, that would be it! thanks man.
    I used to have a G-Tech meter. It was nothing but an accelerometer and a timer. You enter your vehicle's weight and it uses those data to measure your 0-60 and 1/4 mile times and extrapolate your horsepower. You can also use it to measure braking force. Mount it sideways, and it would tell you how many lateral g's you were producing. Fairly useless overall since it was hard to keep an eye on it while actually driving the car!

    The newer units have 2 accelerometers so you no longer have to physically move the unit. And they have some sort of function where you can download the info to a computer to view it later. I guess that would be more useful.

    I wonder if the newer ones plug into your OBD-II port to get real-time into on your engine speed, throttle position, etc. Seems like that would be easy enough to do.

    Emre

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    G-techs have one big fault: since they're accelerometer based, they're very innacurate in a powerful car with soft suspension (something that can lift the nose as it accelerates... not off the ground, just UP) since the tilting/porpoising of the car affects the accelerometer....

    That's why it's useless to compare results between two different cars, unless they have identical suspensions...
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    I have one-a Gt-Tech RR (road racer). It is good for only one car. Compare where you were with where you are at now. It reads the rpm from the elec. current in the cig. lighter and gives rpm after you have told it what the rpms are at at different points (set up). A friend of mine used it on his E46 M3 and had to direct wire it as the computer filtered too much of the signal. Mine was ok using the cig. lighter. On my SE36 I use a direct wire close to the engine and it picks up the signal well. You can download it to a computer and analyse the infor. I only use it as a shift light. First light comes on a 6500 (original red line) and the second light comes on at 7000 which is 200 short of 7200 rev limiter. Works well. You set the lights to come opne when you want the lights to come on. Some overlay it with other things such as video. You can also set it for lat. g-force limits with lights also. Start with lat. g-force set my tire maker and refine from there.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve J. View Post
    I would get the Butt-Dyno, I've read some awesome reviews, plus around this time of year there are some great holiday sales.

    m

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    Quote Originally Posted by ben1996328i View Post
    im no electrical engineer. but all that flows through your socket is 12v power. if there was anyother wires maybe it would show more. electricity is like water in a tube just connect it and it will flow. now how are you supposed to get hp and tq and 0-60 times of 12v source.

    it probally has gyroscopes inside of it. thats the only logical thing i can think of unless there aleins from out space trying to estimate our cars hp figures for would domination.

    ya i have a few.
    Voltage doesnt "flow", current (which you get from the lighter) does. You get 0-60 and 1/4 miles by measuring accelerations with accelerometers and integrating.


    Quote Originally Posted by SligoBimmer View Post
    Well there is a certain amount of current flowing in the 12v supply, but i dont think that would vary linearly with rotations of the alternator (which is directly proportional to engine revs). If it did vary linearly with revs of alternator, the exact Alternator revs:Engine revs ratio would have to be input into the mini dyno thingy, and thats just to find engine rpm... So i dont think it would get any information from the cigarette lighter.

    Im thinking more a cross between gps and a g-force meter, but it would still need a measurement of rpms to measure HP??? Hell i dunno!

    But thats all kind of irrelavant, they work, are pretty damn accurate, so who cares how!
    All I know is my friend has one, and it picks up RPM from the cig lighter. Look at g-techs website.
    -Peter

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  19. #19
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    ok, well all ive learned from this thread is that no one really knows how or why it works, but somehow, it works. thanks guys.

  20. #20
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    Is this what you're looking for?

    http://www.dynamic-dyno.com/

    It apparently uses audio recorded through the 12V and does some software analysis on it. No idea if it works, but there it is. So, I guess there IS enough interference in the 12V flow to pull some data out.
    Check out the 8legs Racing page: https://www.facebook.com/8legsRacing/


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    Quote Originally Posted by Emre View Post
    I used to have a G-Tech meter. It was nothing but an accelerometer and a timer. You enter your vehicle's weight and it uses those data to measure your 0-60 and 1/4 mile times and extrapolate your horsepower. You can also use it to measure braking force. Mount it sideways, and it would tell you how many lateral g's you were producing. Fairly useless overall since it was hard to keep an eye on it while actually driving the car!

    The newer units have 2 accelerometers so you no longer have to physically move the unit. And they have some sort of function where you can download the info to a computer to view it later. I guess that would be more useful.

    I wonder if the newer ones plug into your OBD-II port to get real-time into on your engine speed, throttle position, etc. Seems like that would be easy enough to do.

    Emre
    Quote Originally Posted by London07 View Post
    ok, well all ive learned from this thread is that no one really knows how or why it works, but somehow, it works. thanks guys.


    That's exactly how it works. It measures G force and time. Horse power is a unit of work, and you can extrapolate that from G force if you have time AND mass.

    It's not rocket science, and it's about as accurate as a random number generator.
    "Bench racing" about track times driven by professionals are like a bunch of nerds arguing which Princess Leia is hotter, the slave Leia or the no-bra jail-bait Leia. No matter how compelling your argument is, the plain and simple fact is, none of you will EVER get to hit that.

  22. #22
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    one of the ones i was looking at specifically said that it didnt use accelerometors because the are inaccurate unless youre on a prefectly smooth flat surface. either way, the reviews and articles seem to say that the are pretty accurate.

  23. #23
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    gyroscope

    Everytime I hear gyroscope now it reminds me of that Southpark episode where Mr(s) Garrison designs a new way of travel. that show is wrong on every level...
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  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by The HACK View Post


    That's exactly how it works. It measures G force and time. Horse power is a unit of work, and you can extrapolate that from G force if you have time AND mass.

    It's not rocket science, and it's about as accurate as a random number generator.
    ha now i see it
    duhhh...
    we did that in physics.
    by calc you weight and the high of the stairs climbed we found out how much hp we have.
    duh.

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  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by ben1996328i View Post
    by calc you weight and the high of the stairs climbed we found out how much hp we have.
    Whosyjigawhatnow ?
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