It seems like everyone always wants to talk about their big peak horsepower numbers. That’s all some people care about. But smart people know there’s much more to this story…

Here is a chart from a 2016 ATS-V A8 we dynoed yesterday. Car has ported throttle body, spark plugs and catless downpipes. It made 419 whp on the stock tune, 465 whp on our 93 octane tune and 495 whp on 97 octane. Wait! 465 whp seems so low, and you only gained 46 whp. Doesn’t that suck?

Don’t be so quick to use peak horsepower as the critical factor. In reality, that’s probably one of the least important considerations. We recommend focusing on the shape of the power curve, how wide the powerband is and how much power is gained in the meat of the curve.

Let’s dive into this a little deeper…

• At 3,500 rpm, power increased from 182 whp (stock tune), to 276 whp on the Tapout tune, for an increase of 94 whp or 52%!
• At 4,500 rpm, power increased from 335 whp (stock tune), to 386 whp on the Tapout tune, for an increase of 51 whp!
• At 5,500 rpm, power increased from 405 whp (stock tune), to 453 whp on the Tapout tune, for an increase of 48 whp!

Even though we picked up 46 peak whp with the tune, we would be better served to consider the places in the powerband where 80 to 100 foot-pounds of torque and horsepower were gained. Without question, this ATS-V will feel like a completely different car now.

This remote dyno tune was performed on a 2016 ATS-V in United Arab Emirates.  Customer has pump gas plus methanol injection.  He recently switched to Tapout after being stuck at 11.3 in the quarter mile.  With this powerband he should have no trouble dipping into the tens in good air on a drag radial. He is also running one of our flame throwing burble tunes for maximum impact.

This remote dyno tune was performed for a customer in North Carolina.  Previous tune baselined at 494 whp and 468 wtq.  Tapout flex fuel tune produced 516 whp and 530 wtq on 93-octane gasoline.  You can see how these two tunes compare in the first dyno chart.

And power skyrocketed to 619 whp and 602 wtq on E47 blend fuel.  This powerband is exceptionally broad, producing more than 500 whp and/or wtq all the way from 3,000 to 6,400 rpm.  Please note that we typically show dyno charts with SAE correction factor, since this has been the gold standard of dyno testing since 1990.  If you ever want your numbers artificially inflated by 2 to 5%, we will be happy to show them to you with STD correction factor instead.

This was a remote dyno tune on a 2017 ATS-V with flex fuel and methanol injection.  The customer had switched from a competitor to Tapout. Check out how this exceptionally broad powerband maintains 550 whp and/or 550 wtq all the way from 3,200 to 6,900 rpm.  We weren’t surprised when he said, ‘I’ve never felt so much linear, smooth power on this car before’.

This 2016 ATS-V M6 has aftermarket intake and exhaust mods.  He was running 93-octane fuel and that sweet Tapout tune. Numbers were a little higher than usual, since this dyno used a load cell. Load cells increase load on the car, helping the turbos to generate boost like they do on the street.