Over the weekend, Linn-Benton’s Advanced Transportation Technology Center in Lebanon, Oregon sounds like a racetrack as you approach the campus.
However, the vehicles being pushed to the max aren’t moving at all.
LBCC’s annual “Dyno Days,” hosted by the school’s RPM Club (automotive) and Diesel Club, is a two-day, free-entry event running May 16-17. The main feature (and namesake) is each program’s dynamometer – essentially, a vehicle treadmill that measures horsepower and torque.
The source of the noise is drivers flooring the accelerator of their strapped-down vehicles, with the wheels rapidly spinning over a set of rollers in the floor.
For $50, drivers can run their vehicle three times on the “dyno.” From hot rods to diesel trucks, it’s a chance to show off, with whiteboards displaying a leaderboard of the most powerful entries. Participants also get printouts of their vehicle’s results.
“We get a nice graph of both (horsepower and torque),” said RPM Club member Dimitri Menkiena. “If someone wants to tune or mess with their ECU (electronic control unit) or their settings on their car, they can try and get more power out of it that way. Or if they’ve added mods, they can test how much power they gain that way.”
The “dynos” serve other practical purposes outside of the event. The technology can simulate road conditions so mechanics can better analyze vehicle problems from the shop.
“Instead of being out on the road and having a tow truck have to come get them, they can have it break down on the dyno and we can figure out what’s wrong with it,” said Diesel Club advisor Dan McIntosh. “(The diesel program’s dyno) is one of the best ones on the West Coast, or was a few years ago when it was installed.”
With two sets of rollers, the dynos can handle front, rear, and all-wheel drive. A computer controls the resistance of the rollers. Straps, wheel blocks, and rows of fire extinguishers ensure the operation is safe. Vehicles are inspected by club members before testing, with an emphasis on picking rocks out of the tires before they accelerate.
Cars are generally tested in fourth gear, said Menkiena. “Fourth gear is usually direct drive, so you get the most accurate number.”
On Friday, May 16, Menkiena said the automotive dyno had tested seven to eight cars with an hour to closing time.
“We had some really sweet Mustangs come through,” he said. “So that was cool to see. The most power we’ve seen today, I think, was around 500 or 600 horsepower.”
Dyno Days serves as an open house for LBCC’s Lebanon facility. School programs and industry partners have booths set up and students give tours to visitors. There’s cornhole, the LBCC culinary program food truck, and a small car show composed of parked Dyno Days entries.
“This is our biggest event,” said McIntosh.
The profit from Dyno Days goes back into the co-curriculars hosting the event. McIntosh said that’s not the only revenue stream for the Diesel Club. Besides funds from the LBCC budget, students in the school’s service repair class fixed up a donated Jeep and auctioned it off to raise money.
“We want to teach them how to talk to people, how to manage things, how to lay things out, and stuff like that,” said McIntosh. “So they have questions, and we obviously help them.”
Next year, they plan on converting a donated “big” bus into a four-wheel drive monster bus.
Dyno Days isn’t over just yet, with the event’s final day being May 17 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the ATTC at 2000 W. Oak St. in Lebanon.
