For those of you that own a chassis dyno. Here in town there is a specific shop that owns a Mustang Dyno and a Dynojet dyno. They have a tuner that only have the ability to tune domestic vehicles and business for them is really slow, looks like there collecting dust. I personally think from the lack of advertising and lack of sport compact interests. What im trying to get at, can you make profit i.e., pay shop rent, operator,overhead by the dyno alone?

 

no, unless you are a very popular tuner. But I dont know of any shops that survive on dyno alone.

 

Yes, I can easily cover my overhead only doing Honda dyno tuning. Does that mean I charge too much?

My shop expenses are roughly 2k per month, I try to tune a car per day, so a week's worth of tuning pays the bills. Granted, my dyno is paid for, but even if it wasn't, its entirely doable. Even easier if you're only paying off a cheap Dynojet 224x or something with a ~$20k retail value..

I tune 99% Honda's with Hondata and Neptune, and the occasional VAFC for the cheapasses, and my rates are anywhere from $150-$500 per car, depending on EMS and tuning time.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by locash &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes, I can easily cover my overhead only doing Honda dyno tuning. Does that mean I charge too much?

My shop expenses are roughly 2k per month, I try to tune a car per day, so a week's worth of tuning pays the bills. Granted, my dyno is paid for, but even if it wasn't, its entirely doable. Even easier if you're only paying off a cheap Dynojet 224x or something with a ~$20k retail value..

I tune 99% Honda's with Hondata and Neptune, and the occasional VAFC for the cheapasses, and my rates are anywhere from $150-$500 per car, depending on EMS and tuning time.</TD></TR></TABLE> agreed however you must be on the straight and narrow a bad rep will kill your buisiness. just dont fake things and be honest with your dyno customers

 

The reality of it is that it is hard to survive on tuning alone. You better have low overhead and a damn good rep if you even want to consider that. I've seen alot of shops go under over the years thinking they could survive on tuning alone.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by locash &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes, I can easily cover my overhead only doing Honda dyno tuning. Does that mean I charge too much?

My shop expenses are roughly 2k per month, I try to tune a car per day, so a week's worth of tuning pays the bills. Granted, my dyno is paid for, but even if it wasn't, its entirely doable. Even easier if you're only paying off a cheap Dynojet 224x or something with a ~$20k retail value..

I tune 99% Honda's with Hondata and Neptune, and the occasional VAFC for the cheapasses, and my rates are anywhere from $150-$500 per car, depending on EMS and tuning time.</TD></TR></TABLE>


$2k per month is dirt cheap overhead. You cant rent a porta-potty here for $2k month. I own my shop and property so rent is not really an issue.

 

Damn right $2k per month is dirt cheap overhead, hence the reason I only need to tune 5-6 cars per week max. No sense working harder than you need to.

I guess it all depends on how much you need to make to be happy.

Obviously, there are exceptions in this industry (read: Jeff Evans @ Evans Tuning), he tunes 8-12 cars per week, has a high stress level, and does a damn good job. I'm sure he's doing well.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SpeedDreamz.com &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">$2k per month is dirt cheap overhead. You cant rent a porta-potty here for $2k month. I own my shop and property so rent is not really an issue. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

I was thinking if you could have a shop just the size to have a dyno or maybe an extra bay for installs/repairs to keep overhead down. The dyno alone would help knock a chunk off of the overhead,IF you can keep a good rep.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by getgot22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was thinking if you could have a shop just the size to have a dyno or maybe an extra bay for installs/repairs to keep overhead down. The dyno alone would help knock a chunk off of the overhead,IF you can keep a good rep.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you need more than "just enough"

 

Church Automotive Testing is a dyno only business and survives very nicely. The key is quality service and word of mouth.

 

Joe, you don't count, you have another job.

Does Church do tuning full time and not have another job?

 

2k overhead that'd be nice...you would have to
keep your dyno pretty busy to pay overhead and yourself..with normal world overhead

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Does Church do tuning full time and not have another job?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Tuning full time-with employees who tune too. We are busy. No other job for Shawn.

 

you go and add additional services then additional manpower is needed and there goes the cheap overhead. Stay out of the employee business as long as you can.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The reality of it is that it is hard to survive on tuning alone. You better have low overhead and a damn good rep if you even want to consider that. I've seen alot of shops go under over the years thinking they could survive on tuning alone.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is a good point -

In business its not about the best week profit - more like the worst week

Just running a dyno with nothing else to offer in my opinion is almost impossible. If the car needs work during the tune ( 70 % do ) how would you work that with no help. What about a car that needs parts / plugs / cap - rotor / fuel / or mabye has a wiring issue. How would you attack those type of issues ? Would you send the dyno customer to a local shop ( if there is one ) and have them get the pars needed, while you wait for them ? Cars sitting on your dyno correct ? How would you work the billing ? The phone...would that just be a machine that picks up and you would call them back for appointments and questions ? How many customers/phone calls do you think you would miss ? Would you just run a normal schedule say 9-5 pm monday thru friday ? If so how would you work appointments, bcause I cant tell you how many people call and say they are on the way and never show up everyday. So if you were the tuner that gets paid by the tune - what is your time worth to sit and wait ?

I cant see it working in Cali atleast where you simply strap a car and tune and that is the only form of income for a 1 man show. I think you should have more available for your customer then a simple tune. Parts / Labor / Service etc - this is the stuff that sets shops apart---

Jason Whitfield
Whitfield Group.

 

I think it would/could work with a min. Of 2 people.... A dyno room ...and enough space for approx 2 other cars.... 1 of the spaces for a longer term project ie: full build ..and the other for one day projects..ie: headgaskets cam installs ect...or if a car has a prob on the dyno it could go there and the person not doing the tuning could work on it .
But don't get discouraged by others opinions if your dream is to open a tuning shop ...then I say give it 110%

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Joe, you don't count, you have another job. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Tony, but my "other" job doesn't support my tuning business. I keep everything seperate to see exactly what the business can do on its own. I feel confident that I could maintain my lavish (haha) lifestyle by tuning alone.. On that note, I just acquired another 1300 sq feet of shop space yesterday, so add another $1k to my overhead. I'll probably just store my new Yamaha jet boat in there for now, although I am considering adding another shitty Dynojet to the mix, for those "numbers" people want to see, but I'll hold off on that until the CNC mill gets here and see if I can still run this place as a one man show.

 

our shop has a AWD mustang dyno. & we could survive on it if we cut back on racing & made it a hobby. other than that we have 3 lifts plus 4 tecs to keep us up & running . mustang aint cheap so wee need that thing to run alot. we get ok business during the week, but everyone wants to come durring the weekend cause they have off so it makes it a little of a pain at times.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WHITFIELD-TUNED &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think it would/could work with a min. Of 2 people.... A dyno room ...and enough space for approx 2 other cars.... 1 of the spaces for a longer term project ie: full build ..and the other for one day projects..ie: headgaskets cam installs ect...or if a car has a prob on the dyno it could go there and the person not doing the tuning could work on it .
But don't get discouraged by others opinions if your dream is to open a tuning shop ...then I say give it 110% </TD></TR></TABLE>

We are on the same page of ideas - but as you said it would not just be a dyno shop nor just 1 person. I guess it boils down to what you want to do and how much you need to make to stay afloat. Im sure it could be done with someone that knows the workings of a business small or large, most people find it hard to put hte compay first -

Heres how i see it in Cali

1000 sq ft 800.00
Elec 200.00
Main 200.00
Phone 100.00
Insur 300.00 ( this is about wat it would be with no emplyee and just basic coverage )

Sub 1600.00 ( no pay figured out of course )

Say 3 cars aday @ 150.00 = 450.oo x 5 days = 2250.00 x 4 weeks = 9000.00 - 1600.00 =7400.00 profit to owner thats not bad


Modified by Whitfield Inc. at 8:22 PM 10/15/2006

 

3 cars a day, 5 days a week, all month long is not realistic...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">3 cars a day, 5 days a week, all month long is not realistic...</TD></TR></TABLE>
15 cars a week? It is possible...

 

it is very possible out here in ca. i know of shops out here that have at least 5 to 6 cars a day on the dyno

 

Possible and realistic are 2 completely different things...

And not just 15 cars one week, every single week. 60 cars a month. NOT realistic...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GHOSTWORKS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it is very possible out here in ca. i know of shops out here that have at least 5 to 6 cars a day on the dyno </TD></TR></TABLE>

A quick tune takes 2-3 hours start to finish, and you usually get stuck fixing stuff on the dyno, which takes longer. You're telling me that 10-15 hours a day straight on the dyno is a regular thing, day in and day out?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

A quick tune takes 2-3 hours start to finish, and you usually get stuck fixing stuff on the dyno, which takes longer. You're telling me that 10-15 hours a day straight on the dyno is a regular thing, day in and day out?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dont think that would be possible for a one man show. Also I dont think the quantity of cars are available to support those numbers month after month.

Locash, why would you get a dynojet to get thenumbers that everyone wants? From my experience the Dynapack are the highest reading dynos out there, not a true representative of whp since there is no rotational loss from the tires/wheels.