Well, after months of waiting to get a chance to put the kit on, then dynoing, then waiting on digitized pictures of the results, I finally have them to post. Hopefully this will settle some of the "argument" over these earthing systems, although based on my results it probably won't.

First, a little background. As for the car, it is a 1998 CW ITR with approximately 75,000 miles on it. Mods are: Comptech Filter, OEM JDM 4-1 Header, Carsound Cat, Greddy Evo catback, Exedy Organic Clutch(POS), Comptech Aluminum Flywheel, 15" Rota Slipstreams, Nitto NT450 tires, and a bunch of stereo junk. Timing is at the factory setting and the power steering belt was not removed. As for the dyno, it was located at Extreme Motorsports, Inc. in mid-Maryland. I believe it is a Dynojet, but I don't know the exact model(I can find out if it becomes an issue). Conditions that day were a cool 45 degrees Farenheit, with a steady drizzle(high humidity). We did 4 pulls on the dyno, 2 without the earthing system hooked up and 2 with it hooked up. The following results are based on the best of each.


Now, onto my results:
Baseline Dyno WITHOUT earthing system, Max HP=172.8, Max TQ=120.8
Dyno WITH earthing system, Max HP=173.3, Max TQ=121.2

Dyno chart of best pull with the earthing system:


Dyno chart of 2 best pulls overlaid for comparison:


As you can see, I gained .5 HP and .4 lb/ft of torque from installation of the earthing system. Some might say that's not really anything, but .5 hp is .5 more hp.. I'll leave this part open for discussion. Obviously, torque increase was minimal.

Overall, I am very happy with the earthing system. Driving the car around, although there were relatively little power gains, I was happy with the other benefits. The car now idles MUCH smoother, starts easier/quicker, throttle response is a bit better, and there is no light dimming effect from running other accessories(FYI-my amp has a capacitor, so that would not come into play as for robbing the car of electircal power any more than a normal stereo should).

As far as the car itself, I was slightly disappointed with the numbers. I was expecting about 5-8 more HP out of it with the mods I have, but the humidity probably hurt me. I also suspect my blown cat and the B pipe of the greddy hurt me a bit as well. Unfortunately, I was never able to get a dyno pull or 2 when the car was unmodded, so I don't really have any frame of reference personally as for the improvements from the other mods.

Hope this helps either answer questions, generate more interest, or spark more debate. A big to Tommy_Gunns for his well made, beneficial, and economical kit. Installation was a breeze and his directions + my Haynes manual made it a piece of cake. I'm very happy with it.

If you're interested in one of his newest kits, look here:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=429498

For other reviews, look here:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=410905
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=409405&page=1

Thanks! Any thoughts/suggestions?

EDIT: Fixed HP gains.. originally posted as 2 HP, revised with further plots down to .5 HP gained.. negligible.. tq was correct..


[Modified by mstewar, 10:35 PM 3/13/2003]


[Modified by mstewar, 10:36 PM 3/13/2003]

 

That's a pretty choppy torque curve. It looks like the earthing system actually roughened up the torque a bit more as well. I want to see what some of the more knowledgable members say about your results. It looks like there is alot to be gained by tuning.

 

Finally~! the system has been tested~! I remember seeing something about an earthing kit that pulled in 7 horses ( if i remember correctly ) on a Suzuki Aerio ( think ) that was dyno tested. I didn't think it was going to do anything but if it will make my idle smoother, why not? Its just replacing some wires. Its something to fiddle around with but picking up 2 horses while im at it doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. Great info, im sure we settled the dispute over earthing kits with this post.

 

If you look at the graph without the earthing system install, it is just as "choppy" if not more than with the earthing system installed.

$50 for 0.5 extra HP, woo...1/2 HP :sizzle:

Thanks Mark for the review




[Modified by Tommy_Gunns, 9:48 PM 3/13/2003]

 

What points did you end up picking as optimal ground points? ie VTEC solenoid, alternator, etc?

 

 

nice sales pitch

 

nice

 

I wish I could take credit for the "sales pitch", but I got it off of someone else

Besides, I'm not making these anymore after this blue batch is sold out...just not worth the time invested.



[Modified by Tommy_Gunns, 1:08 AM 3/13/2003]

 

Looks good

 

I always get asked this question. Think about it...you want to minimize resistance for your block to ground.

 

what's the difference between the blue and the red ones you made?

 

one is blue, other is red...and there was also a black (smoked) kit released


[Modified by Tommy_Gunns, 12:59 AM 3/13/2003]

 

Not bad, but if you look at the two curve, they are almost the same up till 6700rpm, where the earthing system give you like 1hp gain. The extra 2whp gain seem to be from the spike right at the end of the run.

I really think the two dyno runs are too close to say if the system really help gain any power.

But who care about dyno, isn't the earthing system suppose to help out the throttle response and the idle?

 

ok so no difference in performance between the different colors?


IM sent tommy

 

good to see some numbers behind this, but i'm more in it for the other benefits.

 

Yep, that is the main point.. but debate has raged as to whether or not they provide any HP gains.. and you're right, the "gain" does appear to be from the spike at the end of the curve.. possibly from the rev-limiter..? not really sure..

and yeah, the torque curve is a little notchy, but consistently so, which makes me feel somewhat better.. this car is totally untuned.. and it runs RICH as hell.. i would hope there's a lot more gains there just from tuning alone..

as for the question about mounting points, they are: alternator, intake manifold, head, and vtec solenoid..

 

2 HP, and you have no idea what your ******* oil temperature was on any of the runs... whatever.

D

 

"That's a pretty choppy torque curve. It looks like the earthing system actually roughened up the torque a bit more as well."

You can't tell what difference the system made whatsoever!!! There's no baseline curve in any of the graphs pictured! He said the graph with the two curves overlaid are the 2 best pulls, not baseline and w/ the system.

You need both baseline curves and curves with the mods overlaid to tell any story here...aside form having all other conditions close to equal(oil/coolant/air temp..etc.)

 

no, you misread.. I made 2 pulls WITHOUT the system, and 2 pulls WITH the system.. the best of each set of 2 are overlaid above, which happen to be pulls #2 and #4.. all conditions were equal(except for oil temp being the variant, which I will address below).. all pulls were done over a 1 hour time period.. in this testing scenario, the best of the 1st set is the baseline, and the best of the 2nd set is the results of the mod.. the two are then compared..

these dyno pulls were not done to measure gains my car made with all the other mods vs stock.. it was done to measure any gains from the earthing system, and the earthing system only.. i added some comments about the overall power, since this was the first time i had it on the dyno.. i wasn't testing for gains from those mods in particular though..

D, for the most part you're right - I have relatively little idea what the oil temp was.. to overcome this, which we did think about during dynoing, we tried to make each set of 2 pulls as equal as possible.. we warmed the car up via idling, made the 2 pulls without the system.. we then let the car sit and cool for about 25 minutes, warmed the car up again, and then made the next 2 pulls with the system attached.. while I don't know the exact temperatures, I figured this was a good way to keep the 2 sets of pulls as comparable as possible.. sound reasonable to you?

edit: clarification



[Modified by mstewar, 11:43 AM 3/13/2003]

 

Thanks for taking the time to dyno test the Earthing System mstewar. Not to downplay the other benfits the earthing system provides, but I have always been skeptical of the dyno charts that I see in magazines showing increases of several HP and MPG. It's refreshing to see an real world dyno chart rather than marketing fluff. Nice job mang!

 

You have to show us the other two runs to see the measurement error....
And look at that spike at 8300 rpm of the blue graph.....

2 HP difference is not big enough to make a difference. Man, look at the graph itself. You really think one is better than the other? You need at least 10 runs with and 10 runs without earthing system, then calculate the deviation and avarage.... That's the only correct way to do... The more runs the more accurate.





[Modified by DutchITR1689, 5:55 PM 3/13/2003]

 

The Earthing System is not pulling 2hp out of the air that was never there ....the 2hp has always been there ..

the Earthing System has only helped the engine run at its full potential to make us of that power ....

Pro's= 2hp ....not a whole lot ...but not really the point IMO ....faster startup...throttle response ...smoother engine/idle ...MPG

Con's= cant really think of any ....

its seems to make the engine a more cleaner ...efficent powerplant ....for 50 bucks ...its worth it to me

 

oops, my bad. I read "Dyno chart of 2 best pulls overlaid for comparison:" and thought it was the 2 best w/ the system. My apologies.


[Modified by jg, 9:19 AM 3/13/2003]

 

You really DID NOT gain 2whp. You gained like .5
You cannot count spikes at the end of the run as an actual gain.