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1964 GTO ringer supplied to Car&Driver: "unbelievable" quarter-mile times [1]
The truth about press cars prep includes repainting, body panel gap adjustment, fixing interior air leaks, blueprinting and tuning
Edmunds accuses Ford of tricky tire-switching with their Lincoln MKZ test car, Consumer Reports, 12/2012. "a borrowed 2013 Lincoln MKZ AWD was equipped with high-performance tires and accused the company of gaming the media with their test car...We have experienced cars from manufacturers that perform better than the vehicles that we end up purchasing to test. Even government agencies are not exempt from this practice, as car manufacturers select vehicles that they test themselves in the EPA fuel economy tests... Consumer Reports [buys] every product that we test... we only formally test and score cars that we purchase anonymously."
A practical way to drive cycle sales (Powersports Business May 15, 2006 via HighBeam) "According to OEM sources, only Suzuki and Harley-Davidson provide fuel economy numbers to the public. Part of the reasoning behind that is the lack of a standard test procedure for measuring motorcycle fuel economy. Motorcycle manufacturers, after all, are not required to calculate fuel data like auto manufacturers are."
EARTH TALK: Eco-friendly motorcycles in the works (The Charleston Gazette (Charleston, WV) August 6, 2007 via HighBeam) on lack of US national emissions test standards, and emerging standards in California and EU
The measure of motorcycles' MPG LA Times (April 2 2008) -- mfgrs use federal emissions test protocol to test mileage, in absence of mileage test protocol
Dimensions are measured directly on the bike under test, with specified locations (e.g. seat height measured to the widest point under the rider's buttocks) (p. 65)
Weight is measured with gas tank half full
"Many [specifications] are taken directly from the factory literature, i.e. we accept their word for the various capacities, oil and fuel recommendations, bore and stroke, compression ratio, etc." (p. 65)
"Engine power has long been a point of contention... When there is a [factory provided] figure, we usually print it and identify it as a factory claim. If there is some controversy, we might test the engine on a dynamometer." CW finds quarter mile time and top speed "better information" than dyno testing. (p. 65)
Dyno suspension testing, Cycle World, November 1975. Chart format apparently didn't catch on, though it says "explaining exactly what is happening to component parts (like suspension) ... is well beyond the realm of conventional [seat-of-the-pants] testing ... street bike dyno suspension testing will commence with the December issue" and takes a full page explaining how to read the chart.
How to Tune and Modify Motorcycle Engine Management Systems, p. 94: "Almost all motorcycles that are reviewed in magazines have horsepower and torque numbers listed... All powersports manufacturers use the numbers to sell performance, image and technology. After reading this chapter on measuring horsepower, it's easy to conclude that these numbers are neither easy to compare nor consistent. The same motorcycle tested on different days, measured on different chassis dynamometers, with different correction factors, tire pressures and dyno operators, will generate different numbers... [W]hen a motorcycle manufacturer uses horsepower and torque numbers, they are doing so to sell motorcycles. They test their engines under ideal conditions... Magazines are a mixed bag regarding how they get their performance numbers. The better magazines will use the same dyno and operator to get all the horsepower numbers for the bikes they test... Comparing one magazine's numbers to another is pointless, though, because of the variables in just about everything related to testing."
How a dyno measures horseower RideApart "Where the manufacturers' numbers come from is a mystery to me. They might just take the engineers out to a bar, feed them booze for a few hours and then ask them to estimate (read: fabricate) some numbers. They certainly don't strap the bike to a dyno, do some runs and then print out a number"
Tech: racebike datalogging system, Super Streetbike 2010. "Just a decade or so ago, race teams had little to go on except the stopwatch and the word of their riders when it came to sorting out problems or improving setup. But with the development of compact, inexpensive electronics and the growth of electronic sub-systems on bikes, it's become easier for engineers to gather information about exactly what's going on with a bike while it's being ridden around a track." Describes sensors, displays, software and system integration.
