It's a shame most car guys never get to witness the fury and violence of an engine-dyno pull firsthand. Abusing your eardrums with the cackling, popping, and deafening bass of all those cubic inches ...

Starting engine dynamometer pulls at low rpm is hard on the dyno and hard on the engine. Today, engine dynamometer testing is an integral part of many HOT ROD engine buildups and product tests.

We may have goofed, but we're man enough to admit it. Despite the countless engine dynamometer tests car magazines publish each month, we've rarely-if ever-explained how an engine dyno actually works.