Holley Sniper on the dyno

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Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by andyf »

I've been working with the new Holley Super Sniper recently and so far I like what I see. The Sniper is sold by Holley as an inexpensive carb replacement but under the covers it is a full blown EFI system complete with full tunability and an excellent data logging system. It is a little small for the big engines. I ran it on a 470 inch pump gas race engine and at WOT it had about 10 kpa of vacuum. That pressure drop cost the engine 20 or 30 hp but I think the other features of the Sniper more than make up for that. I'd use it on a bracket car just for the automatic tuning capability as well as the built in data logging. Here are a couple of videos showing it in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGsLjqRCRnc Dyno pull
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGljNs28Yp8 Startup and warm up
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by pastry_chef »

Thanks,

Looks like they need a unit between the 650 and 1250 to fill a hole.
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by Monza355 »

Looks great. What benefits does the super sniper have over the regular sniper on a n/a engine like this ?
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by andyf »

Monza355 wrote: Sun Jul 08, 2018 8:26 pm Looks great. What benefits does the super sniper have over the regular sniper on a n/a engine like this ?
The Super Sniper can accept 3 pressure gauge inputs. So you can hook the oil pressure and fuel pressure sensors up the Sniper and have the values captured by the data logger. The Sniper doesn't have anyway to keep track of fuel pressure or oil pressure so you need auxilary gauges.
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by andyf »

pastry_chef wrote: Sun Jul 08, 2018 8:23 pm Thanks,

Looks like they need a unit between the 650 and 1250 to fill a hole.

The Holley engineeers could make the 1250 fill the gap if they designed in progressive linkage and progressive injector control. If the 1250 had progressive control then you could drive it around town on the front two barrels and the secondaries would only kick in when needed. That should be a fairly easy fix for Holley to make.
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by cjperformance »

andyf wrote: Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:08 pm
pastry_chef wrote: Sun Jul 08, 2018 8:23 pm Thanks,

Looks like they need a unit between the 650 and 1250 to fill a hole.

The Holley engineeers could make the 1250 fill the gap if they designed in progressive linkage and progressive injector control. If the 1250 had progressive control then you could drive it around town on the front two barrels and the secondaries would only kick in when needed. That should be a fairly easy fix for Holley to make.
How about using a progressive throttle linkage to really slow the low end foot/throttle input to blade ratio. Do you think that would be a viable option?
Cheers,
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by In-Tech »

Most, if not all, have all of the injectors running all the time. Hence the 1:1 linkage required. It can make it quite snappy and usually requires a linkage change to tame it a bit if desired.

I've only tuned one sniper and as Andy said, it is extremely programmable. The other "handheld" stuff is crap IMO. Best dime per dollar I've seen yet.
Heat is energy, energy is horsepower...but you gotta control the heat.
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by cjperformance »

cjperformance wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:07 am
andyf wrote: Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:08 pm
pastry_chef wrote: Sun Jul 08, 2018 8:23 pm Thanks,

Looks like they need a unit between the 650 and 1250 to fill a hole.

The Holley engineeers could make the 1250 fill the gap if they designed in progressive linkage and progressive injector control. If the 1250 had progressive control then you could drive it around town on the front two barrels and the secondaries would only kick in when needed. That should be a fairly easy fix for Holley to make.
How about using a progressive throttle linkage to really slow the low end foot/throttle input to blade ratio. Do you think that would be a viable option?
Cheers,
^^ when I say 'progressive throttle linkage' i probably should clarify that I dont mean staging primary and secondary,, i mean a progressive ratio linkage so while pri & sec open 1:1 the throttle linkage assembly gives a very low ratio of throttle opening V throttle pedal movement particularly in the 1st 1/3rd of throttle blade movement and then ramp the ratio up as the throttle is opened further. Idea being to soften the throttle response in the low end to make it a bit more street friendly.
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by andyf »

In-Tech wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 8:07 am Most, if not all, have all of the injectors running all the time. Hence the 1:1 linkage required. It can make it quite snappy and usually requires a linkage change to tame it a bit if desired.

I've only tuned one sniper and as Andy said, it is extremely programmable. The other "handheld" stuff is crap IMO. Best dime per dollar I've seen yet.

Yeah, I agree. Very good value for the buck. For roughly $1000 a guy gets a programmable, self-tuning fuel injection setup plus a data logger. This has to be one of the best deals going for a low buck bracket guy. Unfortunately, most of those guys refuse to even consider fuel injection. Might take another 10 years for this stuff to really catch on.
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by Roadknee »

cjperformance wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 8:17 am
cjperformance wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:07 am
andyf wrote: Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:08 pm


The Holley engineeers could make the 1250 fill the gap if they designed in progressive linkage and progressive injector control. If the 1250 had progressive control then you could drive it around town on the front two barrels and the secondaries would only kick in when needed. That should be a fairly easy fix for Holley to make.
How about using a progressive throttle linkage to really slow the low end foot/throttle input to blade ratio. Do you think that would be a viable option?
Cheers,
^^ when I say 'progressive throttle linkage' i probably should clarify that I dont mean staging primary and secondary,, i mean a progressive ratio linkage so while pri & sec open 1:1 the throttle linkage assembly gives a very low ratio of throttle opening V throttle pedal movement particularly in the 1st 1/3rd of throttle blade movement and then ramp the ratio up as the throttle is opened further. Idea being to soften the throttle response in the low end to make it a bit more street friendly.
I have a Holley commander 950 TBI 900 cfm 4bbc on a 383. It has progressive linkage like a double pumper and the rear injectors don't fire until the rear blades are cracked. You'd think there would be problems dumping the same amount of fuel on barely open secondaries as half open primaries. If there are issues it's unnoticeable in my application. Another reason to stage injector operation is where four injectors at minimum pulse width would provide too much idle fuel.
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by Roadknee »

andyf wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:51 am
In-Tech wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 8:07 am Most, if not all, have all of the injectors running all the time. Hence the 1:1 linkage required. It can make it quite snappy and usually requires a linkage change to tame it a bit if desired.

I've only tuned one sniper and as Andy said, it is extremely programmable. The other "handheld" stuff is crap IMO. Best dime per dollar I've seen yet.

Yeah, I agree. Very good value for the buck. For roughly $1000 a guy gets a programmable, self-tuning fuel injection setup plus a data logger. This has to be one of the best deals going for a low buck bracket guy. Unfortunately, most of those guys refuse to even consider fuel injection. Might take another 10 years for this stuff to really catch on.
It is good value. My holley c950 is no longer supported. I need a laptop running Windows Vista or earlier to tune it. Holleys answer is to purchase one of their new ecm / wiring harness combos and use the existing throttle body and sensors. Cost is nearly double that of the sniper.
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by 427dart »

Interesting thought on keeping the unit for more than a few years....factory support!
Carbs...well the long term support is logged in your head and notes and your hand and screwdriver doing the work!
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by Tuner »

427dart wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:20 am Interesting thought on keeping the unit for more than a few years....factory support!
Carbs...well the long term support is logged in your head and notes and your hand and screwdriver doing the work!
Good point!!! We can still reboot a carb that is over 100 years old with a screwdriver and pliers and make a gasket out of a Cracker Jack box if we have to, and now there are EFI systems not even a decade old that are not supported, nevermind they were touted as the best thing since sliced bread when they hit the market.
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by MadBill »

I just got a reprint of a circa 1920 Liberty aero engine handbook; all original type and illustrations. Just pick it up and start reading. Contrast that with what it would take to scoop up a few thousand sixties-era computer punch cards and make sense of them, then consider the number of incompatible data storage systems that span the gulf to the present... #-o
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Re: Holley Sniper on the dyno

Post by gruntguru »

MadBill wrote: Wed Jul 11, 2018 10:31 pmI just got a reprint of a circa 1920 Liberty aero engine handbook; all original type and illustrations. Just pick it up and start reading. Contrast that with what it would take to scoop up a few thousand sixties-era computer punch cards and make sense of them, then consider the number of incompatible data storage systems that span the gulf to the present... #-o
Mind you, if the is useful, its not difficult to copy it across to one of the newer formats. In a hundred years time, when the internal combustion engine is a relic like steam engines are today, I doubt anyone will give a toss about a 2018 aftermarket fuel injection system or keeping it operational. A liberty aero engine however - that is another matter.
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