Should I Take The Short Cut To Big Power?

[pizza boy]

You can see my current stats/estimates on power on my sig below car is prolly at least 255bhp@fly. To keep things simple ill stick to flywheel figures on my questions. So then:

Long term:Go the expensive route of intercooler upgrade = much more reliability + much higher boost pressure(290ish bhp@18+psi?dunno bout torque xxx lb/ft).

OR

Short term:Go the cheap route with FCD and boost ctrl BUT run it to about 16psi MAX so as to not strain stock intercooler(but what bhp/torque would I expect at 16psi?).

Am tempted to go the short term route as i aint got the cash to input the intercooler at the mo and time is against me as my nutter m8 is getting his S2 elise back with the small matter of throttle bods+completely upgraded internals. I used to beat him b4 but the fools will be bustin mid to early 4s to 60 now . If all is lost Ill still bully him at 100+ cos his gearing is only up to 127 muhaha! :arrgg-matey:

Anyway..advice is much appreciated!

[Bibbs]

FCD & Boost Valve = £100 ..

and then add WI (£300) and then an intercooler (£400) ..

[pizza boy]

Wouldnt WI add wieght and reduce my boot space? Would it be worth it?. Whats the labour charge for intercooler fitment cos im assuming it would put yet another mech off mr2s for life?

[Bibbs]

WI weighs is at about 5kg including the water and it all fits in the rear wheel arch behind the carpet.

And upping the RON of your fuel and adding 3 psi is always a bonus ..

An IC can be done in a few hours .. but it's easier to do after taking the IC pulleys off ..

[pizza boy]

Hmm its all cheaper than I thought I was expecting at least 600 quid for an IC. BUT it should be ok to do the 100 quid business just for the meanwhile? I could always deal with the IC later. And I promise not to run 16+ psi on the grainger+fcd

Whats the max safe psi limit that wont strain the cooling too much on the grainger+fcd.

I always run optimax btw

[Bibbs]

I'm only running valve & fcd .. the WI aint wired up yet .. IC is quite a distance away yet in my plans ..

[KiwiMR2]

FCD & Boost Valve = £100 ..

and then add WI (£300) and then an intercooler (£400) ..

Then a power fc :D

Cheers

KiwiMR2

[Bibbs]

You say Power FC .. there ain't much support in the UK for them .. shame really ..

People seem to go for the MoTec's or Unichip ..

[KiwiMR2]

You say Power FC .. there ain't much support in the UK for them .. shame really ..

People seem to go for the MoTec's or Unichip ..

Bugger....Motec is also one of my favorites BUT the power FC is plug and play and cheap compared to the motec which involves quite a bit more tuning :(

I just noticed he has a Gen III.....you won't need a FCD, your good to 18 psi before you need one. So just wind up the boost :D Gen III's love it!!

Cheers

KiwiMR2

[Bibbs]

The Apexi would be on my list .. along with the AFC etc .. all silver and blue - quality ..

[pizza boy]

I just noticed he has a Gen III.....you won't need a FCD, your good to 18 psi before you need one. So just wind up the boost  Gen III's love it!!

dont ya mean rev4? :) Yea thats true fuel cut is at 18psi on ct20b.Do you have one anyway tho?

So all i need is actually a grainger valve set to 16/17 psi yes/no? Would 17psi actually be ok? Just want to be safe as I dont want to stress the stock setup. I really need to know what bhp would I get with 16 and 17 psi? which is safer or is there no difference reliability wise?

[KiwiMR2]

I just noticed he has a Gen III.....you won't need a FCD, your good to 18 psi before you need one. So just wind up the boost  Gen III's love it!!

dont ya mean rev4? :) Yea thats true fuel cut is at 18psi on ct20b.Do you have one anyway tho?

So all i need is actually a grainger valve set to 16/17 psi yes/no? Would 17psi actually be ok? Just want to be safe as I dont want to stress the stock setup. I really need to know what bhp would I get with 16 and 17 psi? which is safer or is there no difference reliability wise?

Gen iv....even nicer :)

Gen III fuel cut is SUPPOSED to be 18.? but when I installed my Dual stage Profec B I hit around 22 psi when tuning it...NO fuel cut for me.

The valve is fine....IMHO an ebc is better as you can run a lower...safer setting normal and have a high setting for special occasions. The stock turbo and engine is good for high boost BUT your right with the cooling thing...an issue in all mr2's once your stopped etc.

I have just recently enquired with a local Dyno shop on doing 2 power runs...one on 14psi and one on 17 psi. Im yet to get a reply on cost :(

How many km's has yours done??

[pizza boy]

Its done 41,526 miles or 67,000k/m. The rolling road engineers told me the engine+car turbo etc are mint. According to thier experience tho in-car adjustable boost controllers have a habit of being unaccurate(theyve seen some pretty destructive examples). Engine bay anologue adjustment of boost is also unaccurate but not as much as the in-car ctlrs. What they are basically advising to tune the engine/turbo to a FIXED psi hmm.

Is it something like 1psi = 10bhp+11lb/ft?

[Bibbs]

1 psi = 10 bhp and 16 ft/lb .. but only to a point ..

[KiwiMR2]

Hmmm... I used a ball and spring from www.boostvalve.com in my Gen II and ran 13 psi, I found normal was sweet but On a cold night it would spike 2-3 psi higher. The profec I installed a few months back holds my settings regardless of temps and has also increased the spool up...which I can adjust. I noticed no change in spool up with the mbc. Mbc is definitly cheaper....I'd go ebc though :)

Cheers

KiwiMR2

[Bibbs]

I've had to adjust my FCD to 4 psi ove the MBC setting because of spikes ..

[pizza boy]

bibbs do you use a grainger thingy valve? I think thats what its called no?

[Bibbs]

Yup - a G-valve .. it'd not as good as an electronic one .. but 10% the price ..