Detonation
 

Is it safe to drive my car with these mods?

Street port
3mm seals
apexi dual air filters
3" downpipe
3" highflow cat
RB dual catback exhaust

I have the stock ECU.

I have been keeping it under 3500rpm. Will this be ok untill I get a Power FC and get it tuned?

Thanks.

damn, the FIRST thing I would have done was get the ECU.

The RPM's aren't nearly as important as the amount of boost your car is hitting. Do you have a boost gauge? If you're running a hi-flow cat, you shouldn't haven't anything to worry about as far as creep goes. Just be careful on cold nights, as it's very possible you could spike.

nah no boost guage..... but the reason i have been keeping it under 3500rpm is so that the turbos don't produce too much boost.... better get a boost guage...

A boost gauge should be your first mod. It very well is NOT safe to drive your car with those mods with no boost control. Get a boost gauge and a boost controller.

how could my car be boost creeping or spiking if i am not going over 3500rpms?

Are you non-sequential? If you are sequential, you could easily hit over 17 psi by 3500 rpm.

17 psi in sequential with just those mods??

Yes, due to the quick spool up of the sequential system, it would be possible to reach high boost on the highway for example in 4th or 5th gear while staying under 3500k. That goes back to my initial statement that RPM's are irrelevant.

OK, just went out and bought a boost gauge and I see your point.. the boost does go up pretty quick in high gears, it was spiking at about 3500 to about 11psi in 3rd and on one occasion it went up to 13!

I then drove very easy changing at around 2500rpm and accelerating slowly and didn't break the 8psi mark in all gears. This is how I'll drive untill my power FC arrives.

Thanks for all your help.

You may also want to consider putting in fresh spark plugs now so that you dont have to worry about that when the PFC arrives. They can be a real PITA, especially if you dont have access to a frame lift, and they are one of those things you will def want to be fresh before putting in the PFC.

just my $.02

even with that hi flo cat you want to be real careful. i had a hi flo cat downpipe and hi power and still crept to 14 pounds. i have a turbo xs maual boost controller so i set that and it held that boost strong at 12 pounds all the way through the rpms.

You can WOT with all of those mods with the stock ECU as long as you can effectively control boost at 10.0 psi MAX. That's 10.0 not 10.5...

You sure about that? He's changed the volume of air across all boost ranges.

yup. I ran like that for over two years WOT every chance I got with the STOCK ECU. Boost control is the key.

The stock ECU runs the car rather rich. Someone actually did some A/F tests of the stock ECU at 10 psi with mods.

Yea, my FD would hit full boost of 12psi by 2000rpm, and that was with a stock cat and stock cat-back at the time. With a full 3" exhaust it was peaking 16psi by 3800RPM. I either would put the stock external bits back on, invest in a $300 daily driver or vent the intake after the turbos to drop boost pressures and drive VERY carefully.

I lost my motor to a spike and it sucked, a lot... I wouldn't take the chance, I got full-hearted and in the full year of being careful with my car and only investing in the best, I made one stupid judgment due to my excitement to drive the car and it cost me a lot.

_Kris

Why would he do any of that when a simple boost controller would solve the problem?

very true. a boost controller matched with a hi flo cat makes it east to keep the boost pressures down. turbo xs manual boost contoller $90. i bought a hi performance turbo xs for 129 and dont regret it at all.

did you have an aftermarket ECU when you were at 12 psi?

I misread, I thought he was running a full 3" (unrestricted exhaust) to which a boost controller would not be able to handle due to the flow restrictions of the WG.

Yes, M2:Stage 3, the boost pattern was normal for the tune, still utilizing the OEM solenoids. It was well down the road and many mods later that I had creep/spiking issues with a differant ECU to boot.

_Kris

thanks for clarifying :)

so you had all those mods to your car and still had no boost guage, or an aftermarket ECU? Jeez, a boost guage should be the first modification, period.

For sure! My upgrade path started with the reliability goodies...

Koyo radiator > Pettit AST > 3" Downpipe > Boost + Water temp gauges > Intake > ECU ....

That is a hefty list of mods (streetporting!) to not have any fuel management or monitoring tools.

_Kris

haha yeah no boost guage... got one on there now though.
I think it is running rather rich, back fires alot and quite a bit of brown smoke.

I will look at getting a boost controller ASAP, but my priority was the Power FC...

boost and air/fuel were my first things. then came the downpipe, clutch, springs, and so on.

yes, get the Power FC. it is the shiznit.