Wastegates: porting or not?
 

So, what's the deal with porting our wastegates? It seems that it would reduce the backpressure on the turbos when they're not boosting to the engine. Is there any harm in getting a new or ported wastegate without upgraded turbos? Where does this fall in the long line of go-fast mods? Anyone have a real technical description of the function of the wastegate?

You port the wastegate to let more exhaust go around the turbos (ie- not overboost/boost creep). You can't just replace the wastegate, it is internal of the turbos. I just ported mine last week. You do this when you have a full exhaust (midpipe), because the flow through the engine is greater than the little hole can handle. If you want more details, just do a search on the forum. there's lots of posts.

~Tom

If your turbos are out and you intend to modify your car.. then do it...
But i wouldnt pull them out unless you have a boost creep problem!

Hyperite pretty much nailed it for the layman. More technical and indepth information can be found at Steve Ciran's site www.scuderiaciriani.com and Derek Vanditmar's site. I did it to my new turbos while they were out. Majestic Turbo in Waco TX can do it for you, they did mine. www.majesticturbo.com The mod is basically a reliability mod more than a power mod because it reduces the possibility of boost spiking/creeping, thereby reducing the possibility of detonation. You don't really get more power from porting by itself, rather it allows you to do more exhaust mods more safely. You still need to make proper fuel management your main priority though, that's why I bought a Power FC even when I had my WG ported, and added a midpipe.