How safe is the rtek rev limiter in drifting?
 

I don't know anything about this so I figured I'd ask the kind dudes of rx7club. I've always had this perception that the rtek limiter is not safe to bang off of because it is a fuel cut and can cause dangerous lean conditions, so I've always tried really hard to stay off the limiter to save my motor and such.

That's sort of a pain in the ass because if you have to extend a long straight or something it's nice to be able to just sit the car at the limiter. Driving while staring at your tach and keeping it from touching limiter is a pain and annoying.

My question is, am I right to think that bouncing off of an rtek limiter is unsafe? Is there anything I can do to make a safe rev limiter?

Thanks bros

yes unsafe. if banging then shift up. ignition cut limiters are safer.

Isnt this where a Bee-r limiter would be a cheap fix?

a cheap and effective solution would be a haltech e6k...

RTEK is garbage. dude trust me - you're WAY better off having stock ECU, SAFC, wideband, gauges, FCD, tons of fuel, and close to stock timing. fuck that RTEK crap.

RTEK still utilizes fuel cut rev limit. something really strange, but both JTP's S5 ecu'd turbo car, and my S4/N332 ecu'd turbo car both railed rev limiter a bunch and (mine) never suffered any damage from it even with the wastegate unhooked 15-18psi.

stay stock ecu with the above precautionary items, or bump up to an E6k. I love my E6k. ryan got me hooked on it. ecu was like $500, but with tuning (twice), wiring harness setup, and clips/random bullshit i think i'm in like $2,000. definitely money well spent though. my car just burns tires and loves it. you need that too dude.

i paid $400 for ecu and harness... 3 bar gm map and gm water/air temp. was less than $50.

i balled out.... new haltech fuse box, haltech water temp, haltech 3 bar map, haltech IAT. RC Eng fuel injector pigtails. hated it at the time, but thanking myself now. i had like 2 hunned in just gold foil & heat shrink... lol

Not that I don't believe you, but what specifically have you found to be bad about the RTEK? I just don't know a ton about ECUs to be honest. I'd like to know what problems the RTEK has.

I have a stock ECU laying around that came with my imported motor, I could switch to it, but SAFC seems scary to me! The car seems to run at the AFRs I want and stuff (10~11:1 under boost, 14 when cruising), and I had a local dude that is pretty clever (shook motorsports) make an ignition map that he says is very conservative, so I always figured I was pretty safe but maybe there's something I don't know?

To be honest I've never fully trusted my setup so I've always just run wastegate pressure. I'm still at like 7psi peak boost in 2nd and 3rd.


But if I do end us staying with the RTEK, is there a way to make a safe rev limiter?

I had an rtek. Blew my engine. Ill never run rtek again. It's just not for drifting. You would have the best chance with a stage 2 rtek. But for that money you could prolly find a e6k. Great for daily driving though.

Yea I have the 2.0 thing on a kouki ECU. I am using last season's motor and it seems to be running well, I put about 15,000 miles on it last year including 5-6 events and a bunch of street drifting?

I had an engine fail the year before, but I am pretty sure it was my fault. I was banging it off the limiter a bit, and I had no gas gauge so I ran the motor completely dry of fuel 4-5 times doing highway runs in 5th gear at full load and like 12psi of boost. Basically I was an idiot haha.

The 2.0 is a different beast entirely. You can manually enter your own "rev limiter" via the timing and fuel maps if you so desire. Check out posts by Arghx in the Rtek section.

Drifting on the Rtek 1.x is stupid.

Oh man that makes sense... so I could just cut spark at some RPM and it's basically just the same as a rev limit. That seems like a sweet idea, thanks!

Been running Rtek 1.7 for 4 or 5 years.

I've hit rev limiter only a few times but live in that 6-8k range when drifting.

My motor is doing fine.
I completely disagree with the stock ecu plus piggy back crap is better than an Rtek.

Haltech is always hands down better.

haltech is so cheap now that people shouldnt even consider to put rtek or piggyback or any other bs system on their modified car.

It depends on how close to stock you are.

Rtek 1.7 is like $200-300

Haltech is $600-900 for unit + tuning materials + tuner time

Not everyone can or wants to make that jump yet.

just putting a down pipe on your car requires bigger fuel injectors which requires a bigger pump which requires new engine management of some type.. sure plenty of people get by with rtek but i mean.. if youre going through all that work to modify your car, you might as well do it right and save some money. an extra 200$ on your initial investment is a lot cheaper than a 900$ rebuild kit + a housing, rotor, possible e shaft, time, patience.. etc

its not my car or my call though. i just try to share what ive learned with others and try to help them avoid spending untold thousands on trying to do it the 'economical' way.

If your not banging limiter, your not driving hard enough....

I tried calling that guy every other day for like a week.. i emailed him, left messages, everything. not one returned call or e-mail. I had planty of money to give him for a E6k install and tune. I guess he's prolly rich and didnt want anymore...

Ryan is a bit of a one man show, so he does get pretty backed up sometimes. I forwarded your post to him, so hopefully he'll get in touch! He definitely knows his stuff and is a super honest dude.

^ he emailed me back a few hours ago.. Now I feel like a huge dick for that post. Seems like a super nice guy, I look forward to actually doing some business with him in the future.
Thanks Ilia.

Shook is awesome!
I'm running a solid front diff mount he made. Love it!

I personally drifted on my Rtek1.7 for 2 years with NO PROBLEMS whatsoever. Downpipe, exhaust, v-mount, 750 secondarys and Walboro pump. Stock boost and stock turbo put down 175WHP on it's best run with a crap-tastic FD pump that was almost total garbage. I have the Rtek2.1 now and have had ZERO problems with that too. So 3 years, 6K to 8.5k RPM all day and a ton of drifting, starts everytime.

My friends drift car ran the 1.7 for 5 YEARS with NO PROBLEMS and my same setup but with a front mount. 3 years ago he upgraded to a 2.1 and made 260WHP on a street tune he did himself a few weeks before a dyno day. He's still drifting on this tune, motor and ecu with NO problems AT ALL.

I'd never use a fuel cut of any kind for a limiter but I stand behind my Rtek 100%, a system is only as good as it's programmer/user. It's proven itself over and over and for less then $500. Plug it in, set your parameters and go drive. Done and done. Yes, there are better out there but unless your going for bigger numbers like 300+ at the wheels the Rtek is fine.

whatever method you use to limit engine revolutions is going to place a lot of stress on components

First off I had/have an rtek 1.5 and safc on my 6port turbo and drifted it hit 8k rpm at least once a night for about 2 years. Mever had a problem.
Bouncing off the rev limiter is not the best thing for the motor whether it's fuel or ignition cut. A limiter is a safety device. When I hear drifters bouncing off the limiter constantly I think SHIFT!!!

You have never held a long drift have you? Letting off to shift to the next gear while holding a drift is extremely difficult, and practically futile. It upsets the car really badly, especially in a turbo rotary with a dynamic power band. :blush: