Some more Boost Controller Thoughts

[CM1022@aol.com]

Some people on the list have given some valuable information concerning the
electronic boost controllers: they are not for everyone, and can turn an
engine into a solid state device if your not careful.

There seem to be two schools of thought about these controllers that I have
experienced.  One group uses the sophistication of the device to utilize it
for higher performance, using all those fancy (and superior to factory)
features.  This requires time and almost an engineers knowledge (both
mechanical and electrical) to safely extract the engine's maximum power.  

The other school of thought, of which I belong to, sings a different tune.  I
personally think that, for the average person without the right technical
skills, using one of these boost controllers is way to complicated.  And more
importantly, it is DANGEROUS.  My recommendation is to use these controllers
simply to switch between factory boost settings, and not to try and tune for
performance.  Again, if you have the knowledge and the time, these units can
give you increased performance.  But it is a tricky game.

The fact of the matter is that factories don't use these units because of
expense, but also because they want a greater margin of safety.  Factory
wastegates on road cars are usually designed to leak, and the computers and
settings are conservative.  

Boost controllers and fuel computers do basically one thing: they allow for
manual adjustment of operations usually relegated to the ECU.  They are like
manually adjustable "performance chips".  But for the weekend warrior, these
units can be too complicated or too dangerous. 

If I was using one of these units on my daily driver, I would set the
parameters very conservatively, not going beyond 1.0 bar positive.  Better
yet, factory settings.  Overboost features should be left alone......

For the enthusiast, stick with performance chips for the ECU, and let the
electrical engineer figure out the details.  

Chris Morlock

86 951
83 928S
81 928
81 931
70 BMW 2800 CS
and a HD