Sup
Im gonna be getting my brothers 1991 Prelude in about a month. His Prelude has a turbo kit on it and he does not have a boost controller yet. I am debating on whether to get manual or electronic controller. I am aware of the obvious pros and cons of each but I am still having trouble deciding. Ive heard of the wastegate releasing boost alittle early in manual boost controllers resulting in slight turbo lag. Should I be taking this into great consideration when choosing between manual/electronic? Are you really paying for worthy practical functions when you pay more for a electronic controller...or are you paying for the fancy looking controls/screen?

Any advice would be greatly appriectiated.

Thanks
Mike.

 

Hrmmm having owned both.


I say manual. Why?

With the electronic you have usually 2 boost settings. When I had my electronic I was never on low boost. Kinda silly if you ask me. It was a Profec-B. No noticeable differeance on spoolup. Granted I just had a 16G internal wastegate. If its just running little boost I wouldnt worry about it. A simple ball spring MBC will do you fine. Set it and forget it. Save yourself $250 and spend it elsewhere. IMHO.


http://www.boostcontroller.com/

 

Hmm. Interesting. People trying to sell me electronic controllers tell me that the electronic ones are a better buy better quality etc. The guy who did the engine work on this car has the same setup in his Prelude and he also uses and suggests a manual. Looks like its gonna be manual...unless I get a real good deal on a electronic of course.

thanks for the advice Talon.

 

I checked out the MBC manual controller at the site you listed. Looks like a good item. Dirt cheap too.

 

Heres another option.

http://www.dawesdevices.com/boost.html

Or you can also build one yourself for less than $10.

http://pages.cthome.net/gus/mike.html

Or here is the best looking manual controller around

http://www.turboxs.com/

Ive used a couple of the home made ones as well as the Turbo XS. Thy all work equally well but the TurboXS is easiest to adjust and looks better.

Just make sure you dont use a bleed. Make sure its a ball and spring. The bleeds spool the turbo too slowly.

 

In driving a traction limited car electronic boost controllers absolutly smack down manual ones.

say you are in a car and at 13 psi your tires will spin in first and second gear howevver at 9psi they will just spin at the top of first and hard chirp second. this would mean that with the manual boost controller you could either have your good traction setup or your high speed setup. With the electronic boost controller you can have it both.

low boost for low gears where traction is where its at.

high boost when hitting 3rd gear.

on an all wheel drive car like teal talons he doesnt know what traction limited is. he can do max boost whenever having four drive wheels.

i have an apexi super avc type -r and it rocks the mic.

 

Can you explain to me in detail how a bleeder valve will make a turbo spool slower than a ball spring type.

 

thats like saying


a wastegate set at 10psi will make the turbo spool slower then a wastegate set at 6psi.

blah

 

Hey Boosted thats a good point. I never really thought about traction being a problem. I really want to get an electronic controller but I dont know if I will have enough money to spend on it. I like the AVC-R but they are so damn pricey.

Im kinda new to this turbo thing...so I dont know all there is to know about wastegates. All I know is that I currently have an internal. I also currently have a shitty 2.25 cat back and I am soon to get either a 2.5 inch or 3 inch cat. I was told that if I get a 3 inch cat that I should probably upgrade to a external wastegate to prevent boost creep.

So Ive got another dilemma now...
I dont know whether to just get an electronic controller (not leaving me enough money for an external wastegate) or to get a manual one (leaving me enough money left over to get one).

Turbo techs...what the hell should I do?
Too much going on too many decisions to make...my...brain...cant...handle...it....arggg... .

 

Also whats wrong with a bleeder valve type manual boost controller? Is there a major diffence between these and the ball bearing/spring ones? The mechanic that did the turbo work on my car has his own custom manual controllers and they are the bleed type...I was just wondering if there is a problem with these...because if I get a manual I will probably end up getting his.

thanks.