mbc without tbe

[chriseacrett]

i would like a little bit more power out of my car for the time being but i cannot spend a whole lot of money and am having a hard time waiting for the time to come when i will be able to, what i am wondering is i know everyone says to get a turbo back, and then get a boost controller but is that just a matter of the boost controller not working as efficiently without the tbe or is it harmful to the engine and/or exhaust? i would be running it around ~20-21psi

but it would be easier for me to get an mbc with a new fuel pump than it would be to get a good full tbe, and then an mbc and it may not give me as much power as with a tbe but it would be more power, and i would eventually get a tbe

[Warrtalon]

People don't say to get the TBE and then the MBC. You're supposed to get them both at once, but the MBC can work fine on its own.

The best way to get a lot of power with little money spent is to get an mbc + boost gauge/pod + eflash. That will be around $250.

[chriseacrett]

alright, that sounds good

now i know that we have talked about this at least 100 times, and for that i apologize
but i just want to make sure

and a fuel pump too? i know that you have stated that it is safety item and that i should get it, but if it really isnt anything to worry about at this point of modding (just a boost controller) then i would prefer waiting, but then again if there is even a little chance that something bad will happen then i do not want to risk that

how much power should i expect from that too? it seems like increasing boost from 16psi to 21psi would give a substantial power increase....like 20-30whp?

[ghoonk]

2.75" or 3" TBE, MBC, Walbro fuel pump, JDM MR DV, mechanical boost gauge, and custom flash will keep you happy for a long time.

Anything else is a compromise that should see you band-aiding bits and pieces after that to get to what I just suggested above

Fuel pump, mbc, boost gauge and reflash go together. To run higher boost safely and effectively, you'll need the mbc, reflash, and fuel pump. And running higher boost means greater air flow through the car, hence TBE is recommended. A test pipe will help if budget does not permit TBE.

Also, in many instances, eBay is your friend. Many people buy stuff and then quickly upgrade, e.g from mbc to ebc, from one TBE to another.

Buy the fuel pump new, and same for the gauge. These are two things you don't want going dead on you.

The reflash makes everything above gel

[Warrtalon]

Chris, stock boost is 19.5psi, not 16psi, so you won't be raising it that much. Going from 16-21 would be a 50whp gain, but you're going from 19.5 to 20-21. You also will be reducing the factory boost taper, though it won't be eliminated, so you may see 3psi gains on the top end. Anyway, the fuel pump is up to you. We can run 21psi fine without touching it, but the stocker is still subject to failure sometimes. It's not common, but common enough that most prefer not to touch the stock boost without upgrading the fuel pump.

I went 12.22 on race gas at 24psi on the stock pump with light mods, so it's not a definite thing, but it sure brings peace of mind.

[chriseacrett]

right, i understand that it is 19.5psi
what i see on my gauge is that it go wo 19.5psi and then will very quickly taper to 16psi the closer to redline i get

now the 03 evo has like 230whp, or something like that, but that is at like 6500rpm, where there is only 16psi so by increasing it to 20-21psi at 6500rpm wouldn't that indeed give you about 50whp?

i am sorry if i sound stupid, that is just how i have meant to understand it, but i could be completly wrong and if i am i only hope that someone will correct me

[Warrtalon]

Yeah, you're confused. Turning your boost up to 21psi means you're turning it up to 21psi peak (~3500rpm). It's still going to taper down. By no means will you see 21psi at 6500rpm. We don't make peak whp at the same place as peak boost. Our peak boost is where we see peak TORQUE, but it tapers 2-3psi from there to 7k...

[chriseacrett]

so in that case it would peak at 21psi, and taper down 2-3psi so that would put it at a minimum of 18-19psi which would be a 2-3psi gain, which should be about a ~15whp increase?

[Warrtalon]

You're being too technical about it. There are may more factors involved, but 1 psi generally equals 10whp if it's still within the efficiency range. 21psi definitely falls in that category. I would expect more than 15...

[chriseacrett]

alright, i think i got it

now i have another question

i just put in a prosport electronic boost gauge, and it seems to be pretty acurate...it will go to about 19.5psi under certain circumstances and then taper to 16psi on the dot, so everything seems fine; however, every now and again it will go to about 16psi and taper to 14psi or sometimes even lower, i have seen it go to 11psi, but it does not do it often, now is that normal? is the boost gauge not working? if it did this all of the time i would assume that whoever owned the car before me installed a boost controller and when they took it out they did not put everything back together right...but i am just trying to figure out what is going on....if anything at all

[Warrtalon]

That does not sound normal, but I've never dealt with an electronic gauge like that.