Why might I want a turbo boost gauge?

[H. Whelply]

Sorry for sounding like the uninformed person I am on this, but let's say I
have a boost gauge. So now I know when the turbo's doing its thing. Great.
Now what? How will this change my driving experience? What can I do now that
I couldn't do without a gauge? That is, for regular driving--not competing
in the WRC or something?

Thanks.

HW

 

[Andrew \(Mr Blobby\)]

Its just for fun...

Nothing..................BOOST ! Yay

You can also tell when its kicking in and how much.

 

[Rob Munach]

Sorry for sounding like the uninformed person I am on this, but let's say I
have a boost gauge. So now I know when the turbo's doing its thing. Great.
Now what? How will this change my driving experience? What can I do now that
I couldn't do without a gauge? That is, for regular driving--not competing
in the WRC or something?

Thanks.

HW

You don't. The only gages you *really* need are a speedo and a gas gage.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

The speedometer is the LEAST necessary gauge! Road, weather, traffic and
the condition of your car should determine your velocity - ie. your brain.
I suppose a boost gauge - once you were familiar with your car COULD
indicate trouble with with the system if you began seeing atypical response.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

 

[Josh Assing]

Hmm. I'd vote for oil pressure & temp as important...
I mean if you just want to stay legal; then speedo is the only thing.... gas
guage is just for convience (not running out) oil & temp could save your engine
from damage....

 

[Josh Assing]

Not to mention -- the boost gauge indicates how long you may want to let the
turbo cool -- if you've been driving hard and seeing the boost gauge go up &
down -- you know to let it cool a bit; if you drive and haven't really seen it
up at all; you may opt for a shorter cool down period.

 

[Alan Peterman]

Sorry for sounding like the uninformed person I am on this, but let's say I
have a boost gauge. So now I know when the turbo's doing its thing. Great.
Now what? How will this change my driving experience? What can I do now that
in the WRC or something?

Thanks.

Actually one of the best uses for the boost gauge is as an ECONOMY gage. Keep
that needle out of boost and you'll get better gas mileage. There used to be
some cars that had vacuum/economy gauges to help one keep from using too much
gas.

Having said all that, it's darn near impossible to not use and enjoy the thrust
from the turbo on the WRX!

 

[Rob Munach]

The speedometer is the LEAST necessary gauge! Road, weather, traffic and
the condition of your car should determine your velocity - ie. your brain.

Well it usually feels safe for me to drive 70mph on a 55mph interstate,
but I can still get a ticket. If you aren't going to worry about your
wallet or your license to drive I guess a speedo is not required. FWIW,
my old GPz550 race bike had NO gages after a bad endo-ing wreck. I raced
it many times like that.

 

[Rob Munach]

Hmm. I'd vote for oil pressure & temp as important...
I mean if you just want to stay legal; then speedo is the only thing.... gas
guage is just for convience (not running out) oil & temp could save your engine
from damage....

I prefer idiot lights for these functions as I don't have to constantly
scan them to determine if there is a problem. A bright light on my dash
is much more obvious to me then a pegged gage. A few seconds w/o oil
pressure is all it takes to trash your bearings. If you don't happen to
be looking at the gage at that moment then you are outta luck! Actually,
I would prefer a gage and a flashing strobe idiot light.

 

[Ryan]

If you are looking to tinker with your boost ( a relativly simple thing to
do) then I would definitly suggest that you get a boost guage. You really
don't want to be going any more than say 4-5 psi over the factory standard
and even then only on the odd occation. If tinkering with your boost isnt of
interest to you and you don't like watching the pretty guage go up and down
then I'd take Joshs' advice and opt for something like Oil prssure and temp.

Hmm. I'd vote for oil pressure & temp as important...
I mean if you just want to stay legal; then speedo is the only thing.... gas
guage is just for convience (not running out) oil & temp could save your engine
from damage....

I prefer idiot lights for these functions as I don't have to constantly
scan them to determine if there is a problem. A bright light on my dash
is much more obvious to me then a pegged gage. A few seconds w/o oil
pressure is all it takes to trash your bearings. If you don't happen to
be looking at the gage at that moment then you are outta luck! Actually,
I would prefer a gage and a flashing strobe idiot light.

 

[Jerry and Bea]

If you are looking to tinker with your boost ( a relativly simple thing to
do) then I would definitly suggest that you get a boost guage. You really
don't want to be going any more than say 4-5 psi over the factory standard
and even then only on the odd occation. If tinkering with your boost isnt of
interest to you and you don't like watching the pretty guage go up and down
then I'd take Joshs' advice and opt for something like Oil prssure and temp.

4 to 5 psi over the factory 14.5 psi I see in my WRX would be very bad
without some seriously high octane gas. It's interesting to see how much
less boost my car makes at higher elevations, 14.5psi at 2000' but only
about 12.5 at 7000'.

 

[JaySee]

It has been scientifically proven that the mind cannot acurately
determine velocity in foggy conditions. The fog tricks the mind into
thinking it's moving at a slower rate of speed than actuallity. This
research was originally done for airplane pilots, but later taken done
on truck drivers. So a speedometer is VERY NECESSARY even if you live
in a desert (dust storms).

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

I don't think it would be safe to drive in fog staring at ANY dashboard
instrumentation. If you can't see vehicles in front of you or the road,
only ZERO is a safe speed and I don't need a speedo to determine that.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

 

[Josh Assing]

if you increase boost on a stock engine; you need higher octane (slower burning
gas) and proably need to o-ring the head...

 

[Cam Penner]

It has been scientifically proven that the mind cannot acurately
determine velocity in foggy conditions. The fog tricks the mind into
thinking it's moving at a slower rate of speed than actuallity. This
research was originally done for airplane pilots, but later taken done
on truck drivers. So a speedometer is VERY NECESSARY even if you live
in a desert (dust storms).

What about using the tach and the gear you're in? 3rd
gear, 4000 rpm is ALWAYS the same speed.

On my motorcycle, I seldom look at the speedometer. I know
by engine RPM and gear exactly how fast I'm going.

 

[Ryan]

Yeah 4-5 psi could probably be a little over the top, however much fun it
might be on the odd occasion.
I've been thinking about why your boost tends to taper off at higher
elevations and I think I might have the answer, What probably happens is at
higher altitudes the ambiant air pressure is a lot less, this would tend to
suggest that the amount of pressure required to open the waste gate is less
because there is less atmospheric pressure on the back of the diaphragm.
Because it takes less pressure to open the waste gate it will open alot
earlier preventing you from getting to full boost. If this is indeed the
reason why you get less boost and you wish to fix it, a boost controller is
relativly inexpensive and easy to intall.

if you increase boost on a stock engine; you need higher octane (slower burning
gas) and proably need to o-ring the head...

 

[MIKE]

Nice idea but the waste gate only needs about 5 psi to actuate. The ECU via
a solenoid valve prevents the waste gate opening untill higher boost
pressures. The ECU mesures air intake and boost pressures and it probably
determines what boost pressure the engine should run at. Why does the ECU
reduce boost at higher altitude? I would guess that it is to be engine safe.

Yeah 4-5 psi could probably be a little over the top, however much fun it
might be on the odd occasion.
I've been thinking about why your boost tends to taper off at higher
elevations and I think I might have the answer, What probably happens is at
higher altitudes the ambiant air pressure is a lot less, this would tend to
suggest that the amount of pressure required to open the waste gate is less
because there is less atmospheric pressure on the back of the diaphragm.
Because it takes less pressure to open the waste gate it will open alot
earlier preventing you from getting to full boost. If this is indeed the
reason why you get less boost and you wish to fix it, a boost controller is
relativly inexpensive and easy to intall.

 

[Ryan]

I was wondering whether the ECU had anything to do with the wastegate, seems
like a logical thing to do. Would I be right in assuming that in older
versions the wastegate is actuated directly from the compressor outlet?, or
is it always maintained by the ECU?

Nice idea but the waste gate only needs about 5 psi to actuate. The ECU via
a solenoid valve prevents the waste gate opening untill higher boost
pressures. The ECU mesures air intake and boost pressures and it probably
determines what boost pressure the engine should run at. Why does the ECU
reduce boost at higher altitude? I would guess that it is to be engine safe.

 

[PeterD]

If you are looking at any performance mods that involved boost, you need it

 

[MIKE]

Early turbo cars probably used some sort of pressure regulator to control
boost.
My 91 legacy uses ECU control the boost and the late 80's rx turbos also
used a primative ECU.