Introduction and Advantages
Â* Â* Long past are the days of bleeder T's and sliced boost lines, now replaced with manual (or electronic) boost controllers. But a new more viable option is available for us Evo owners: utlizing the stock Boost Control Solenoid (BCS) system. There are several advantanges to going to such a setup including:
- Cost effectiveness
- Full ECU closed loop boost control
- Fine tuning
- Stealth factor
Â* Â* Most MBCs today range from $80 to $100 depending on how you much features you would like, while spending $250 and up on a full electronic unit is not uncommon. For most folks, this is a very good value as it offers a very simplistic way to regulate boost withoutÂ* much hassle. But you could save this money towards other purchases and just utilize the stock BCS system and have the same control and power by spending on a Tatrix cable.
Â* Â* Why would you do it? Well in addition to the typical benefits of the cable including datalogging and flashingÂ* capabilities, an ECU boost control can offer you something an MBC or EBC cannot: full ECU closed loop boost control! Imagine during a cold start warm up period where you want minimal boost because the oil and engine has not warmed up properly...done! Or you want slightly different boost settings per different gearing....no problem! And how about that darn overboost effect during colder days...eliminated! Those are just some of the basic advantages of integrating boost control using the stock ECU, something a stock basic has already, albeit at a lower performance setting.
Â* Â* In addition to the above, the stock ECU offers some great tuning capabilities for those who want even more control including fine tuning in 500 rpm increments, correlation back to actual engine load, and of course having boost limiting protection. This will allow precise calibration throughout the rev range to map boost to load properly and still have fully failsafe mechanism in place in case something goes wrong!
Â* Â* Lastly, due to our locality in the great state of California, for some the greatest benefit is in stealth: there is no visible signs of any modifications. Your harassment-free, easy-going, non-discrimanting popo could pop your hood and *shouldn't*Â* tag you for anything.
Â* Â*With everything in life, unfortunately there are still some negatives, hence the following disclaimers: 1) The stock ECU is a very complex system and even the slightest wrong values at the wrong maps may damage your vehicle 2) Any attempts to modify your ecu should be done with the proper datalogging equipment including map/boost sensors, evoscan (or MUTs if you don't believe in freeware for the people), etc. 3) there are probably many other maps (some upwards of 600+ O.o) that have not been accounted for in ECUFlash and I by no means, pretend to understand them all; this is just simple guide based on my own experiences so YMMV and do it at YOUR OWN RISK.