Tom, where do I get upgraded wastegate springs + are they easy to fit ? is there a how to do with these ?
and yes Upsolute should immediately give you 1.1 bar minimum, if you had 0.9 previously there is a problem with Upsolute not the rest of car, get a reflash ?

 

Did you personally experience this, or is this something you were told? In my experience (as well as scouring the boards and posting the same question on several) you cannot get 1.1 bar minimum with ONLY the reflash... I have heard of no one that has been able to do this. It has been confirmed with several tuners as well that you need a stiffer wastegate spring.

If you were able to get 1.1 CONSISTENTLY (not spikes), please let us know how you did it. You would be the first person I've heard of who has actually hit 1.1 bar consistently with a stock car and only reflash. I had my car reflashed with a very agressive program (1.4 bar), and my X50 was still only producing 1 bar.

 

The reflash does not change the mechanical limits of the wastegates. It doesn't matter what boost the ECU is requesting if the physical component cannot deliver it. If the wastegate springs are not stiff enough, they just cannot fulfill the boost requested by the ECU.

This is also the same reason why if you have stiffer springs put in, then you would also be limited on how LOW you can have the boost run. The certain spring can only provide a certain range of boost adjustability.

 

Exactly. The purpose of this thread is to prevent others from being mislead into thinking that a simple reflash (without wastegate mods) will give you over 1 bar of boost. Mission accomplished, hopefully

 

Of course, the flipside would be interesting. What if you had stiffer wastegate springs on a stock program...where the minimum boost is closer to 1 bar so regardless of what the ECU is requesting for boost, the lowest boost is still 1 bar. Does that mean that you can avoid having to buy a flash/ECU upgrade and just put in a stiffer spring?

 

The ECU has the maps to supply the fuel but you are not running more boost.

You NEED to tighten your stock wastegates. They are the single most important factor in boost control. Better yet get modified or upgraded wategate springs. Your car will COME ALIVE.

 

Yes you can IMO. Every ECU has some leeway built in.

But according to Stephen at Imagine running 1.2 BAR continuously will pop CEL and put you in pimp mode.

 

Is that all I need to go into pimp mode? Sign me up

 

This is PIMP mode!

OOPs! Call that LIMP mode.... both with potential sexual implications...

 

okay guys one other thing to all this. IMHO if you are going to flash then there are some house keeping things that need to be addressed. Change your diverters and wastegate with something like the EVO kit. they are both cheap good upgrades. While you are at it get the upgraded turbo boost hoses so your hoses dont blow off or split.
If you are going to play with the ECU do the other things as well or you wont get a good or reliable result.
Above ASSUMES that you have upgraded your exhaust!
IMHO DONT play with the intake, just my 2 cents

As for the waste gates, my car with all the above BEFORE the ECU flash with the X-50 held a steady 1.0 bar. that was before the flash and no CELs. your experience may vary

Rich, diverters and wastegates are DIY's just not in my hands!

 

I agree on this except I'm not quite sure I'm convinced on the need for upgraded hoses as a high priority. Is it really the hoses splitting or just the connecting clamps that are the problem? I'd still plan on upgrading the hoses eventually but wouldn't put it first on the list. Probably turn attention to SSK or something like that first.

 

YT, agreed on the hoses especially as they are costly and labor intensive to put on (in my opinion, cause rear bumper has to come off) but the factory ones have inferior clamps and the hoses have a seam that tends to be a weak point on modded cars.
I just threw that in because with the begining of modding I didnt want to take chances with "weak" points.
It certainly is lower on the list that say the diverters. But nice when you can do it.

The beauty of this forum is that I and others can learn from others experiences and or mistakes so as to avoid them ourselves and not to learn "the hard way" and this forum is what tipped me off to all of my above suggestions.

that said, my car is run MONTHLY for 2 day DE's HARD, and driven to and from the track, and is reliable and awesome!!

 

I'm with you/ Don't have hoses and it's been fine. I did POP one my stock DV in two.

BTW The wastegate MOD is especially necessary in X50 cars. They use the same wastegate actuator spring as K16 cars, and the elevated exhasut gas pressure from runing more boost just forces them open pre-maturely leaking exhaust and making less bost. Upgraded wategate springs and DVs are a necessity in chipped X50 cars my experience.

 

I have been hitting 1.1 bar minimum every day for the last 3 years with Upsolute (stage 2 on K16's with 98 Octane std in Europe) with Techart sport exhaust, BMC air filter and Bailey dv's, just thought sooner or later might need upgraded wastegate springs. On acceleration (its a tip) it generally leaves most people breathless as the front lifts and the car just plants itself and goes into hyperdrive. I had it dynoed at Sportec with 750nm of torque