Hey Guys,

I've been slowly picking away at my 2010 fJCW R55. Induction mods include AEM Intake, 47mm Hybrid K04, Forge FMIC, Forge Pipes, Brisk Plugs, Dual Catch Cans, and an AEM WMI V2 Kit. I'm running this with a Stage 3 RPM tune. The car feels fantastic so far.

Given that the water meth injection kit effectively lowers the cold side air charge below ambient, is there any value in a BOV (in this case a dual port Turbosmart Kompact)?

Thanks

Scotty

 

Oh man, all those mods and you don’t know the value of the diverter valve?

The diverter valve has nothing to do with charge temperatures. When you take your foot off the accelerator pedal, the diverter valve opens to prevent boost from stalling out the turbo. So, yeah, even with meth injection, you still need the diverter valve.

 

Fair point

For some reason I had it in my head that the main reason for a BOV was to avoid reinjecting hot air into the boost circuit.

 

Yes, you still need a diverter vale/blow off valve with meth injection. It's function has already been discussed. However I'd highly advise against any sort of aftermarket replacement to the stock diverter valve. Most of them have some sort of issue you'll have to work around, and the latest revision of the OEM diverter valve handles boost just fine even at tuned levels, with an Alta spring it can handle over 30 PSI allegedly. Everyone I know with an aftermarket DV or BOV had to swap it back to stock for one reason or another. It's a waste of money in my opinion.

 

This was the one I was considering as it apparently plays well with the Mini ECU: https://www.turbosmart.com/product/k...r06-dual-port/

Is the consensus that there are better things to spend cash on?

 

Ask scotty_r56s about his stock DV and 20 PSI, he cracked 2 of them.

 

I've got a cracked one at home as well. Didn't realize this was a common problem.

 

id asked him what he is using, he tracks his mini, for me im probably going to go with the forge unit, unless Mario suggest another one when i get to the tune.

 

The TurboSmart valve and the Forge valve are basically the same thing, except the TurboSmart valve is packaged all in one, and the Forge unit has the separate remote actuator. Either one will be better than the OEM valve, since they both have an aluminum housing. I like the packaging of the TurboSmart valve, even though I have a Forge valve. (the TurboSmart wasn't available when I made the purchase)

 

Old revision or new revision?

Mine's held up fine with hard driving at 22 psi.

 

And he was at 22 psi, it’s in his track toy in the making and what did you do to your mini threads

 

I went ahead with the Dual Port TurboSmart. I like that I can dial in how much boost goes to atmosphere.

 

I’m not saying this didn’t crack under pressure but I think there’s more going on here than meets the eye. Everyone is so quick to denounce plastic car parts but the glass fiber reinforced nylon these things are made out of is tough stuff, pound for pound as strong as aluminum. You wouldn’t be able to easily do this kind of damage with your bare hands, so 22psi of air pressure acting on it even cycling and fatiguing doesn’t seem like it would be able to break a DV that wasn’t already compromised in some way either from an injection molding imperfection or someone hitting it by accident at some point. Are there other cases of the DV cracking like this?

Also, this is the older revision with the diaphragm that tended to fail anyway. The newer revision doesn’t have the diaphragm and has overall been redesigned.

 

My guess is heat was involved since his car has been running track duty. Excessive heat and twice the pressure compared to stock...

 

Looks more to me like the mounting surface on the turbo for the DV was uneven and the screws got torqued too tight. Because it’s breaking right along the stress line for that closest mounting screw.

 

what is the manufacturer year between old an newer improved item
or part numbers of upgrade ?

 

I’ve cracked two of them. One was the old model, one was the newer “upgrade” with the plastic bit instead of the rubber diaphragm. I replaced it with a Forge unit. On the track, the Forge holds 22.5 without drama. For daily use, you could get by with the stock part. If you are pushing the car and need 22.5 lbs out to 7000 rpm and then need the 22.5 immediately after shifting, replace the valve. If you are just running stop light to stop light, the stock should be fine.

 

You’re wrong. The part was installed correctly. It failed. Maybe it was a one off defect, maybe it was the heat and vibration. Either way, it’s been replaced with something less prone to damage from excessive heat and vibration. Track miles are hard miles. I think people forget that sometimes. Running around in the mountains is not comparable to going flat out lap after lap.