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ScotSTHREE said:
"So, you'll pay good money for a car with a decent engine managed engine, then pay even more to have a specially developed set of fuel maps installed...then add some piece of agricultural plastic / metal that does goodness knows what to the AF ratio?
I think not."
Do tend to rub people up the wrong way.
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Ok...maye to run people up the wrong way wasn't the aim...but to get peoples grey matter kicked into action was the intention, and to have people fully think through the process of obtaining and fitting such items....and from that point of view, it worked.
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One last point on the matter (I hope) does the valve in question not only work when off boost as it cant generate pressure it's self? If this was the case, there would be nothing to worry about, i.e. running lean, leading to engine failure?
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Indeed it does only work in a vacuum situation.
May I suggest you take yours apart for a closer look...I have in the past.
You will find some fairly crude components within...spring, ballbearing or other plug, and a plastic to metal seal...not rocket science.
Three things:
1. The spring is weak...it has to be to open under vacuum in the manifold...
How good is the seal under pressure?
Here's an example...you and I both have a re-mapped ECU producing higher boost pressure, some people add Samco hoses to prevent hoses splitting under pressure, some add higher torque clamps to reduce blow by or the chence of the clamp blowing off under boost, some replace plastic pipes with alloy / steel to prevent boost splitting the pipes, some uprate ICs to remove the IC weak link from the system....all these items are air-tight and able to hold boost.
Then they add the Ecotek valve!...to me it's just a weak link and another unneeded item to potentially reduce performance by potentially bleeding boost.
A catastrophic failure of one of these valves, could lead to a lean mixture situation off boost, and this combined with a very hot engine could lead to a catastrophic, or near catastrophic failure. Not likely, I agree. But possible non the less.
And something I'd prefer not to consider.
2. The engine managememt system on the S3 measures air flow in both the forward and reverse direction, that is to say air passing over the MAF sensor heading into the engine, as well as air passing back into the airbox when the DV is operating. This way the ECU knows exactly how much air is in the system at any time and knows exactly how much fuel it needs for maximum performance once the throttle is opened. Surely, adding an extra 5% of air will upsed the calibrations somewhat?
What will this do to the A/F ratio?
What will this do to the throttle response?
Will it run lean? Possibly, possibly not.
Will it be dangerous? Probably not...but I personally won't take the chance...if you are pushing the boundaries of the turbo performance and struggling to get enough fuel in with standard injectors, I don't believe this item does you any favours.
3. I have tried one of thise valves on three different cars...we have rolling roaded it, and carried out many miles of camparative tests on the road, we tried to be as scientific as possible when comparing it's results. Each and every time any perceived gains in throttle response / fuel economy by me could be replicated by the second party by altering his driving style...and visa-versa.
No power gains either from the RR either...
So I believe I can fairly say it is crap...and - to me - it makes a silly, annoying noise.
