Tuning for Elevation Centrifugal FI

[K1SSRSS]

Hey guys, I just wanted some advice. I plan on likely going with an ECS setup in the near future. I am looking to just break that 600rwhp mark and plan on running meth for a little added safety.

Most of the shops I have found that I am comfortable installing and tuning the setup are close to sea level while I will be running at about 4000ft above sea level most of the time, will this make any difference that one should be concerned about?

Lastly as for the meth, I don't want the tune to be dependent on it, I just want it available for WOT pulls and our hot summers. Is this possible or even reasonable?

One other thing I have been considering is installing the kit myself if it comes with a good canned tune and having the car tuned later since most shops that deal a lot with ECS are at least a full day's drive from me. Is this recommended? I am not worried about the install of the hard parts since I've been building race cars for years, but I am new to the tuning game.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[Slowhawk]

Your good tuning at sea level and going up in level. The other wat around you have to watch out. Meth should be tuned as part of the system. It only sprays under boost.

[East Coast Supercharging]

^^^^ Yup.

[Unreal]

That being said, there are some excellent tuners in New Mexico at elevation.

As Slow/Doug said, the issue with tuning at high then going down is you lose boost at elevation, so tuning up there you won't hit airflow/timing areas that you would when you go down and make more power. You can easily pick up 2-3psi of boost from elevation changes.

[K1SSRSS]

Thanks guys, that's basically what I suspected, but I'm sure you all know what happens whan you start bench racing with yourself after reading too many forums.

One other thing, with the change in elevation, would it be a better idea to run a BOV than a restrictor plate on the setup? I am just thinking a BOV would maintain the same boost where as I am not really sure how a restrictor plate works on a supercharger.

Thanks again.

[bct10985]

Originally Posted by K1SSRSS

Thanks guys, that's basically what I suspected, but I'm sure you all know what happens whan you start bench racing with yourself after reading too many forums.

One other thing, with the change in elevation, would it be a better idea to run a BOV than a restrictor plate on the setup? I am just thinking a BOV would maintain the same boost where as I am not really sure how a restrictor plate works on a supercharger.

Thanks again.

I think u mean a wastegate not BOV

[grocerygetter]

a WG set up would indeed let you keep exactly the same boost, yes...via a boost controller. WG setups aren't bolt and go...they take someone that has done it and some thought as to where to put gate. My advice is that ECS and FSP (uses ECS kits) both know how to do it and do it right...so buy the kit that way with the flange welded on so that the gate is in the right spot and orientation.

[K1SSRSS]

Originally Posted by bct10985

I think u mean a wastegate not BOV

Probably so. The more I think about it the BOV is just a saftey feature to protect from over boost, correct?

Originally Posted by grocerygetter

a WG set up would indeed let you keep exactly the same boost, yes...via a boost controller. WG setups aren't bolt and go...they take someone that has done it and some thought as to where to put gate. My advice is that ECS and FSP (uses ECS kits) both know how to do it and do it right...so buy the kit that way with the flange welded on so that the gate is in the right spot and orientation.

Thanks for the advice, would there be any benifit to running a WG and BOV?

[Unreal]

BOV protects the blower. It releases excess air when you let off the throttle. When the throttle closes there is no where for the air to go which backs up in the blower causing surge and beating on the blower bearings/etc. A BOV releases the air to atmosphere. The ECS kit comes with a BOV. A wastegate (or even a BOV without a vacuum/boost line hooked up) can be used to bleed off excess pressure in a centri blower setup. You could pulley for ~15psi, then set the wastegate to bleed off any pressure of 10psi, and if you were at sealevel or 6000 ft you would get 10psi. Wastegate would only let you go down so if you pulley for 12 and at elevation only make 9psi, and have WG at 10, then you would still only get 9psi at elevation and 10 at sealevel. WG can be tricky to get working good on a blower car. Too big or too small it hard to setup, spring sizes, etc. They were made to bleed off exhaust gas for turbos not centris. I've seen people get crazy roller coaster boost curves where the gate dumps a bunch, then closes, then dumps a bunch.

[K1SSRSS]

Thanks Unreal, that really cleared things up. This will be my first experience with FI, so in just trying to figure it all out.

[Unreal]

Wastegating it (or turbos) is a great idea for elevation because the car will adjust. Instead of running less boost than sealevel and making way less power you can have good power up high and low. Other option is to have pulleys to swap so you can have a high elevation pulley and a low elevation one. Swapping pulleys takes ~10 minutes if you are slow.