20 PSI On Daily Driver

[johnny boy 93]

Hey Guys,
Well I bought all the mods to support my 20 PSI driver:

190 Fuel Pump
Evo Injectors
AFPR
DSMLink
MBC
Wideband

I rebuilt my engine last year. Did everything properly. The head has 3g lifters and is mildly ported. The bottom end has stock internals, and a Multi-layer steel head gasket. I have a 16g that has a lot of boost creep up to 22 psi, which I ope to dumb down when I install the MBC, but other than that. Should I be able to run 20 PSI on a daily driver? I am probably only going to drive it like 3 months of the year, but I like my car and if 20 psi is too much then I will turn it down. I have all the supporting mods, and I am not cheeping out on anything. I just want to make sure that 20psi will be ok going through my car with these internals. I like to go to the track every once and a while for a weekend warrior kinda thing, but not that often. So can I do this safely if I have all the supporting mods and properly tune? Thanks guys!
John

 

[dsm-onster]

FMIC and a logger. The logger will tell you what boost you can run. Try that. Then come back with a log and let everyone take a look.

Personally, I've run 30+ psi daily as a work commuter for a 50 minute trip. My wife drove it; who nows what boost is and likes to see that peg come up!

The best thing is to prevent lifting a head. The headbolts of your 7 bolt are not as strong as for 6-bolts. That is likely why you get mixed reviews on when to install headstuds. You really should be aiming for a horsepower goal not a boost goal, as boost is NOT the indicator of how much cylinder pressure is present in the expansion stroke, where detonation and high hp head lifting occurs.

 

[kittay]

Check out the ETS fmic. They are great quality and a very great price!!

 

[johnny boy 93]

Ok First of all I have a swapped 6 bolt in my car. Second I am shooting somewhere for that 300 350 hp range. Third I am looking at an intercooler kit from punishment racing. Anybody ever tried that kit. It is a short route kit, and a smaller intercooler, but I don't want to modify my crash beam to much, and from what I understand these FMIC are "interesting" to install. My logger will be the DSM link. I just want something I can daily drive with maybe a more passive tune and then a weekend warrior for 20 or maybe more psi at the track.

 

[Ravenous]

Check out the ETS fmic. They are great quality and a very great price!!

I don't have one but wish I would of spent the extra couple hundred when I bought my FMIC. The "budget" one I have has cost me over a hundred dollars in tools and alterations to make it fit right.

Also I run my 14B at 19psi, 93 octane, no knock on a 2g timing map with no problems... so far . Oh yea, I'm running stock felt gasket and stock 1g head bolts.

Edit: I purchased the punishment racing intercooler. It was a trick to install but any short route is going to have it issues. The thing I didn't like about it was I had to remove my power steering since it was next to the battery on a 90, and the BOV hits the hood, and the lower charge pipe hits the alternator. I still need to get the BOV tube shortened. The ETS kit is supposed to fit better and comes with mounts. I do like my kit now that most of the issues are resolved but they were simple manufacturing and design flubs which according to the website are now fixed.

 

[rarson]

I forgot to mention I do have a multi-layer head gasket on my car. I did not us ARP head bolts. How hard is it to install them? Should I be fine with the stock ones?

Back the train up. You're not reusing the stock head studs, are you? The stock are stretch-to-fit. That's the entire reason to switch to ARPs, because you don't have to replace them every time you take the head off.

I've run 20 psi on my car for the last 50k miles or so (over the past 8 years or so). I'm still on the original factory head gasket. You don't need to worry about lifting the stock studs.

"20 psi" isn't the problem, the problem is cylinder pressures, which will depend on how much air the engine is pumping at that boost level. A bigger turbo might flow a lot more air at 20 psi, causing the engine to push some coolant, but with the stock studs, I wouldn't worry about anything smaller than an 18g.

 

[Boostin91TSi]

ARP Headstuds are usually done when replacing the head gasket, but some people do forget. I did mine, and it keeps the car pulling like a champ. ARP Headstuds FTW!

 

[johnny boy 93]

Hey there boys, I am finally back. Ok so I think I m going to be purchasing the punishment racing FMIC. I have done a lot of research and most people who bought this kit like it. I might have to upgrade down the road, but for now the short route one should do just fine for me. Now, my final question. The Stock Head bolts should hold up, but looking at even this thread alone there is a lot of debate in that. Any input? Thanks again guys!