Banks Sidewinder Turbo possibilities

[Minuteman96]

I forgot to mention it, but yes the second gen Sidewinders are wastegated. You'll appreciate that it you do much driving in stop and go traffic.

Yeah a wastegated turbo typically will spool up sooner correct?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Yes it will. They also have a smaller turbine on them and the wastegate will limit boost at around 2600 RPM or so.

 

[ih8minimumwage]

Curious on the wastegate comments; I have mine held closed and running around 10psi and maxxing at 14ish. It sucks for around town driving since I don't get boost until it gets wound up. No wastegates on the equipment I work on, so pretty dumb on how a properly set one will boost sooner?

 

[Big Bart]

Curious on the wastegate comments; I have mine held closed and running around 10psi and maxxing at 14ish. It sucks for around town driving since I don't get boost until it gets wound up. No wastegates on the equipment I work on, so pretty dumb on how a properly set one will boost sooner?

The waste gate turbos I have seen actually have a closed waste gat that opens at a set boost PSI to allow the extra boost pressure to escape and keep your boost at say a max of 12psi. That keeps you from over boosting on accident to say 20psi.

So your waste gate turbo has say the ability to boost to a higher psi say 20psi. The waste gate starts to bleed off the extra boost when you have 12psi of boost. So the turbo kicks in sooner (Lower rpms.), when the rpms come up and it hits your limit of say 12psi, it bleeds off the extra boost. So it creates boost at lower rpm because it will not over boost at higher rpms. Thus why better for low rpm stop and go traffic.

A non gated turbo is set to boost to a max of say 14psi, to achieve that the turbo starts to spool at a higher rpm and maxes out at say 14psi at 3,000 rpm. To lower boost you have to let off the gas pedal. To avoid over boosting the turbo the system is designed to require a higher rpm to start spooling and creating boost. So at low rpm in stop and go traffic the turbo only works at the higher rpm ranges. Once you shift the spooling slows down till the rpms come up again.

Since you have the waste gate held closed there is nothing further to adjust to get more boost earlier. But if your turbo bearings are worn and your turbo is not spinning freely rebuilding the turbo could help with more lower end boost. Also make sure you do not have exhaust leaks or intake leaks. Exhaust leaks prior to the turbo will cause less and late spooling. Intake leaks after the turbo will reduce boost.