MBC vs. EBC - advantages of pwm boost control

NYSpeed Automotive
1

well since i seem to be the ebc nazi i will start a thread based specifically on electronic pulse width modulation solenoids

since i know and specifically work on fwd honda’s i will give my input

this thread is not about greddy profec b’s, or apexi avcr, it has to do with pwm controlled solenoids

for honda currently hondata, ectune, aem ems and neptune can control this , as well as most stand alones, if your tuning software does not support pwm control then im sorry this does not apply to you

benefits:
can control boost via duty cycle for rpm/gear

  • this allows the user to ramp up the boost, have lower boosts in lower gears to get maximum traction, yet still have the high horsepower in 3/4 gears
  • by using this with an external wastegate it allows quicker spool time by keeping the gate shut completely untill desired boost level is reached
  • allows fine tuning of the hp/tq curve by fine tuning the boost
  • allows you to set a target pressure and the ecu keeps the boost at a steady pressure (lets the ecu do the work and makes for overall more consistent power)
  • when set up as normally closed, if a failure of the solenoid occurs the only thing that will happen is that you run wg spring pressure

how all this benefits you over a manual boost controller with a fwd or high horsepower car with the proper ems

it allows the car to have 2 “maps” with the flick of a switch you can run a “street” tune with lower boost in first and second gears to try and maintain maximum traction on street tires and yet still have that high power for 3rd and 4th gears, the second map can have higher boosts in the gears again for maximum traction with given tires

for any honda who is putting down over 350whp this is a great feature to be able to do from a laptop on your own car, it enable fine tuning of the power band to maintain traction to have that edge over the car you are lining up with

cons- takes some more time to set up

if you are getting traction in first or second gear than this is obviously not for you, but at some point you will have too much power to maintain traction in the lower gears and that is where an ebc via pwm will give you the edge over the competition

AGAIN THIS IS NOT FOR CARS GETTING BELOW 2.0 SIXTY FEET ON STREET TIRES LOL, im sure it could definetly help though with some fine tuning , and most certainly help with boost fluctuation problems

2

Cool, I’m tuned on crome though :frowning:

3

only thing MBC has on EBC is that it wont break. other than that EBC > MBC

4

You’ve never seen a spring in an MBC break? I’ve had it happen twice, one on a Homemade one and one on an off brand MBC. I love my Hallman but with the pros of a EBC I would definitely go that route if it was a useful option for me.

5

definetly worth it to switch to demon(new neptune rtp) OR s300 just for this feature alone, let alone the other benefits

6

what is the cracking pressure of most quality manual boost controllers? i dropped my spool 800rpm adjusting the cracking pressure on my ebc.

im pretty sure solenoids cant fail in the energized position, so i dont think the failing solenoid/over-boosting issue exists if other precautions were taken into consideration.

7

Why are you adding in the sub 2.0 short times?

This could be effective with a lot of setups…and extremely useful on the street…

8

Such as tuning for a linear torque curve. :wink:

9

MBC’s are def simple and easy to setup. That’s their true advantage. But they dont offer a single performance advantage over an EBC.

Even cost is comparable. A Mac (or GM) solenoid costs $25. Even the rebadged Mac solenoids by AEM of Hondata are $100 which is still on par with most name brand MBC’s.

I dont think safety is a concern either. If a solenoid fails it will return to the default (off) position. It cant lock in its ON position. Depending on how you plumb the lines the safeguard will always be the wastegate spring if the solenoid fails. Not to mention there other safeguards you can tune to prevent overboosting.

For FWD cars, power delivery through boost control is paramount, everyone knows that. But for the AWD cars who don’t have traction problems Id still think they would want the advantages of faster spool and dynamic boost control. Maybe your torque falls off near redline, you can easily tune 1 or 2 psi more to compensate beyond your peak VE. Try doing that with an MBC as you watch boost fall with a small turbo at high rpm.

10

nope. use better quality parts :stuck_out_tongue:

11

by the time you pay for installation, its way more than 25. unless you install/setup yourself, which most ppl can’t/won’t do

12

Well nobody pays to just tune an EBC, it would be part of an overall tune.
But if your a DIY’er than MBC all the way.

13

why did the title get changed?? 60 foot times have nothing to do with ebc vs mbc???

and most solenoids sell for about 60, if you have the software to tune it, its very easy and im pretty sure anyone could set it up??

14

ya too bad his was a slowboy mbc lol, arent they supposed to be great for dsm’s??

15

ECtune hell yea:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Mafdark/1-3.jpg

^^ still no traction in second lol

16

why did u change the title to that saxon?

17

i didnt change the title

18

finally someone seeing outside the box

19

slowboy is garbage and overpriced IMO. More people are starting to find other/better shops to buy their parts from.

and i have never had a hallman MBC fail on me (used them for 5 years).

20

see how much better this thread is? :wink: thanks, and good info that will be easy for people to find :tup: carry on