Why are BOV's so Expensive?

[tomvale13]

Ahh, well they may only be good for ppl running boost under that level then I guess..

anyone confirm?

[driftedmz20]

correct....altho you can cut spring. this will improve it.

altho if your running higher boost i would advise something a little more upmarket anyway

[ReQuieM]

lol I so CBF readding this whole thread of the whoring lol BUT I have had a genuine HKS (on the car when I got it) and a ebay copy of the SSQV and they are of comparitable quality. the diafram in the HKS was a better quality and the body was polished. Thats about it.

OH and the HKS SSQV work by pulling the valve open to vent, with the inlet presseure holding the valve shut. So if it fails in anyway it will just stal shut and not go loose and cause a boost leak. SO if you are going to get a BOV get on based on that design, rather then the spring loaded slide ones.

HTHs

[Z2TT]

I hear that the Bosch recirculating BOV's are the best. Now say if somebody were running high boost say 20+ PSI, would they be able to buy a recirculating valve that can hold that much boost, or are they forced to buy a $500 fancy BLOW OFF VALVE.

[Soarer_D00D]

Mine was one of them Trust copy purple anodised ones, i think it was from XSpower in america... Just a cheap copy.

Held 22psi no worries.

[MS-75]

There is no reason EVER to spend big money on a BOV. The only exception is if the BOV is used as boost control - but that is also an infinitely stupid idea.


There is no risk of damage if one fails to work unless massive, massive boost levels are being run - however failure results in the BOV not holding boost in practically 100% of cases anyway.

OEMs only emply BOVs for turbo durability (ie they probably extend turbo life by a few %).

[JustenGT8]

^^^ what he says bar the OEM intent. Factory BOVs are for primarily for noise supression.

Kinda ironic that boy racers want atm vented ones FOR the noise

[MS-75]

Justen - At mitsubishi the engine development team found a measurable % increase in turbo life in back to back testing - not stacks, but enough to justify their use. (info came from when I was at MMAL and a mate was involved some develoment work in Japan)

I'm sure you're right regarding noise as well though. The hoops we had to jump through with drive-by noise tests for the 380 were ridiculous!

[celicapain]

There is a pretty huge reseller mark up on the more expensive bov's as well, i got a turbosmart supersonic(which has since been plumbed back) which is normally around $400 from repco round the corner for $190cheaper than the auto-technica crappo ones they were selling. There's also v port thats been sitting there for about 2 months for $70 bucks if anyone wants a cheapy, so turbosmart at least cant be charging stupid money at a wholesale level.

[JustenGT8]

Justen - At mitsubishi the engine development team found a measurable % increase in turbo life in back to back testing - not stacks, but enough to justify their use. (info came from when I was at MMAL and a mate was involved some development work in Japan)

I'm sure you're right regarding noise as well though. The hoops we had to jump through with drive-by noise tests for the 380 were ridiculous!

Yeah i agree, just saying that the main reason is noise (i'm EPA if you recall ). Compressor surge being the culprit.

The only catastrophic failure i have seen was many years ago with a bid old school TO4 on a race car running big boost.

I would say for most enthusiasts something will change before you'd wear a turbo out from no BOV

[Norbie]

Just on that note, there are a very large number of RB30ET's and 1G-GTE's still running with no BOV fitted from the factory. And we all know how the VL boys love to dose it up bro (ie compressor surge).

FWIW I'm running a BOV because I used to pop intercooler hoses all the damn time and I got sick of it. I bought mine from a bloke on Performance Forums who was making them in his shed, cost something like $150 from memory, and it's given me more than 5 years of reliable service. Paying $500 or more for a spring-loaded piston is just retarded.

[JustenGT8]

That's interesting Norbie...about the only valid reason i can think of then for running a BOV.

Of course proper beaded pipes and good clamps would sort the issue too

[Stefan]

Hmm... I'm running a recirc and get quite a bit of noise on shifts on boost... compressor surge?

[Draven]

stefan: what sort of noise are you getting? Normal BOV noise?

My recirc BOV is, unfortunately, pretty bloody loud (which was the opposite of what I wanted )

[love ke70]

Of course proper beaded pipes and good clamps would sort the issue too

but its so much easier just to throw more money at the thing rather than spend 10 minutes putting little dobs of weld on your pipework

justen, you say your EPA, do you know the real reason for atmo vents being illegal? is it the trace amounts of oil that gets vented, so running a catch can would negate the issue, or is it a noise thing?
if its a noise thing, how much noise is acceptable? is it same as exhaust or something different?

cheers, andrew