So I just recently bypassed my cycling valve....I'm only running an LBE on the banjo bolt.

I have an aftermarket boost gauge as well as wideband o2 running on the car, and I am watching both VERY carefully.

in 2nd gear I'll see 14-16psi
3rd get's in to the scary 16+'s

no matter what I'm running <12:1 a/f when >5 psi (I have known I had screwed up chips for some time now :-))

1) Could someone go into some detail about boost spikes....

I notice the boost builds a whole lot quicker...but I don't think I see any "spikes"...first of all, I would think these spikes would be when you let off the throttle...because that's the only time you would see a difference when removing the cycling valve

i.e....if the LBE doesn't open till 10-12psi in the first place....the beginning of the boost would be any different anyways

2) When I slowly apply throttle, I stay at ~14:1 a/f until I get to about 6psi...seems a bit late. However if at any time I slam the gas to the floor, a/f instantly pops to about 11:1. I imagine that right there is a chip issue???

Basically I'm trying to figure out if the stock o2 sensor (which I left in...wbo2 is a totally standalone setup) is bad and needs to be replaced along with the chips

When you do mid throttle - partial load stuff....that uses the o2 sensor along with the fuel maps...and when you do full thottle, it uses the fuel maps alone, right???

3) And to put 1 and 2 together....I imagine my limiting factor is timing? It seems no matter what boost I go to...I always have <12:1 a/f. I assume at some point I will start knocking because of the higher than normal pressure?

 

You should have some kind of boost control mechanism in addition to the boost enhancer to regulate boost. If you have bypassed the cv then you may can add a manual boost controller for little $$.

Boost spikes that I have experienced in the past occurred as boost built up after going WOT. The spikes were basically an overshoot of the intended boost level. For instance in my case I had a manual boost controller set to deliver 17 PSI and when boost first came on it would go momentarily to 18 PSI then remain stable at 17 PSI until the stock wastegate spring allowed the boost to start bleeding off at higher RPM.

You are correct in that the chips utilise different fuel maps for WOT and part throttle. The point at which the changeover occurs depends to a degree on how aggressively you are using the throttle. Hence the circumstances you see in your point 2.

You may reach a point where timing is your limiting factor but that will depend on your level of boost and AF curves. All three need to be addressed together particularly once you start making significant changes to your setup.

 

get the GURU chip package which will come with the reliaboost controller.

 

yeah I was thinking I really should do that giving that these current chips give a fuel map @ WOT of RICH RICH RICH for all points :-)