Hi Craig, PRV and boost gauge, two cheap, easy mods, and probably the most popular next to chipping. I'm not mechanically minded, but managed to fit both myself from asking questions on the fccuk forum. Anyway, I'll impart my wisdom...
Boost gauge - Gotta be the first mod on the coupe, or any turbocharged engine for that matter! Easy to fit, although finding a way for the hose through the bulkhead can be a pain. See the circle (1) for the correct location to tap into a boost hose:
It's a "goal post" shaped hose, mine is Samco hosing as the original hose had a split. It should be black on your coupe. Just slice it in two with a sharp knife and add the T-Piece you get with your boost gauge. I then ran the hose through to the right hand side of the bonnet and then through the bulkhead, there's a way in that's used for wires etc. (See 2) You need to fit a boost gauge
before the PRV, obviously!
PRV - Pressure relief valve, you probably know what one does, very simply it's usually a copper housing with nothing more than a ball bearing and spring inside, by turning the gnurled dial you can set boost, usually from base boost to about 1.3 bar although they do vary. Bypasses the ECU controlled EBV or electrical bleed valve, which has it's drawbacks as it removes certain safety features such as the limp home mode which cuts boost if the ECU detects a problem.
However the plus is instant boost! and a big advantage is no spiking or overboost which over time can temporarily wear your engine. Your coupe will feel faster but you have to be careful with your right foot, there's no boost limit in first and second like with the EBV and it's easy to spin 'em if you are not careful. You just have to adapt your driving style for the PRV and you won't look back. I tried my EBV again after running the PRV and the car just felt lethargic
Easy to fit, you just find the EBV which looks like a little dalek, it lurks by the front of the battery tray and will have a hose on the top of it and two pipes underneath. You'll need to remove the intercooler piping to get to it properly. See no. 3 in pic for rough location. You unplug the two pipes from the underneath of the EBV, they will have a red and blue bit of tape round them. You connect the red to the Right hand (straight) side of the PRV and the blue hose to the other (bent) side. I'm not 100% sure which is which TBH but I can find out easily if you need to know. After you have connected the two pipes to the PRV, block off the two holes in the EBV with a short piece of hose.
I then cable tied my PRV to the original EBV so it doesn't go walkies. Now take her for a spin and check what boost you are seeing with your swanky new Boost gauge. It's easy to adjust the boost by turning the bolt on the PRV one way or the other. When you have found the boost you are happy with, there is a securing thread on the PRV to make sure it stays in that position. I wouldn't recommend running more than 1.2 bar on the standard turbo and intercooler however. I run 1.2 and it's nice
PM Cosmograph on the FCCUK forum for the Armval PRV that 99% of the forumer's use, it's a quality PRV and I recommend it. I think they are £22 delivered or thereabouts.
http://www.fccuk.org/forum/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=85&page=2&what=showmembers
I'd suggest getting the fueling checked out before upping the boost, if you are running a bit lean now, more boost may cause damage. Also I would fit a G-Tech chip at the same time as the PRV, this increases the fueling to cope with the extra boost. And it's the best £35 you'll ever spend :devil: looking at a good 20BHP increas with this mod. GrahamL is not yet on the new forum, but here's his ebay profile. Contact him, say Pinin prestatyn sent you and are looking at a G-Tech 1 I'm sure he'll sort you out.
http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=traumax&iid=
Err I think that's it sorry if that's more information than you wanted
Well I hope I have been helpful.