sweethatch1866

Im debating weather or not i should spend the extra money for the pwm boost control on my s300. Also im told its a huge headache to tune and causes problems often. If anyone has some input it would be appreciated.

Computer_Nerd

not on a nearly stock config. since you listed no mods (other than inferred turbo) in your posting... no.

Fabrik8

This is one of those rare situations where the ECU isn't necessarily the best thing to do boost control. Actually, I should qualify that. If using something external to the ECU gives boost control than whatever is implemented in the ECU, then use something external. The ECU can deal perfectly fine with pressure and temp and will fuel the engine according to the tuning. So it really doesn't care what does the boost control. That being said, there are some small advantages to having the ECU do the boost control (like gear-specific boost settings), but all of those advantages (and more) will disappear if the ECU boost control either doesn't have good enough hardware or doesn't have proper software sophistication.

So will decent ECU-based boost control be better than a bad external boost controller? Of course.
Will a badly done ECU-based boost control be worse than a decent external boost controller? Of course.

Notice I wasn't saying anything about the S300 specifically, I'm just giving you a few of the practical considerations to help guide your own research.


A standalone electronic boost controller works the same way as the S300 does, and uses basically the same type of hardware to control the boost solenoid, so this all comes down to software sophistication and how much calibration work is already done for the tuner. That's really where any differences would show up. Obviously the extra features like gear-specific boost settings don't affect how well the hardware and software control the boost solenoid, so whether you want/need that is a separate consideration.

Like anything else, every piece of tuning electronics can be lumped into two groups:

1. Things that are really simple to tune, but don't work very well.
2. Things that are complex or time consuming to tune, but work very well once tuned.

Knowing how Hondata does things, I'm assuming the boost control software is probably pretty good (I haven't used it, so I can't say for sure). I'm sure that the S300 boost control is probably a pain in the ass to tune, but probably works very well once that's done.

So here's where my jaded opinion comes into play: I suspect that (like most other tuning) people want to take their car to the tuner for an hour or two, and have magical results and perfect bulletproof reliability. This doesn't really happen, unless the tuner can start out with a good tune from another car and only has to make very minor changes to it. So much of what you're reading probably is completely centered around people's opinions with tunes that are done in a short amount of time because that's all they wanted to pay for (dyno/tuning time isn't cheap). I'm also assuming that a lot of the opinions you've heard are probably backyard tuners who don't have much experience and don't have the proper equipment to do efficient and effective tuning. So a professional tuner may have no problems doing what a backyard tuner would really struggle with.


Talk to a tuner, and see what their experience with the S300 boost control is, and what their opinion is. That's ultimately all that matters if you're going to take the car to a tuner and have it tuned.

sweethatch1866

thanks ill give matt a call. For the others that need my complete build to answer the question its a fully build b20 vtec, 87mm bore, b16 head, ls lsd trans, full msd. gt35r turbo kit. Im not listing everything in my motor its fully built with a SLEEVED BLOCK. (i know thats the first comment ill get) When i say fully built i mean fully built, crank shaft to the throttle body to the fuel lines. Im estimation around 650hp and my biggest concern at 30psi is traction thats why im researching the pwm. Any other inputs would be great.

RameyBuilt

s300 boost control works very well if setup correct, at imports vs domestics the true street record was set by a car using hondata for boost control

Fabrik8

That's what I figured. Hondata stuff usually works just as well as anything else that the proper tuning time is put into.

sweethatch1866

I think ill go ahead and add the option. I got 10k under the hood already, whats another $200 in the floor going to hurt.lol

Fabrik8

Proper tuning is the most important thing to protect an expensive engine, so I don't think the extra $200 will hurt at all.