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Diesel Army was first to break the news of Turbosmart’s new boost controller being debuted at the PRI show. So, you better believe we headed straight over to their both to get the skinny on what it actually is because the guys over had been pretty tight lipped leading up to the show.
If a boost controller isn’t something you are familiar with, don’t worry. Many diesel guys haven’t heard of them. Oddly enough, a boost controller is actually something that most people in the aftermarket are already running, but calling it an air pressure regulator (usually connected inline with air pressure feeding the top of a wastegate). Anything that regulates the wastegate is basically a boost controller. Most people control their wastegate with air pressure regulators that send “X” amount of air to the wastegate to open it.
(Left) Turbosmart was able to upgrade the unit to handle the higher pressure and yet keep it in a small package. This will make it easy to mount and use. (Right) This is the original e-Boost2 controller which is a great controller, but isn't capable of handling the high boost pressures that competition diesels can make.
An electronic controller is much more precise and more stable. Not only do they regulate the boost pressure by actually monitoring it, but most are programmable. So, you can have different boost pressures in different gears, on the street vs. strip, boost levels can come in by time, there are a ton of different ways that a boost controller can be set to work. The beautiful thing about an electronic controller is that a standard 40 psi actuator can be used to control a gate at over 100 psi because the air is being electronically regulated going to the actuator. No longer do you have to put a hole in the line trying to bleed off pressure to make something work. It is just simply designed to work!
“We are excited to introduce an electronic boost controller that’s been designed with the diesel performance market in mind. Our well-designed 6 stage electronic controller will bring diesel performance…be it racing, pulling, or towing, another step forward,” said Kirstin Stone, Marketing Manager Turbosmart USA.
The upgraded pushlock fitting on the back of the head unit is ideal for high boost systems.
Most electronic boost controllers on the market aren’t designed for high boost levels. They are built and designed around the high performance gas/methanol turbocharger vehicles that may run 30 or 40 psi of boost. While this is high, when it comes to a performance diesel application, most vehicles don’t run that low. For competition vehicles boost levels usually start at around 45 psi and run well over 100 psi. The new boost controller from Turbosmart is able to handle most applications, thanks to its 120 psi maximum range.
