CAMTuning tests the Grimmspeed Electronic Boost Control Solenoid For EVO

[06rexwagon]

I had the opportunity to test the 3 port solenoid from Grimmspeed yesterday. I installed it on a low mileage 06 EVO 9 with a turbo back exhaust and stock airbox. The car already had a Cobb AP and was running the OTS stage 2 map. It was only making about 17psi on that map and the stock solenoid.

A little background about CAMTuning: We tune a LOT of Subarus. We usually tune 20 -30 Subies for every EVO we put on the dyno. 3 port solenoids are very popular in the Subaru crowd so I have a good idea of how they perform and how to tune for them.

Install was straight forward: The airbox and air intake tube were removed for easier access. The stock solenoid uses 2 10mm bolts to hold it to the car under the air box. The Grimmspeed bracket only uses 1 of these bolts but fits securely. You remove the stock lines completely and use some new 5/32" vacuum line to connect it.
For an internally gated turbo:
Port 1: back to stock vent line into the inlet
Port 2: wastegate actuator
Port 3: boost signal

On the dyno, I zeroed the WGDC tables and did a pull. The car made ~240whp at 12psi. Within the next 4 pulls the boost was where I wanted it. I set up 2 maps- one for 20psi and one for 22.5psi. The owner is interested in pushing the car hard at all. This is on 91 octane. My final wgdc tables looked like this:

0 0 22 43 54 54 54 54 54 55 55 57 59 61 63 65

Since WGDC is only 65% at it's highest I'm confident I could have easily pushed 27-28psi on this solenoid, even more. Hopefully he'll be getting some injectors soon and we'll see what it will do on E85.

Tuning in realtime on the AP made it really quick to get the boost dialed in. You can see in the dyno chart that boost is very solid. We have a hard time holding a lot of boost to redline at our elevation, even with a MBC. We're at 5400'.

Dyno results:




Not bad for an hour on the dyno. Thanks to Justin at Grimmspeed for sending the solenoid for testing.

Disclaimer:
I didn't receive anything for testing this. Justin knows me because I tune a lot of Subarus and Grimmspeed is huge in the Subaru community. He sent me the solenoid and asked me to test it. That's what I did.

[DBallz]

I said it before I'll say it again thanks for this review I will purchasing this solenoid.

[dancarroll0283]

Nice CAM!! Great Job. I've worked with Camtuning many times and have always been pleased with the results!

[GrimmSpeed]

Awesome results for a stage 2 car. We're pretty pumped to see how the evo world resonds to this!

Mike

[RallySport Direct]

GrimmSpeed Rules!!!!

[GST Motorsports]

So it works like any other 3 port from your description. Well, at least we have more options now.

- Bryan

[DBallz]

Originally Posted by GST Motorsports

So it works like any other 3 port from your description. Well, at least we have more options now.

- Bryan

I'm happy I found it and brought it to our attentions. I'm really looking forward to getting this and put it in the car. I really want to try and tune holding 28psi straight to redline

[D-VO]

It's a nice looking piece that fits very snuggly on the frame. Another nice plus is that the ports and solenoid itself are all metal(anodized???). The ticking noise it produces freaked me out at first(thought it was the lifters again), but then I remembered that the solenoid for my AVC-R does the same thing, so no worries. So far, I was able to attain a nice stretch of 32psi, but...

Lets talk about boost taper. Looking at the graphs given, its easy to see that the boost is not holding solid. I'm trying to hold 32psi solid (or at least close to it), but it doesn't look like its going to happen. I've got the WGDC set to 127.5% from 5000rpm to 7500, and I'm only holding 32psi upto 5200prm then it drops to 21 psi by 7500rpm. I'd like to hear from anyone who was able to hold a nice solid boost rate without taper.

[maperformance]

Originally Posted by D-VO

It's a nice looking piece that fits very snuggly on the frame. Another nice plus is that the ports and solenoid itself are all metal(anodized???). The ticking noise it produces freaked me out at first(thought it was the lifters again), but then I remembered that the solenoid for my AVC-R does the same thing, so no worries. So far, I was able to attain a nice stretch of 32psi, but...

Lets talk about boost taper. Looking at the graphs given, its easy to see that the boost is not holding solid. I'm trying to hold 32psi solid (or at least close to it), but it doesn't look like its going to happen. I've got the WGDC set to 127.5% from 5000rpm to 7500, and I'm only holding 32psi upto 5200prm then it drops to 21 psi by 7500rpm. I'd like to hear from anyone who was able to hold a nice solid boost rate without taper.

If you are running the FP Red or bigger, like a GT35R, you will have no problem at all with the GrimmSpeed unit at the 32 psi level.

[scheides]

Originally Posted by gst motorsports

so it works like any other 3 port from your description. Well, at least we have more options now.

- bryan

+1

[D-VO]

Originally Posted by maperformance

If you are running the FP Red or bigger, like a GT35R, you will have no problem at all with the GrimmSpeed unit at the 32 psi level.

OK. Well that's good. We're planning on running an FP Black when it comes out. In the meantime, I'll keep trying.

[turbodoug]

Do you happen to know the solenoid frequency?

Thanks,
Doug

[DBallz]

Well my buddy loves his GrimmSpeed I have one on the way and I should have it on Monday and possible installed and tuned on Sat.

[D-VO]

Hey guys. I just wanted to let everyone know that I finally got the solenoid to hold 30 psi solid to 7500RPM with a factory EVO 8 turbo. Thanks.

[mrdevo]

Did you continue to make good power or was heat an issue?