I purchased this kit last October, a few weeks before they started closing their operation. I had it installed over the winter and have had it tuned and driving for a few weeks now. Just about to tick over 1k miles on the set up so far with a big rally coming up in 3 weeks.

This is my first turbo car, and installation so I set a goal to keep the HP low between 360-380 to get used to everything and work any bugs out. Plans are in the works to do a mild build and plant it at 450 and call it good. So far the car is really fun, and it will just get better.

Parts
Momentum ST kit - Black wrinkle finish
Momentum single exhaust (with an additional resonator to bring the noise down)
Automotive 340 pump with a CJM stage 0 return kit
Uprev GT MAF
DW 600 injectors
AAM oil pan and throttle body spacers
Synapse BOV
PLX DM 100 gauges and appropriate sensors.
All hot pipes are heat wrapped and a turbo blanket is on.


Some Pics





Video of some tuning sessions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG2JxmPnwJI

 

Great to see another one of the few remaining MTM kits out there.
I've had my built block and MTM on my G for several months now.

Curious why you swapped out the Tial BOV for the Synapse unit?

 

nice numbers, enjoy the ride, looks super clean

 

When I pay off my car Im strapping on one of these babies. If I can still find em in 3 years :/

 

Awesome. So you did get another tune or is that the stock Momentum tune?

 

nice. where did you get the install and tuning done? and which part of New England are you from?

 

I live in sothern maine, and had the kit installed at Synaptic 3 in candia NH. The tune is a custom tune by Alex at Granite state dyno in Kingston NH. He had previously tuned my car when it w as NA. I have the uprev tuner kit so i did not use the momentum tune.

I swapped out the Tial based on some advice I had recieved about performance.

 

amount of boost?

 

Glad you ditched the momentum tune. Congrats.

 

It is the standard spring, so around 8-9 depends on when I glance at the guage. It had more in it, but I wanted to keep it where it is on purpose.

Thanks, it only makes sense when I have a friend who is a top of the line tuner, and an uprev pro tuner.

 

Good to see... congrats.

 

Good stuff.

 

nice dyno and car.

i'm curious about this "advice" on performance of a synapse verses one of the most reliable and best performing BOV's on the market. How can one out perform another? it either vents or it doesn't. If the tiAl isn't working then the person installing it probably has the wrong spring in it.

The complexity of the parts on a synapse bov make it a higher candidate to fail sooner than the tiAl, truthfully.

 

I never said it was good advice, and not the only thing I would do differently if I knew then what I know now. The Tial was never even mounted, synapse is the brand the shop hangs their hat on. I listened to them due to their first hand experience building cars vs my knowledge from just reading about parts, and they made some choices that be benifited themselves over me.

I have it and it works for the time being, so I chalk it up as a learning experience.

 

well i'd like to know what they think makes it superior. everyone has their opinion so maybe they know something i haven't heard of since they use them so much.

not that i'm saying your shop is this way but quite a few shops get deals from certain vendors and make more money on specific products. That drives a lot of decisions to use parts in this industry. Since they make more money on a product they use it more often and tend to make up myths about other products being inferior so they can sell their product. If someone is selling me a product i generally take what they say with a grain of salt. I ask people that have nothing to gain from telling me their opinion.

 

I was considering trying out the Synapse DV in an attempt to find a quieter option than my 50mm Tial. I was gettin that light load flutter sound. Some like it , but I do not. Before I pulled the trigger on the Synapse, I decided that maybe following the "TIAL recommendations to the letter" would be a good idea. . Replaced the vac line from 3/16 to 1/4 and "un tee-d" it. I made a 3/8ths tee from the brake boost port on the plenum just for the booster and the TIAL. Long story short , no more flutter just a single PSSHH..
So I'm stickin with the TIAL.
AlsoI never have seen any boost leak issues below 20psi, nor would I expect it at any reasonable on a VQ.

No doubt the Syanpse responds much faster than the TIAL, and is a novel approach,but the TIAL (and following vac line instruction) worked great for me.

 

also the spring has to be the correct pressure. It needs to be matched to the amount of vac the engine pulls. I've never had any flutter and mine is quite as can be. I had to order a different spring due to my built engine having a different vac load at idle than stock. People that have problems don't set them up correctly and they will probably have the same problems with any BOV they use since they won't be setting those up properly either.

 

No you are probably spot on. I have been friends with the owners for a good number of years, and have purchased other parts through them. This was the first project with them where I was slightly out of my knowledge base and I assumed they would treat me right because of past history. There is a lot more to my build that I have not brought up because its over, the car runs and ultimately I am happy with it, I won't be going back anytime soon though.

Knowing what I know now I would have done things differently and handled the whole thing better. Aside from things I can't do at home, this is first major shop project I have gone through. So no need to beat me up on what could or should have been, because it is what it is and it works.

 

i think the dual chambers like the hks ssqv allowing it to perform properly at all boost levels is the advantage. granted at the op's level it wont be a issue, but ive heard several times that you cant get everything with the tials, you can get optimum low boost performance and then at high boost it opens or leaks when it shouldnt, or you get optimum high boost performance but then it simply dosnt open at low boost. or middle ground that sorta works but ends up running into issues at both really high boost and really low.

i know this is why i went with the hks option with sasha, granted the synapse one cannot be compared it is a vastly better unit then the hks ive been considering ordering one and selling my hks to be honest. ive never heard of anyone having a issue with the synapse, not saying anything bad about tial i still use a tial wastegate but there are options that are just as good depending on end goals. but again i dont think the quality of the synapse is any better then the tial, or the other way around i think they are about equal.

op i really do love the black crinkle finish