I know this is an SVT forum, but we all know you guys are geniuses, so maybe you can help me with some questions I have about my buddies Dodge Dart 1.4l Turbo.
About a month ago, my friend bought a 2013 Dodge Dart and he's really enjoyed the car right up until he started getting involved in some Dodge Dart forums. Now all of a sudden, he's gone from "my car is awesome" to "wow, yeah, these guys are right - it is kind of slug around town". I concur. I test drove it and it is an absolute dog trying to accelerate - but I sort of just wrote it off as being the result of a little engine with massive turbo lag.
Anyways, he was telling me that a bunch of the guys on this forum he joined were just slightly increasing the boost and that they were getting amazing results, and of course, he just has to do this, too. From what he was telling me, these other guys are preloading the waste gate typically with an adjustment of 5-6mm, but that a few have been going 10-12 without issues. I know absolutely nothing about those cars and their limitations, so I said as long as he understood the risks I'd adjust it for him, but I said I only really felt comfortable adjusting it 4mm to be on the conservative side of what all of these people are saying and see how it feels and make sure we didn't get any detonation, then he could drive it for awhile and decide from there about further adjustment. I also reminded him that it was going to be his check book getting raped if something happened and warranty was voided.
We made the adjustment, and I'll be honest, it really did make a significant difference. It was originally only adjusted 1.5 turns (1.5mm) from 0. Obviously, the thing isn't an absolute beast, but it does just drive better, especially when just trying to get up to speed from a stop light. Of course, now that it made that significant difference, he's contemplating bumping it up further - but I've declined to assist in that matter and said he just better be careful now that he's watched me do it. I'm not sure what he'll do, but let's be honest, the crew here at SVTP is far superior when it comes to technical information so I want to see what he's getting himself into and verify that the information he's receiving from the Dodge Dart forums is legit.
The problem I've noticed over there is that a lot of these individuals have found out how easy it is to increase the boost, are cranking it up, and then as long as it feels faster, drives better, and most importantly to them doesn't throw a CEL, they assume all is perfect. I'm not so convinced. If I'm understanding them correctly, they're saying he stock boost is about 15lbs, but many of them are "safely" jumping up to 22lbs just buy making a 12mm adjustment. That seems excessive to me and while it might not be throwing any codes, just screams longevity issues. Adding fuel to the fire is that there is absolutely nothing I can find in regards to data logging that these owners have done. He doesn't have a boost gauge, so I'm not sure how much we added aside from knowing that 4mm is below the average of what all these other owners he's talking to our doing. All I know is that we noticeably reduced lag to a point that I didn't want to beat the car up while trying to accelerate. With as high as some of these kids are increasing it too and still retaining that it is "safe", I'm thinking surely Dodge wouldn't just leave that much on the table. That said, you look at the 03-04 Cobras and it's pretty crazy what a simple pulley swap and tune will do, so considering all the emissions standards and reliability standards, I can imagine there is at least a small amount of improvement to be made. Apparently, some of the guys there are saying that the 2014s are shipping from the factory preloaded with a 10mm of adjustment off of zero, so they're making the assumption they can do the same, but I have a feeling that there's more to it than just more preload and I'm inclined to believe it might not even be the same turbo assembly.
I guess, all I want to make sure is that the 4mm adjustment I made that has made his car more responsive is safe. I mean, initially I'm thinking if all these other people are going 6-8 without issues for several months, our 4mm adjustment should be perfectly fine, but hindsight is 20/20.
On one hand, I think his car drives perfectly fine now, but I'm sympathetic to how he feels about having all this "untapped potential", and so if we can further improve drivability, throttle response, and maybe even pick up some additional passing power for the high ways then I suppose I can support him in wanting to adjust it further. That said, I'm also curious to see if preloading being so low from the factory was really, as some of the Dodge Dart owners are saying, an engineering oversight that was changed or if there is a reason it is preloaded so low.
Thanks
About a month ago, my friend bought a 2013 Dodge Dart and he's really enjoyed the car right up until he started getting involved in some Dodge Dart forums. Now all of a sudden, he's gone from "my car is awesome" to "wow, yeah, these guys are right - it is kind of slug around town". I concur. I test drove it and it is an absolute dog trying to accelerate - but I sort of just wrote it off as being the result of a little engine with massive turbo lag.
Anyways, he was telling me that a bunch of the guys on this forum he joined were just slightly increasing the boost and that they were getting amazing results, and of course, he just has to do this, too. From what he was telling me, these other guys are preloading the waste gate typically with an adjustment of 5-6mm, but that a few have been going 10-12 without issues. I know absolutely nothing about those cars and their limitations, so I said as long as he understood the risks I'd adjust it for him, but I said I only really felt comfortable adjusting it 4mm to be on the conservative side of what all of these people are saying and see how it feels and make sure we didn't get any detonation, then he could drive it for awhile and decide from there about further adjustment. I also reminded him that it was going to be his check book getting raped if something happened and warranty was voided.
We made the adjustment, and I'll be honest, it really did make a significant difference. It was originally only adjusted 1.5 turns (1.5mm) from 0. Obviously, the thing isn't an absolute beast, but it does just drive better, especially when just trying to get up to speed from a stop light. Of course, now that it made that significant difference, he's contemplating bumping it up further - but I've declined to assist in that matter and said he just better be careful now that he's watched me do it. I'm not sure what he'll do, but let's be honest, the crew here at SVTP is far superior when it comes to technical information so I want to see what he's getting himself into and verify that the information he's receiving from the Dodge Dart forums is legit.
The problem I've noticed over there is that a lot of these individuals have found out how easy it is to increase the boost, are cranking it up, and then as long as it feels faster, drives better, and most importantly to them doesn't throw a CEL, they assume all is perfect. I'm not so convinced. If I'm understanding them correctly, they're saying he stock boost is about 15lbs, but many of them are "safely" jumping up to 22lbs just buy making a 12mm adjustment. That seems excessive to me and while it might not be throwing any codes, just screams longevity issues. Adding fuel to the fire is that there is absolutely nothing I can find in regards to data logging that these owners have done. He doesn't have a boost gauge, so I'm not sure how much we added aside from knowing that 4mm is below the average of what all these other owners he's talking to our doing. All I know is that we noticeably reduced lag to a point that I didn't want to beat the car up while trying to accelerate. With as high as some of these kids are increasing it too and still retaining that it is "safe", I'm thinking surely Dodge wouldn't just leave that much on the table. That said, you look at the 03-04 Cobras and it's pretty crazy what a simple pulley swap and tune will do, so considering all the emissions standards and reliability standards, I can imagine there is at least a small amount of improvement to be made. Apparently, some of the guys there are saying that the 2014s are shipping from the factory preloaded with a 10mm of adjustment off of zero, so they're making the assumption they can do the same, but I have a feeling that there's more to it than just more preload and I'm inclined to believe it might not even be the same turbo assembly.
I guess, all I want to make sure is that the 4mm adjustment I made that has made his car more responsive is safe. I mean, initially I'm thinking if all these other people are going 6-8 without issues for several months, our 4mm adjustment should be perfectly fine, but hindsight is 20/20.
On one hand, I think his car drives perfectly fine now, but I'm sympathetic to how he feels about having all this "untapped potential", and so if we can further improve drivability, throttle response, and maybe even pick up some additional passing power for the high ways then I suppose I can support him in wanting to adjust it further. That said, I'm also curious to see if preloading being so low from the factory was really, as some of the Dodge Dart owners are saying, an engineering oversight that was changed or if there is a reason it is preloaded so low.
Thanks
Last edited:
