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Eric Hsu posted on December 28, 2010 00:40 
When we changed turbos on the Sierra Sierra EVO to the BorgWarner EFR, we took the opportunity to test out some Turbosmart Comp-Gate40 wastegates. It wasn't too much work to make the change from the TiAL MV-S since the Comp-Gate40 is a direct retrofit with the MV-S. There are some minor differences as far as fitting threads go (see below), but if you are using rubber hose for your pressure connections, the Comp-Gate40 is a 100% retrofit to the MV-S.
The decision was made to switch over to Turbosmart components at Sierra Sierra because 1) TS offered a high quality product that performed well in testing, 2) TS offered a better support program for the EVO and 3) a valve guide material issue with the early MV-S wastegates caused Sierra Sierra to be slightly concerned. TiAL did fix the problem immediately for SSE and we never had a failure again, but the Turbosmart Comp-Gate40 did offer some additional useable features. I should mention here that I currently use both TiAL and Turbosmart wastegates just like I use both Garrett and BorgWarner EFR turbochargers. By writing praise about the BW EFR turbos and Turbosmart Comp-Gate40 wastegates, I'm not saying that I dislike Garrett turbos and TiAL wastegates. In fact, I just used a TiAL MV-S wastegate and Garrett GT30 turbo combination without a hitch on the BMC Tool Racing Panoz DP-02 at the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill race. There's plenty of space in the marketplace for multiple brands of quality products. I think the competition needs to stick together. The enemies are the legions of factories cranking out poor quality copies in China.
Aside from some of the trick features of the Comp-Gate40 I discuss below, it has all of the good features you would expect from a quality wastegate: cast stainless body, anodized hat and base, stainless heat shield to protect the diaphragm, a ultra high lift diaphragm, cast stainless body clamps, stainless weld flanges, stainless hardware, etc. Turbosmart is big on Rotary engines in Australia and turbo rotaries can produce exhaust gas temperatures near 1900 degrees F in some instances. How's that for product testing? Anyhow, here are some of the trick features.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 5:56 AM
I read something interesting the other day regarding the quality of Chinese manufacturing. They copied the engine used in the Su-33 for use in their J-11B, which is itself a copy of the Su-33. The Russian build engines last 400hrs between overhauls (not sure if major-core replacement-or minor). The best the Chinese can muster is 30hrs between rebuilds. And that's utilizing their best manufacturing capabilities. I don't want to imagine what kind of garbage they use for knock-off car parts.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 8:27 AM
@czubaka: That sounds about right to me. Do you have a source for that info?
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 9:26 AM
Likewise I know there are some chainsaws that have a design life of 50 hours. Some old Roman coined the phrase: "Caveat Emptor" Let the buyer beware) to cover their garbage. I would suppose there is some good Chinese production, but when the Japanese started making things after WWII they gained a reputation for cheap cr@p. I guess it's a evolutionary thing.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 1:19 PM
@ season, read about W. E. Demming if you are curious about japan and their road to manufacturing success. He's an interesting dude, and many say he was very instrumental in helping the Japanese to build quality into their manufacturing processes. http://www.tpmonline.com/articles_on_total_productive_maintenance/management/deming14steps.htm
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 4:40 PM
You mentioned the TS and Tial wastegates. Has anyone used a Synapse unit? I have one I picked up brand new on the cheap that I plan to use on my ongoing project. It seems really large, but everything else about it seems just a little better than other wastegate offerings. My only complaint is its enormous size, so packaging is not going to be easy in most applications.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 9:01 PM
Damn, these wastegates sound positively epic! Gonna have to try and convince my friend Landon to get a couple of these and an EFR twinscroll for his 13B-powered Spitfire that I'm helping him build. Get some GT6 rear suspension in there (Grassroots Motorsports did that on their "Ro-Spit" and got a full 3" of extra suspension travel [1.5"->3.5"] apparently), maybe some underbody aero, and some good brakes, and go-a road racing ;). Gotta find me some diagrams of said Spitfire so I can put my training in parametric solid modelling to good use.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 11:22 PM
czubaka: Holy shit the Chinaman's desire to copy and rip off intellectual property knows no bounds. Reading the Wikipedia page on the J-11, the Chinese had a $2.5 billion dollar contract with the Russian company Sukhoi to supply J-11 components so Shenyang could assemble the J-11 which was a replica Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet. The Chinese stopped the order at 100 jets because they COPIED the J-11 and created the J-11B. Then they turned around and lied to Sukhoi saying that the avionics were outdated. I cannot believe how lame the Chinese are copying fighter jets and jet turbine engines. I'd hate to be the test pilot, but then again human life probably doesn't mean as much when there's 1.33 billion people. The Wikipedia artlicle also mentions that the Chinese engines only last a measly 30 hours. Imagine how long your Chinese fake ass wastegate's going to last. Wikipedia Article on the J-11 and subsequent copies Djdare: thanks for the link. Demming sounds like a smart man. jeffball610: I have not used a Synapse unit although the designer of the Synapse, Peter, is a smart guy so I'm sure they are good wastegates. He might chime in here very soon with a virtual thumbs down for diaphragms.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 10:16 AM
I will say that there are many companies here in the US that are helping create this Chinese piracy influx. These american companies ask them to do it and provide specifications and samples. They need to STOP as it will only hurt their own survival in the long run. I have no problem competing with anyone, but these poor attempts at duplication, manufacturing and selling products under another name is just simply criminal and supporting this by knowingly buying these products is just as criminal in my mind. Also - material and laminate technology has come a long way. There is a reason why there is still somewhat of a diaphragm in our gates (its more of a hybrid piston/diaphragm if you ask me, where only 30% of the surafce area is actually diaphragm). It still provides the smoothest, most consistent, and reliable control of the valve. If there was a better way, we would be doing it (and we are ALWAYS looking for better ways).
 
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