Air is thicker when it is cold !
Air expands when it is hot !
The biggest enemy of turbo engines is hot and dry air.
The humid air actually inhibits detonation since it is a bit like injecting water…
You should see more boost in cold weather than in hot weather.
I guess that also your ignition went backwards so the ECU is using a safer map because of the heat.
I used to see on my WRX that had 16 maps as standard. If after a hard drive I would stop the car without lifting the hood and started it again after a few minutes the ECU would go to a very conservative map. If I kept the hood open and let the Intercooler cool down before driving again the ECU would stay on the same map !

 

nah man I think you got it a little mixed up.. Air is denser when its cold, and less dense when its hot.


I guess what my question is - can this heat affect how well my turbo is spooling? I'm seeing only 1.2 bar of boost when on an '05 I used to see 1.5 bar...



^^ You think my maps are changing to deal with the hot weather? Anyone else with some experience in this chime in? That sounds like it could be the problem but I wouldn't expect 100+ degree weather outside to mess too much with an engine that runs hotter than that... Thoughts?

 

You will not see boost loss that great due to wether in any case. It might be 1 psi less or so, but not 4-5 like you said.If you think with 1.2 >> 1 PSI your car is still faster than your 8 with 1.5 Bar, then you need to see if your gauge work right. 1.2 droping to 1 PSi will not feel fst at all comparing to 1.5. ( I dynoed mine few years back 12 PSI 215 WHP; 21PSI (~1.5 Bar) 340WHP)

 

Hmm i suspect the gauge must not be working correctly then... I dont hear anything that sounds like a leak (i.e. no whistling, or pshhh noises) so I might just accept that the boost gauge is off and im not losing any power somewhere.

Hopefully thats just all it is..




edit:

just went for a drive... if I floor it from 1,000 RPM the MAXIMUM boost I saw was 1.3 Maybe I'm just crazy and nobodies 9's are hitting 1.5 bar? (21psi). I know my '05 did, and my 9 feels just a little faster than my '05.

 

If it's a small leak, you won't really hear anything like that because the sound of the exaust will cover it. The ONLY true way to tell is to make a boost leak tester and pressurize the system.


If you read my posts above, I hit 21psi and then tapers off if I go WOT from under 3500rpms.
I only hit 16 or so if I go WOT from higher rpms.

I have a boost leak tester already made I can let you borrow. You pay shipping to and fro.

 

sounds like i need to do a boost leak test, just installed gauge,around 18psi peak,drops to 15, then tapers off slightly to 13-14up top around 5600-redline.