A few years ago (before I bought my Evo) someone mentioned to me that boosting in cold weather is hard on a turbo. Its been subfreezing around here lately, and everyone knows how good Evos run in cold weather, so its tempting to hammer on the car whenever I can. I always wait until the engine oil is at least 60C on the stock (MR/RS) oil temp gauge before I start pushing it, but still wondering if there is any issues with boosting in cold weather after the car is fully warm. Comments anyone?

 

I don't know true facts, but I DO know that in the cold my car boosts more. So i have to crank down the boost 1 to 3 psi. But my car feels AWESOME in the cold weather. The colder the air, the better. If you're running completely stock on stock boost, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Well, it would only be bad if your turbo was extremely warm and then you shut off the engine without letting it slowly cool down becuase the extreme cold may crack it... Think of cement in a way, the reason our roads suck in the north is becuase it cracks when it changes tempatures too rapidly. I may be wrong, but im sure this is part of it.

TJ

 

I think you misunderstood "someone." I think "someone" probably said it's bad to boost when the Evo is cold...not when the weather is cold. There's absolutely nothing wrong with hammering it in cold weather - in fact, that's when it's best to do so.

 

i never heard this. the only bad thing would be to boost while your engine is cold. and for you to be boosting and then just cut the engine...you need to make sure you let the car sit for a good amount of time to let everything cool down before cutting the igniton

 

I wouldn't let the car sit - that doesn't do a good job of cooling things. I would drive out of boost for the last few minutes, then maybe sit for 30 seconds prior to shutdown. This, of course, is dependent on how hard you've been driving - a 25-min road couse sessions requires more cooldown than driving to work.

 

Enjoy the cooler temps while you can, I love driving my Evo when its colder. Just make sure you are running suitable tires since the stock Advans turn to hockey pucks at those lower temps.

 

Nope. It was at least a year before I was even considering owning an Evo. The guy was referring to a project car where he had performed a turbo conversion in the winter months and was not willing to boost until the weather warmed up. He just generically said that boosting in cold weather was not good for the turbo. Got me wondering whether a more extreme temperature difference between the turbine and the compressor might be an issue.

 

Sounds like he didn't know what he was talking about or that you didn't hear him properly. Plus, that's a turbo conversion on what sounds like a non-Evo, which is not what you have. It's not a universal thing for all turbos on all cars.

 

our 4G63 is a lot stronger than the non-turbo cars....fyi

 

My advans dont turn into hockey pucks.. The work just fine in the wet weather of the NW..

 

cold weather boost is fine....doesnt hurt your car at all...we just got snow today and it was a blast.

 

The only thing that I have noticed with cold weather is my tbe sounds a lot louder..

 

The only thing I can thing of by what he meant would be how it takes longer for the car to warm up and longer for the oil to get to the desired viscosity for the turbo. Also, it would create higher thermal stresses on the turbo with a larger change in temp when warming up and cooling down. But like someone else said, I think driving off boost for a little before shutting it off, or getting a turbo timer is more than enough to keep adverse effects minimal. I would only be worried about cold weather effects on turbo life if you plan on keeping the stock turbo for a very long time.

 

Phew, thanks for saying that. It's been pretty cold here lately, and it seems like my car's been hitting 23psi. Good to know that it's not my imagination.