Wastegates
 

Can I not use a wastegate and regulate my boost with a blow off valve?

Re:Wastegates
 

You can't because the BOV just releases the pressure in the charger piping when you let go of the gas so the turbo can spool up quicker. The wastegate is used on the turbo itself. In the wastegate there is a spring that the pressure inside the turbo pushes against and when it reaches its max psi the wastegate dumps the excess flow in to the downpipe so you don't over boost.

Re:Wastegates
 

i can see how it would almost work because on cars where the bov leaks, the boost stays too low (like on a second gen eclipse) ..but the only way i see it working is with a bov that you could adjust when it would "leak"...i dont think its a good idea though man

Re:Wastegates
 

There is another problem with using a blow off valve to regulate boost. While you can do that, it would only control boost, and would not reduce the back pressure or turbine speed. No "good" way (that is also cheap) to get around a problem. You need to invest the money into a wastegate, OR you can control the boost with the throttle. (As boost gets high, back off). It works fine, just the chance of "malfunction" is a little high!
Tom

Re:Wastegates
 

some early turbo setups in books ive read use that as a method of boost control its not a good idea.

Beau