Just for clarity, this post relates to the IPD Heavy Duty Turbo Control Valve (TCV) as a direct replacement for the standard fitment Pierburg TCV on a 2001 Phase 2 V70 T5 running an off-the-shelf remap. I know people have posted on this before, but here’s my two pennies-worth anyways, for those who may be interested.
I’ve seen a deterioration in boost control on previous Pierburg units causing what I’d refer to as noticeable drivability issues which do not necessarily log error codes; such as spiking (WOT) and intermittent boost (part throttle).
These symptoms were much improved on two occasions with the installation of a new Pierburg TCV but having read about the benefits of the IPD unit in terms of its ability to control boost levels more effectively and its general robustness, allied to the and the fact that I’d recently had to replace a standard TCV after only 15 months, I was keen to install a dedicated aftermarket product for a relative test.
I sourced the product direct from IPDUSA.com and with import duty applied, the final cost was around £80 so it wasn’t a particularly cheap experiment (!) but as a remaining grumble on the car I felt it was worth pursuing.
Installation is pretty straight forward, all the unions are colour coded and the electrical connector is fully compatible with the harness so from that point of view its plug and play. The bracket to attach the TCV onto the airbox is pretty basic though and was a bit of a faff to adjust for a good fit (in-fact that probably accounted for half of the 20 minutes it took to fit) and is not as convincing as the plastic clip on the Pierburg unit. Overall though, it’s a tidy robust unit which can, apparently, be dissembled for cleaning.
The documentation recommends a certain procedure to ensure the ECU adapts to the TCV for best performance. This involves building boost to about half of maximum and holding that for 5-7 seconds before backing off and decelerating to 30 MPH before repeating the process a few times, then parking, switching off and letting the ECU learn. I have to say that I struggled to find a road which would let me follow this procedure to the letter as selecting the right gear and throttle setting whilst staying within the speed limit and not annoying other road users is all but impossible. Still I managed to run through the main part of the procedure a number of times and could feel things improving after each iteration.
So, what difference has it made and was it worth it? Well, for part throttle it’s a definite thumbs up – it seems to be able to hold the boost pressure more effectively now and doesn’t drop the pressure off so dramatically when you blend out of the throttle. At WOT I can now feel the car pulling smoothly and the tendency to spike has been diminished, if not entirely eliminated. Overall, the car is more consistent and predictable to drive, particularly in terms of throttle response, which makes a big difference to me personally. Although there are no specific disassembly and cleaning instructions on line as yet, I'll certainly be interested in having a go at that after a year or so of running, which may confirm the hypothesis about clogging.
As for whether or not it’s something others may wish to consider – certainly if you’re happy that you don’t have any TCV related boost control issues then it’s probably not to be thought of as an ‘upgrade’. However, if for whatever reason you’re in the market for a new TCV and can afford the extra 40 odd quid and 7-10 days shipment then yes, I think it does warrant serious consideration - it is likely to give you a noticeable improvement and may even save you the cost of another failed unit in the future.
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