As you're probably aware, I've done all three methods, I've run a boost can, I've calibrated a turbo controller using an Arduino (admittedly with custom code...) and I've enabled and calibrated VNT control on EDC15C2, so in that respect, I feel I speak from a position of experience on this one.
With all that said, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but you said yourself with "With how much I play, chop and change bits" - for anyone trying to calibrate the turbo control, it is a nightmare! It's incredibly time consuming as it is and things being played with around you is just not possible - a lot of inexperienced guys will have problems calibrating the turbo control in the stock application simply after a remap, let alone calibrating it completely from scratch, then someone adjusts the vane stop or the rod length not thinking of the consequences and the entire thing has to be adjusted again - I've been there and done it. People expect this sorta thing to be "plug and play", they're just not because nobody uses the same configuration, everyone uses different actuator brackets, everyone wants to use xyz due to packaging constraints, so nothing is ever the same. The ones I've done have required a MASSIVE amount of work in all respects, now, admittedly, most of the ones I've done have been huge projects anyway (read: engine combinations that never existed from the factory etc...), let alone the turbo control, but even the more basic projects are a crapload of work, I think anyone who's done this will agree with me. Especially doing it remotely as most people don't have any method of logging the ECU properly. I wouldn't take it on as a project as it's liable to be such a huge quantity of work and I really do not have time for any more projects at the moment!!
With the Arduino ones, yeah, they're doable, however if you haven't got electronics and a bit of coding experience along with a reasonable understanding of control theory, I wouldn't recommend it. It COULD be done if you had the want and the interest to do it - anyone _CAN_ do it, don't be put off by the learning curve - it's only stopped by your want to do it. However as is the case for most car projects, most people are only interested in the end goal, not the learning process on the way. For me it's totally the other way around, having a quick car at the end is merely the icing on the cake, but the hours of pouring over the code, understanding why things behave the way they do is what makes me tick.. So I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to spend vast swathes of your life understanding the system.
Just fit a boost can and find things out for yourself, it's NOT that much of a problem, yes EMP is high during cruise and yes you will have to play with line length to the boost controller to control boost overshoot and play with the stop screw position to get it right for spool so the EMP isn't too high, however they can perform well and be a good laugh, you just have to be wary of things failing - if the line from the boost pressure reference to the boost can falls off - yes you will close the vanes at full throttle and if you drive it around like that, you will explode the turbo. If you're interested in learning and understanding it, fit some EMP, EGT and Boost gauges and you'll learn what the effects of all the settings do.
With all that said, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but you said yourself with "With how much I play, chop and change bits" - for anyone trying to calibrate the turbo control, it is a nightmare! It's incredibly time consuming as it is and things being played with around you is just not possible - a lot of inexperienced guys will have problems calibrating the turbo control in the stock application simply after a remap, let alone calibrating it completely from scratch, then someone adjusts the vane stop or the rod length not thinking of the consequences and the entire thing has to be adjusted again - I've been there and done it. People expect this sorta thing to be "plug and play", they're just not because nobody uses the same configuration, everyone uses different actuator brackets, everyone wants to use xyz due to packaging constraints, so nothing is ever the same. The ones I've done have required a MASSIVE amount of work in all respects, now, admittedly, most of the ones I've done have been huge projects anyway (read: engine combinations that never existed from the factory etc...), let alone the turbo control, but even the more basic projects are a crapload of work, I think anyone who's done this will agree with me. Especially doing it remotely as most people don't have any method of logging the ECU properly. I wouldn't take it on as a project as it's liable to be such a huge quantity of work and I really do not have time for any more projects at the moment!!
With the Arduino ones, yeah, they're doable, however if you haven't got electronics and a bit of coding experience along with a reasonable understanding of control theory, I wouldn't recommend it. It COULD be done if you had the want and the interest to do it - anyone _CAN_ do it, don't be put off by the learning curve - it's only stopped by your want to do it. However as is the case for most car projects, most people are only interested in the end goal, not the learning process on the way. For me it's totally the other way around, having a quick car at the end is merely the icing on the cake, but the hours of pouring over the code, understanding why things behave the way they do is what makes me tick.. So I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to spend vast swathes of your life understanding the system.
Just fit a boost can and find things out for yourself, it's NOT that much of a problem, yes EMP is high during cruise and yes you will have to play with line length to the boost controller to control boost overshoot and play with the stop screw position to get it right for spool so the EMP isn't too high, however they can perform well and be a good laugh, you just have to be wary of things failing - if the line from the boost pressure reference to the boost can falls off - yes you will close the vanes at full throttle and if you drive it around like that, you will explode the turbo. If you're interested in learning and understanding it, fit some EMP, EGT and Boost gauges and you'll learn what the effects of all the settings do.
