Not experiencing fuel cut without a FCD installed is a good place to be, it means your engine is boosting within the limits of the stock ECU.
Ah right, so it will still fuel adequately if this occurs? So say with a uprated filter, fmic, exhaust etc i could up the boost a little and be safe as long as its not hitting fuel cut?
You might get lucky with porting the wastegate and solve any boost creep issues from installing inlet and exhaust mods, but it's VERY hit and miss and I wouldn't put too much hope on being successful. Of course it doesn't cost anything to port the wastegate, but once you've bought and installed your 'boost creep inducing' upgrades you'll be somewhat disappointed to find you can't give the engine more than half throttle in 3rd, 4th and 5th gears.
Thats true, I may port the wastegate and buy the mods, if it doesn't work it just means i have to move onto the pnp ecu etc quicker, obv take the mods off in the meantime.
It does neither, the main problem with the stock manifold is the restrictions in the runners of No.2 and No.3 cylinders. They cause a build up of heat in the manifold which can back heat into the cylinder head and combustion chamber. Some claim this to be a potential cause of failed pistons. Either way the stock exhaust manifold isn't great and decent aftermarket manifolds are easily got. Though again this can be a slippery slope, it'd be a good idea at this point to decide whether your going to stick with a CT9 or upgrade the turbo before making a purchase, manifolds and downpipes aren't the cheapest things to buy and so when you invest it's best to only do it once.
Ah I see, well my best bet here would probably be to port the stock mani thoroughly int he meantime whilst i decide what turbo route to go down?
It sounds like your getting the idea, although don't forget that better performance is an 'all round' package, making the car handle and stop better as well as accelerate better will increase the grin factor whilst keeping the car on the road and in one piece.
Yep thats correct, I've noticed on stock shocks and lowered springs it does feel a bit boat like compared to my old saxo, although my mate with a starlet said it felt quite a bit better than standard suspension, so i may upgrade to gas shocks, and ad some more handling mods once funds allow. Brakes are a must tbh, they aren't great standard haha, is the custo master cylinder stopper worthwhile?
Generally, when replacing the stock ECU for a modified, piggy back or standalone ECU an adjustable FPR isn't required, however installing a nice new shiny fuel pump is never a bad idea.
Ah I see, so forget the FPR as this will be controlled by the plug n play, but maybe put an uprated pump in?
Are these plug n play ECUs safe then, I read they are tuned to 1 bar, but learn to your mods, so would it be worthwhile buying all mods as mentioned that affect boost levels and fuelling, fit these along with the ECU, up boost to 1 bar or 0.95 to be safe, then get the fuelling checked with a wideband?
Cheers for your help so far mate, its all quite overwhelming but the help you've given makes it easier to understand :rockon: I'm just trying to get a kind of plan in my head where to start and what I wanna achieve.