GenV ALV40 Anti-Lag Valve

What is Anti-Lag?

The concept of anti-lag is to reduce or eliminate turbocharger lag. Turbocharger lag is generally considered the time it takes for your engine to produce boost. Note, we say time – Not RPM. Anti-Lag is in an improvement in response, it will not make a large turbo create boost earlier in the RPM range on a dyno (as an example), but a good setup system will ensure you maintain boost between gear changes and dynamic (On / Off) throttle situations as seen in motorsports such as drifting, rallying and such.

How does Anti-Lag work?

There are a couple of Anti-Lag strategies based on your engine, vehicle and ECU. The Turbosmart ‘Fresh Air’ ALV40 is the basis of a full bypass system where the valve actually opens when the throttle is closed & allows compressed air from the turbocharger to be directed into the exhaust manifold prior to the turbocharger – effectively ‘around’ the engine. This compressed air requires an ECU strategy of additional fuel & adjusted ignition timing to effectively ignite and control a burn in the manifold right before the turbo. This burn creates energy, which can maintain turbine speed, also known as boost.

Is this all I need to get going?

Not really. This valve is specifically designed to do this job. However, in order to actuate the valve, you will need to operate it via either boost or vacuum. Either of which will require a charge canister in order to hold the boost or vacuum, ready for use. Although there are many ways to do this (we recommend talking to your tuner before you decide), a common way to activate the charge canister is via a check valve/system of some kind. Then, once your canister is charged, you can use a 4-Port electronic solenoid to control the two sides of the ALV40 actuator.

Is this just an External Wastegate?

No. The Turbosmart GenV External wastage architecture did make this product a reality – However, there is a small but important difference between a wastegate and an ALV40: True Twin Port Control. The valve maybe capable of handling exhaust gas temperatures, however in an Anti-Lag application you are actually passing much cooler, compressed air (rather than exhaust). As normal External wastegates do have much hotter exhaust gas. They run a relatively large tolerance on the valve guide. While this is a design feature and very necessary on an external wastegate, we can engineer in a much tighter seal on an Anti-Lag valve. This ensures much more accurate & higher levels of valve control.

Is this the same as throttle kick Anti-Lag?

Not at all, no. There are a couple of key differences, and yes, you require more hardware to do it. Throttle Kick style Anti-Lag has been a feature on most aftermarket ECU’s for some time. Fresh Air Anti-Lag, however has several distinct benefits. The first is significantly lower EGT’s during Anti-Lag operation and means greater reliability of your turbocharger, manifold and accessories. The other benefit is around vacuum boosted brake systems. Vehicles fitted with these types of braking systems (most cars) will lose braking assist when kick-type Anti-Lag is activated as the engine does not run in a vacuum. A Fresh Air Anti-Lag system however does have a vacuum and maintains all vacuum bases & boosted accessories when in operation.