boost level.

Most of what was said here was right on the money but one critical thing that always seems to be left out is this:

If you run the crap out of you car constantly you will wear it out sooner.

That said, a fairly high level of boost, properly tuned, can give years of service as long as you are not thrashing it 24/7.

A low level of boost improperly tuned can lead to disater quickly, as mentioned is slightly other words.

A moderate level of boost that gives you great usable power when you want or need it can easily be driven normally most of the time and yet be alot of great fun when you want to go for it.

Big numbers are for dyno queens that see very little real world use, go for reliable power, which seems to be in the 300WHP range, then just do not hammer the car all the dang time and you should have all you really need or can use on street tires and on the street safely, it should be capable of quite a life span.

BUT, things can always go wrong, nice to know there are alot of doner cars out there with our motors in them, cheap to replace

Rick

There are two considerations for boost level: fuel quality and the engine's mechanical strength.

1. 91 or 93 octane can only support a certain amount of cylinder pressure before it autoignites and starts detonating. If you are willing to run 100 octane fuel all the time, then you can run higher boost. If you can afford to run 100 octane, you wouldn't be asking these kinds of questions.

2. The engine can only support a certain amount of cylinder pressure before the cylinders crack. Open deck blocks are not as strong as closed deck, so if you don't modify the block, there is a certain amount of boost that will cause the cylinders to expand past the Young's modulus of the materials (cast iron and aluminum) and cause permanent deformation leading to cracking. To find this pressure you need to do a hydrostatic test on the block itself, and once you've determined this pressure, you know you can never exceed it without expecting the throw the block away.

You have your homework now. Go find the answers.