“Most people are familiar with the wastegate, and that its job is to control the amount of boost that is produced,” Strader says. So even if you think you know what it’s for, read on, and we’re willing to bet you learn something new. However, as Ben Strader of EFI University has found in the course of his various performance classes, the blow-off valve’s true purpose is often misunderstood, even by the most knowledgeable enthusiasts. While that may be due in large part to the fact that it is responsible for the trademark “woosh” noise associated with turbochargers, it serves a very critical purpose in a properly engineered turbocharger system. When it comes to forced induction, even the most peripheral turbocharger enthusiast is familiar with the component in the system known as a blow-off valve (often abbreviated “BOV”).
