Tuning advice...especially those with experience!

Klasse Act

Klasse Act

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As a gearhead you always want "a little more" and I'm at that point right now, here's what helped me with the "push" or pole with a pitchfork by the devil.

As many of you know I make a yearly trip to The Tail of the Dragon every year, this year would be #20 in a row. Two things have me changing my mind this year. The first is noone else can make it out this year. While I've always wanted to do it alone one time because I'd be on my own schedule, I'm not sure. The other reason is because my buddy who lives down there isn't going to be available tye weekend I'd be coming down as he's bettering himself at work, no problem there obviously.

The money I have put aside for the trip could go towards something that would TRANSFORM the EN into an absolute beast, there's something about having that "hammer" if/when the time arises️

So here's the options:

Stage 1...295 whp/310 wtq w/o any other mods

Stage 2...320 whp/330 wtq and needs upgraded HPFP (fuel pump), better coils and intake.

Now I've already got an intake and turbo inlet pipe awaiting installation and according to the tuner I'm speaking to the Stage 1 w/ my intake & TIP should net me 300 whp/330 wtq, roughly. The TIP has a dyno proven gain on a stock EN of 7-10 whp gain.

Now the Stage 2 tune w/my supporting mods could put my EN around 330 whp/350 wtq, very tempting!

I'm not going to be out here beating the hell out of the car on a daily basis and apparently the trans can handle it and there a revision in the ECU tune that helps things along there. Speaking of the ECU tune every facet of it is adjusted and safety parameters are maintained.

Let talk about this guys...thoughts

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Maybe go Stage 1, see how you like it, and it wouldn't be on kill...save some of the money from the Stage 2 upgrade and do a smaller road trip by yourself!
 
Prange said:
I’d upgrade the tires instead.
Click to expand...
Well right now I've got the tires that came on the Kona N, Pirelli P-Zero's and they're 10mm more narrow and 5% more aspect ratio (235/40/19 vs. 245/35/19) but my OEM's are Michelin Pilot Sport 4s w/6750 miles on them.

I expect to run out the Pirelli's till the end of next season and have the 4s' installed before Dragon 2024️

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Sizzle Chest said:
Maybe go Stage 1, see how you like it, and it wouldn't be on kill...save some of the money from the Stage 2 upgrade and do a smaller road trip by yourself!
Click to expand...
I'm leaning towards Stage 1 as the supporting mods for Stage 2 add another $800 but it's not really so much about the money as it is a "noticeable" difference between Stage 1 and 2

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Klasse Act said:
As a gearhead you always want "a little more" and I'm at that point right now, here's what helped me with the "push" or pole with a pitchfork by the devil.

As many of you know I make a yearly trip to The Tail of the Dragon every year, this year would be #20 in a row. Two things have me changing my mind this year. The first is noone else can make it out this year. While I've always wanted to do it alone one time because I'd be on my own schedule, I'm not sure. The other reason is because my buddy who lives down there isn't going to be available tye weekend I'd be coming down as he's bettering himself at work, no problem there obviously.

The money I have put aside for the trip could go towards something that would TRANSFORM the EN into an absolute beast, there's something about having that "hammer" if/when the time arises️

So here's the options:

Stage 1...295 whp/310 wtq w/o any other mods

Stage 2...320 whp/330 wtq and needs upgraded HPFP (fuel pump), better coils and intake.

Now I've already got an intake and turbo inlet pipe awaiting installation and according to the tuner I'm speaking to the Stage 1 w/ my intake & TIP should net me 300 whp/330 wtq, roughly. The TIP has a dyno proven gain on a stock EN of 7-10 whp gain.

Now the Stage 2 tune w/my supporting mods could put my EN around 330 whp/350 wtq, very tempting!

I'm not going to be out here beating the hell out of the car on a daily basis and apparently the trans can handle it and there a revision in the ECU tune that helps things along there. Speaking of the ECU tune every facet of it is adjusted and safety parameters are maintained.

Let talk about this guys...thoughts

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Been modifiying forced induction cars since the early 90's. Best advice is to go slow enough to include all the supporting mods and ensure you are prepared to replace or repair things should it go south. It can and will eventually as per the odds, so just go in knowing that.

1st piece of advice is to ensure you have the proper cooling system mods to support the heat.
 
If stage 2 includes all needed parts from stage 1 I’d say 2.

Usually if you go stage 1 on anything and then decide stage 2 their is always wasted money.

Plus the idea of stage 2 will be lingering in your head.

I’m doing same on fuel system. Just ordered EFI and talked myself into multiport instead of TBI.

Now I’m ordering the gas tank and a good aeromotive tank and filter will do the job but I keep going back to a ricks stainless tank for 3 times the price….

Funny but I was gonna go to SEMA this year and I’m cancelling trip for this tank….


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Yeah Stage 2 is basically just a more aggressive remap of Stage 1, the HPFP and coils are required, not sure how much more boost is involved here and that's the thing. It appears Stage 1 takes boost up to 22 psi and right now, when octane learned, its 18 psi but I've seen 19 and once, once it flashed 20 psi, so I bet is spikes for a second higher than 22 psi. The turbo in my car from the factory is a larger unit than what came on the Velsoter N and my FMIC is also larger but ofcoarse there's a larger FMIC but that's not needed until you go Stage 3 and that's NEVER happening️

Btw I should say that I've got a set of Powerflex bushings to go into the doggone, motor mount and trana mount as well. This car has wheel hop now and has launch control already from the factory, plus it's e-diff. I'm hoping the bushings eliminate wheelhop and just spin the tires

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98CayenneTA said:
Don't know what the stage 3 is but I would go stage 3
Click to expand...
Stage 3 requires meth injection and larger FMIC, not happening. That said, a guy in Canada has an EN that ran an 11.9@123 mph, he's had to have thrown the kitchen sink at the car

Fwd and drag racing don't really go together, although people do it. I'm more into "from the roll", in Mexico ofcoarse

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Klasse Act said:
I'm leaning towards Stage 1 as the supporting mods for Stage 2 add another $800 but it's not really so much about the money as it is a "noticeable" difference between Stage 1 and 2
Click to expand...

TTQ B4U said:
Been modifiying forced induction cars since the early 90's. Best advice is to go slow enough to include all the supporting mods and ensure you are prepared to replace or repair things should it go south. It can and will eventually as per the odds, so just go in knowing that.

1st piece of advice is to ensure you have the proper cooling system mods to support the heat.
Click to expand...

My vote would be go stage 1. You're tuning your car that's fun, not tuning your fun car.

Meaning: This is your daily driver you depend on that also happens to be a fun car you can tune.
Not: Your fun secondary car that can be sidelined because under condition XYZ it's got a strange hiccup or "Well, dang - I spun the impeller off the turbo" (Obviously not likely, but ya get what I'm saying. More likely would be something like BMWs where they blow the charge pipe up under boost).

For a primary car, I'd rather stay conservative. That way if you get a tank of gas that's not as clean 91 octane as all those other tanks, or whatever the case may be, you're running with as much safety margin as possible.
 
I've danced around the tunes a bit on several cars and here are some thoughts/questions.

- Do you have the manual or the DCT? When I was looking at tuning my GTI one of the considerations was the clutch in the manual. The engine internals would take upwards of 400hp easily on a stage 3 tune, but you had to be careful with even a stage 1 tune due to the clutch not being able to handle the torque. One tuner even made a stage 1 version specifically for manuals. DCT owners had no worries.

- Is the air intake actually better than stock? When shopping intakes for my GTI, BMW, and now BRZ I found the OEM intakes are actually better than any aftermarket options. The OEM versions bring in a larger amount of air more efficiently than most of the aftermarket products. The only gain with the aftermarket was more intake noise, if that's your thing. Some aftermarket options also bring in more hot air from under the hood which is counter productive. In the BRZ/86 world, guys who have turned them into race cars actually still use the OEM intake for this reason.

- If you go stage 2, how will the engine cooling hold up? Will you need a bigger/better intercooler? Will you have to do any exhaust upgrades like headers to allow the engine to exhale more freely?

From other platforms I've owned, stage 1 is usually the safe bet. All you really need is a simple flash to get the extra power. Other mechanical bits really didn't add any additional performance. It was a win/win. More power, low cost, low risk! Good stuff!

Any suspension tunes? I've always worked on making the car corner better with the power it had before working on the power. Any thoughts to a rear sway upgrade to dial out some of the FWD understeer?
 
Desertnate said:
...
- Is the air intake actually better than stock? When shopping intakes for my GTI, BMW, and now BRZ I found the OEM intakes are actually better than any aftermarket options. The OEM versions bring in a larger amount of air more efficiently than most of the aftermarket products. The only gain with the aftermarket was more intake noise, if that's your thing. Some aftermarket options also bring in more hot air from under the hood which is counter productive. In the BRZ/86 world, guys who have turned them into race cars actually still use the OEM intake for this reason.
...
Click to expand...

The shop I work at we do probably 80% BMWs, 10% Audis, 10% Minis. I can't tell you how crazy it makes me when the 335 guys come in with naked dual cone intakes just soaking in the heat... No box, no heat shields, nothing.

Also factor in directing air flow into the equation - if your car has a MAF, the MAF was designed in tandem with the factory air box for the air flow to move just so to make sure it crosses the sensor providing it the readings it requires. I've had cars with odd faults/mixture issues that stemmed simply from a poorly fitting aftermarket air filter in the stock air box...
 
oneheadlite said:
The shop I work at we do probably 80% BMWs, 10% Audis, 10% Minis. I can't tell you how crazy it makes me when the 335 guys come in with naked dual cone intakes just soaking in the heat... No box, no heat shields, nothing.
Click to expand...

A fun one I saw this week was an intake for the 86/BRZ platform from a reputable aftermarket brand. It had the box around the cone air filter, but it was designed to allow "more induction noise". They did that by cutting big slots into the side of the box...which open directly into the engine bay....
 
Desertnate said:
A fun one I saw this week was an intake for the 86/BRZ platform from a reputable aftermarket brand. It had the box around the cone air filter, but it was designed to allow "more induction noise". They did that by cutting big slots into the side of the box...which open directly into the engine bay....
Click to expand...

Reminds me of my VR6 corrado days. Myself and anyone I knew with a VR6 would cut the fender side of the lower airbox out for that satisfying intake CHO-WAAAAP noise without pulling all the hot air in.
 
I will be answering questions in-depth when I get off of work today, thank you guys!

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I says go big or go home…buy once cry once. I know no other way. I went from a stock 360hp to 650 in my diesel. Haven’t changed it since and the smiles per mile is what it’s all about anyways


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