TheJakofallTrads
Car-less
- Location
- Bronxville, NY
- Car(s)
- Audi RS3
When I first bought my 2008.5 CBFA TSI GTI in September of 2008, I decided I wasn't going to flash it, that lasted about 9000 miles, and when APR had their sale last March, I jumped on the opportunity and went Stage 1.
The difference in power was almost night and day. The DSG shifted more smoothly, gas mileage went up and the torque off the line was insane, especially when I had on my 205/55 snow tires. I was happy with the power, but of course, at one point I wanted more, so in July of 2009 I bought a Billy Boat DP and had it installed the day it arrived.
Stage 2 is truly amazing, the power above 3500rpm to nearly redline was great, the DP sounded mean as hell at WOT and I really liked the fact that I removed the two 600 cell ceramic cats that the stock DP has. For anyone who hasn't seen the stock DP, the first cat is sandwiched on the turbo, and the DP is extremely restrictive. The best part of Stage 2 was the fact that my car nearly held full boost until redline. I loved the power, and bought the S3 FMIC and AWE Tuning's TSI hose kit to get even more out of the car come this spring.
I was completely happy with the car and the power, and besides replacing my front O2 sensor, which got fried, I really had no issues with Stage 2 and the DP. A few weeks ago I decided to slow down a little. I had an accident (not car related) in November and with the accident came a bunch of stitches, scars, a fat medical bill and a reminder to just slow down in life. So I decided I was going to part out all of my Stage 2 go fast stuff and go back to Stage 1 and do the low and slow(er) thing.
I got flashed back to Stage 1 on Thursday and yesterday I spent the morning removing my BB DP and reinstalling the stock piece of crap. I Noticed a few things, Stage 1 with a 3" DP shows serious overboost characteristics, the car would literally fly from 0 PSI to over 20 PSI and fall back to requested levels at around 17-18 when I dipped into the throttle. The car felt very twitchy and jittery, the DSG shifted rougher than ever and the car just felt off. Switched the DP's yesterday, and drove about 50 miles at Stage 1 stock DP since then.
It's not that bad, actually. It's slower up top, it's pathetic compared to Stage 2. The stock DP is so restrictive that boost is limited from peak boost at 18ish to 8-9 at redline to account for increasing EGT's, never saw that with Stage 2 and the 3" DP. I do miss Stage 2 a little right now. I would say if you have the money and interest, Stage 2 is definitely a better return on your money and more fun than Stage 1. I would also argue that Stage 2 is safer to run than Stage 1. The less restrictive aftermarket DP lowers EGT's and the Stage 2 file, from what I've seen, at least for the file I ran and hardware, changed nothing regarding boost, the car leaned out a little changing the AFR, and requested fueling changes a little, still way under what the TSI HPFP can handle, but my car ran great, sounded awesome and pulled very hard until about 6k rpm.
This is probably my last summer with the GTI, as i'm looking to get rid of the payment and have my eye on an immaculate MKIII with 40k on a rebuilt 12v VR6. I'm going to do a little more suspension work over the next few months on my MKV and change it up a little. Just thought i'd share my experience with everyone as not many people go Stage 1 to Stage 2 and back down again.
The difference in power was almost night and day. The DSG shifted more smoothly, gas mileage went up and the torque off the line was insane, especially when I had on my 205/55 snow tires. I was happy with the power, but of course, at one point I wanted more, so in July of 2009 I bought a Billy Boat DP and had it installed the day it arrived.
Stage 2 is truly amazing, the power above 3500rpm to nearly redline was great, the DP sounded mean as hell at WOT and I really liked the fact that I removed the two 600 cell ceramic cats that the stock DP has. For anyone who hasn't seen the stock DP, the first cat is sandwiched on the turbo, and the DP is extremely restrictive. The best part of Stage 2 was the fact that my car nearly held full boost until redline. I loved the power, and bought the S3 FMIC and AWE Tuning's TSI hose kit to get even more out of the car come this spring.
I was completely happy with the car and the power, and besides replacing my front O2 sensor, which got fried, I really had no issues with Stage 2 and the DP. A few weeks ago I decided to slow down a little. I had an accident (not car related) in November and with the accident came a bunch of stitches, scars, a fat medical bill and a reminder to just slow down in life. So I decided I was going to part out all of my Stage 2 go fast stuff and go back to Stage 1 and do the low and slow(er) thing.
I got flashed back to Stage 1 on Thursday and yesterday I spent the morning removing my BB DP and reinstalling the stock piece of crap. I Noticed a few things, Stage 1 with a 3" DP shows serious overboost characteristics, the car would literally fly from 0 PSI to over 20 PSI and fall back to requested levels at around 17-18 when I dipped into the throttle. The car felt very twitchy and jittery, the DSG shifted rougher than ever and the car just felt off. Switched the DP's yesterday, and drove about 50 miles at Stage 1 stock DP since then.
It's not that bad, actually. It's slower up top, it's pathetic compared to Stage 2. The stock DP is so restrictive that boost is limited from peak boost at 18ish to 8-9 at redline to account for increasing EGT's, never saw that with Stage 2 and the 3" DP. I do miss Stage 2 a little right now. I would say if you have the money and interest, Stage 2 is definitely a better return on your money and more fun than Stage 1. I would also argue that Stage 2 is safer to run than Stage 1. The less restrictive aftermarket DP lowers EGT's and the Stage 2 file, from what I've seen, at least for the file I ran and hardware, changed nothing regarding boost, the car leaned out a little changing the AFR, and requested fueling changes a little, still way under what the TSI HPFP can handle, but my car ran great, sounded awesome and pulled very hard until about 6k rpm.
This is probably my last summer with the GTI, as i'm looking to get rid of the payment and have my eye on an immaculate MKIII with 40k on a rebuilt 12v VR6. I'm going to do a little more suspension work over the next few months on my MKV and change it up a little. Just thought i'd share my experience with everyone as not many people go Stage 1 to Stage 2 and back down again.
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