Turbo Upgrades

[Mr Morse]

What upgrades and modifications constitute Stage 1 thru Stage 4?

[BernardTamHK]

good question ..... i always thought,

stage 1 = the turbo/sc kit

stage 2 = upgrades to the turbo/sc that does not change the turbo itself. Ie piping, pulleys, bigger coolers, things to improve the performance of the original kit

stage 3 = upgraded turbo/sc itself & internal things

stage 4 = .. heheh .. dunno, never thought that far. Maybe increased displacement, bore-ing and stuff like that?

[Pip]

Depends on the vehicle.

Stage 1 could be a simple exhaust and air filter/induction change like on the cosworth. That boosted it by 20-25bhp.

[tdiplc]

Unfortunately there isn't an industry standard for this terminology (which is a shame), so it's meaningless for comparison purposes.

It will vary from car to car, product to product and designer to designer.

It is not unusual for one companys stage 1 to outperform another companys stage 453 (so to speak). Back in the dark ages, one of our main income streams was race engines and cylinder head porting. Our stage 1 cylinder head modifications out performed our closest competitors stage 3 head.

I think the thing to look out for is the specification of the product, and benchmark data if it's available.

[Mr Morse]

Unfortunately there isn't an industry standard for this terminology (which is a shame), so it's meaningless for comparison purposes.

Yes, that's the reason I asked.....there seem to be so many discrepancies between various tuners terminology.

Bernard Tam's expanation seems to be appropriate