2nd or 3rd stage turbo

2nd or 3rd stage turbo?

  • 2nd Stage

    Votes: 15 40.5%
  • 3rd Stage

    Votes: 22 59.5%

  • Total voters
    37
78
United States
Maryland
DnBasshead007
Which do you prefer to put on your vehicle when tuning? I put 2nd stage on all my vehicles for a more well rounded tune and solid acceleration through the corners.
 
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I buy them both... Some cars work better with the Mid-range turbo, but most with the High-rpm.... Plus with high speed tracks, I always use the high-rpm turbo
 
I buy them both... Some cars work better with the Mid-range turbo, but most with the High-rpm.... Plus with high speed tracks, I always use the high-rpm turbo

If I buy the 3 turbo stages, will I get power for all the rpm ranges?
 
I use stage 1 and 3, almost never 2. the mid range almost always makes a funky powerband.
 
Depends on how the car changes gears or is geared.If it stays in the high RPM's i use a Stage 3 if it's in the middle range i'll use stage 2.Usually in Muscle cars or classic cars i'll use stage 1.
 
Depends on how the car changes gears or is geared.If it stays in the high RPM's i use a Stage 3 if it's in the middle range i'll use stage 2.Usually in Muscle cars or classic cars i'll use stage 1.

For muscle cars if available I always will put a supercharger on it rather than turbo it. More traditional.
 
For muscle cars if available I always will put a supercharger on it rather than turbo it. More traditional.

Yes true.

Supercharger is a big yes for Muscle cars.Classic especially.I mainly use the Stage 1 turbo for the classic japanese cars.
 
For muscle cars if available I always will put a supercharger on it rather than turbo it. More traditional.
For pre '80 musclecars the supercharger is definitely the more traditional choice. However starting in the 80s you started to see a lot more turbo chargers on musclecars. So modern musclecars are as legitimate "real world" wise as supercharged ones.
 
It completely depends on the car. If we're talking about the VW Samba bus... well, you get more torque and horse power from the mid-rpm turbo because it boosts the range the car has power in already. If you try to tune with the high-rpm turbo you'll end up with less power. The only downside to the mid-rpm turbo is that you must shift manually so you can shift early to keep the car in its power band.

Furthermore, if you don't install a custom transmission, the mid-rpm turbo gives you on average more power across a wider band.

...but if you're car has decent high-rpm power to start, and you've got a custom tranny that you can run close ratios on, then the high-rpm turbo is the way to go.

...so like I said, depends on the car. Pay careful attention to the hp and torque curves before you decide.
 
DnBasshead007
Which do you prefer to put on your vehicle when tuning? I put 2nd stage on all my vehicles for a more well rounded tune and solid acceleration through the corners.

Depends.

Good example is the C30 Volvo. Makes more everything when fully modded on a Stage 2. It's one of the odd balls like that.

It really depends on your intention with the car.
 
In high hp cars the high rpm turbos lag can keep the tires from lighting up on corner exit as long as it doesn't have an escudo like power band
 
I always use whatever gives the highest power.
It may vary between 2nd and 3rd depending on what yields the highest power.

On cars that have more power on stage 2, the power curve is often only useable via manual transmission and very long gearing.

It is faster, given you know what you're doing:sly:
 
Most of the time I install a low rpm turbo, sometimes a mid one and rarely the high rpm one except certain cases. It depends on the car, as others said. I find that the high rpm (stage 3?) turbo often gives the highest power, but with very peaky, unfavourable tq/pw curves. This is most of the time reflected in the PP rating, which drop with it.

The "Stage 1" turbo often gives peak torque at very low rpm and a naturally flat (and competitive!) power curve that force a manual gear selection (not a problemfor me as I never use AT) and in many cases to rework gear ratios. But again, on some cars there's no change at all, on others the powerband changes radically.

Please add a "Stage 1" option in the poll.
 
I found that stage 2 usually has more torque and it's power comes in at mid RPM so it's better for lower hp cars that have trouble reving up and getting the power they do have down. Stage 3 is what I use most however, as It will have more power for the straights and most cars can handle it no problem.
 
Most of the time I install a low rpm turbo, sometimes a mid one and rarely the high rpm one except certain cases. It depends on the car, as others said. I find that the high rpm (stage 3?) turbo often gives the highest power, but with very peaky, unfavourable tq/pw curves. This is most of the time reflected in the PP rating, which drop with it.

The "Stage 1" turbo often gives peak torque at very low rpm and a naturally flat (and competitive!) power curve that force a manual gear selection (not a problemfor me as I never use AT) and in many cases to rework gear ratios. But again, on some cars there's no change at all, on others the powerband changes radically.

Please add a "Stage 1" option in the poll.


I can't edit the poll to add a Stage 1 option. Anybody know how to do this?
 
Depends.

Good example is the C30 Volvo. Makes more everything when fully modded on a Stage 2. It's one of the odd balls like that.

It really depends on your intention with the car.

Yea, when I was tuning my C30 I noticed this as well. Something like a 15 HP gain when using the Stage 2 turbo over the Stage 3.
 
I usually use Stage 3 turbo for circuit racing and dragging.
It's very rare that Stage 1 gives enough power to compete with the other Stages.

But for drifting, I use sometimes Stage 2.
 
It depends on the car and the track.
Stage 2 usually has more torque where stage 3 has more hp.

Twisty, tight tracks stage 2.
Open tracks with decent lengths of WOT I use stage 3.
 
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