asaddd

Is Stage 2 tune with catless downpipes worth it?

So i have a state the requires emissions. BUT BEFORE i DO ANY MODS, i CAN GET IT INSPECTED AND EMMISSIONS DONE FOR 2 YEARS, VALIDITY.
iS IT WORTH IT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE IT?

And when the time came to renew registration what did you do?

UCIMBZ

The exhaust system on these cars is pretty much wide open. Stage 2 alone should do you enough good.

Jezek

I just ordered catless downpipes. I hear it will improve power slightly with a stage 2 tune but I’m also looking for more noise from my exhaust (secondary cat/res delete was a nice improvement but I want it rowdier lol) for a couple grand I feel like it’s worth it 🤷🏽‍♂️

Jawigrown2

Improve power slightly lol.. bro you will pick up 100-150hp and 150-200tq !

UCIMBZ

He meant slightly in addition to stageII. Please read carefully first.

Jawigrown2

what are you talking about. I can read.

Jawigrown2

and the exhaust system on these cars is not “wide open”. Hence why adding aftermarket downpipes and a tune adds so much power.

UCIMBZ

Incorrect.

Jawigrown2

Yes you are incorrect. Glad you agree.

Mazspeed

No, you’re incorrect. The secondary cats are open. Taking out the cats will not gain much at all. Maybe 10 hp at most. Steve Dinan works on my car and has personal told me that removing cats off of most, if not all modern cars will not gain much power at all. On his current 800hp M8, taking off the cats netted him less than 12 hp when the car was in 100 octane tune running 882hp. 12 hp isn’t enough to matter on the streets. I 100 percent trust what Steve says.

To correctly answer the OP, your tune will net you all the gains. After that you have to go new, bigger turbos. Stock exhaust systems on AMG models flow very well. Cutting out the cats are mostly for noise or weight if you’re racing on the track but in Steve’s shop his race cars also have secondary cats still installed.

JSwan724

I’d like to see the Dyno runs please.

Also, Anyone these days considering these mods should read Acta Non Verba’s links on this subject first. The EPA has truly gone wild and will fine anybody and everybody they can find if any changes are made to the factory set up - both vendor and individual.

I was especially shocked at the ECU serial number calculation segment. By the way these fines aren’t in the parking ticket or 1-9 miles over category. They are huge $$ amounts.

So please consider this as your 2nd “Heads Up.” Now you are better informed and can proceed as you please.

Mazspeed

Very true. California made a new rule just for tunes. The work around is being able to retune the car to stock before going to get it smogged. If you have a can tune like I currently do, you can take the car back to stock and you will be fine, but if you mod the exhaust, you will need to put the stock exhaust back on before getting it smogged. At least in Cal. Another reason why leaving the stock exhaust alone is worth it. It only takes 10 minutes to untune the car with the handheld module.

JSwan724

That’s what I am used to in the motorcycle arena. BUT I am not sure the reflash products will restore the factory VIN ECU calculation. I am sure the vendors are working on it BUT if the EPA spies find out then the vendor and possibly the customers may get HUGE fines for each and every violation.

Fortunately we discuss these issues here so people can make informed decisions.

Regards

Jerry

Mazspeed

Agree. I’ll ring up Steve and ask him what if anything can or is being done on that front.

Mazspeed

I had to look for this. This is perfect for the OP. Take a listen to this podcast, Steve goes into great detail on tunes, exhaust and secondary cat removal and gains on both. It’s very educational.

jn66

no link.

Mazspeed

Whoops.
Here it is.

///Bruce

I notice the newbie went quiet.

Jawigrown2

Sorry I have a life and don’t sit on here ready to reply within the hour. Anyways, my statement was based on experience. I’m going stage 2 with catless downpipes. I’ll post up numbers when I’m finished and we can see the difference between tune only and tune with downpipes.

Jawigrown2

And who runs a stage 2 tune without downpipes. Sounds silly.

Orcbolg

Does anyone even do stage 2 tunes for our cars without downpipes? I don't remember seeing any offered.

Mazspeed

Dinan, Carbahn, BR racing. Listen to Steve’s podcast with Matt Farrah. Or don’t, I don’t care but I trust a man with 45 plus years of racing and tuning experience over a guy with 10 posts on a website. Yeah. I’ll go with Mr. Dinan on this one. Thanks for playing.

Mazspeed

I have one. Down pipes are not needed with any tunes for our cars.
I have a stage 2 DME tune and soon going with a custom one from Steve. All stock exhaust.

Orcbolg

Odd, then what's the point of stage 2, if it's merely the software tune itself, when a lot of the stage 2 options I've seen require downpipes? Are you saying that the tuners are merely holding back the software only tuning to split it into 2 parts, so they can charge you more for what should just be stage 1? Would seem like quite the scam for DME to charge you $200 more for a simple variable change from what you're already paying for with the stage 1, for the extra 20hp.

Edit: In regards to the video you posted, can you give us some timestamps for the topic at hand? I don't have an hour and a half to sift through it, unfortunately.

///Bruce

Well that’s wonderful news. Come back and please show us the cost of $$/HP*.

*-I already know the answer…