Vargas Stage 2+ Initial Impression

[MENTION=17260]5.0yote[/MENTION] thanks bro, Cold install is what I'll do too, now do I have to completely remove the downpipe? Can I get away with just taking off the flange bolts to the exhaust and slipping it out without much worry ?

Right now on 92 octane, I am running 320whp and 410wtq on the single scroll vargas, does it sound low? I made 23psi and touched 25psi once in a while. Tuner says I need more octane. I was going 290whp before the turbo upgrade. I live in Seattle by the way.

Backwoods said:

[MENTION=17260]5.0yote[/MENTION] thanks bro, Cold install is what I'll do too, now do I have to completely remove the downpipe? Can I get away with just taking off the flange bolts to the exhaust and slipping it out without much worry ?

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You don't need to remove the downpipe completely. I removed the 2 flange bolts and loosened the two bolts on the bracket down below. It frees it up enough to move things around.

Sorry for not wording this in a more technical manner but can this unit hold boost / power to redline?

From what I've read in other threads, this thing pulls like crazy all the way to redline.

Backwoods said:

[MENTION=17260]5.0yote[/MENTION] thanks bro, Cold install is what I'll do too, now do I have to completely remove the downpipe? Can I get away with just taking off the flange bolts to the exhaust and slipping it out without much worry ?

Click to expand...

As NHEcoboost stated I think you can as the down pipes connection to the turbo will slide down the pipe, I would unbolt the bracket on the transmission that is mounted to the down pipe to give you some wiggle room but you should be able to do it with just the collar unbolted.

metalhead79 said:

Any idea what 91+meth would be equivalent to? E30?

Edit: Wow, I completely missed the WMI part, lol.

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According to Snow Performance, effective octane of 91 oct + WMI is 116. You'll have to take this with a grain of salt since this figure comes from a WMI vendor. However, Speed Academy video showed that 93 oct + WMI with 50/50 mix beat all non-alcohol based race gases, so Snow Performance's claim may be true.

According to this calculator, E31 mix based on E10 91 oct gas comes out to 94 oct.

Results of mix is 94 Octane
% Ethanol is 31.43
or same as E31
Total Gals is 3.50

Here's a Mustang based test that showed that WMI with 50/50 mixture came pretty close to E85: http://forums.corral.net/forums/superchargers/1349011-e85-vs-water-methanol-injection.html

So bases on these tests, my guess is that WMI with 50/50 mixture + 91 oct gas falls somewhere between E30 and E85, closer to the E85 side.

any vids?

I had to take a break from data logging due to the NG annual training, but I'm back now. I ran a couple of 3rd gear pulls this morning with the revised tune. Not surprisingly, ambient temperature is noticeably higher now than when I ran pre-turbo upgrade runs last month, resulting in 16 degrees hotter charge temp at the start of the run.

I'm using LTT Torque Final (ft lbs) for my torque estimation for all runs.

Results:

1. No lag noticed between the runs, which started near 3,000 RPM.
2. Made 18 ft lbs more torque at peak. Peak RPM was similar to the stock turbo.
3. Made 17 more HP at peak. Peak RPM was similar to the stock turbo with with about 1.1 degrees of less timing.
4. Charge temp rose about 9 degrees from start to finish. It was 2 degrees higher for the stock turbo.

My observations so far:

1. Bigger turbo can move more air without heating them up more than the stock unit.
2. Spool feels exactly the same as the stock unit while rolling. I hardly notice the lag starting from idle, but having AT and 3.55 rear end may be lessening the impact of the lag difference.
3. While not the most cost effective upgrade on a stock engine, it does allow you to squeeze more out of your setup if you are already at FBO.
4. I also expect to lose less power over the stock turob during 110+ degree days since I'm operating the turbo well within it's efficiency range.

Just put my Stage 2 kit on last week. Going to do some data logging this week and have Adam Tune+ work some magic.

This thread is killing me! I'm craving videos, dynos, MO POWA

[ame]
Here is the exhaust note. IRL, really sounds good.

What exhaust is that? Sounds to have a throaty sound over stock smooth, but that was pretty raspy too

Blyman93 said:

What exhaust is that? Sounds to have a throaty sound over stock smooth, but that was pretty raspy too

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CP-e Catless DP+Magnaflow Comp Catback+Magnaflow Resonator
spotted it in his signature

The exhaust in the video does not have the magnaflow reson, so magnaflow comp catback and catless dp