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AWE Turbo Back/Stage Two Review
- Thread starter Bender1
- Start date
Bender1
Banned
Yes you absolutely can. Who told you that?
dallasjetfan
Ready to race!
Don't remember his name. I was transfered to him and when I said I was going with stock exhaust he was like oh you need a full exhaust.
The only hardware requirement for GIAC's Stage 2 file is an upgraded downpipe. The other components; i.e. upgraded catback, intake, fmic; are highly recommend, but not required.
HatchFanatic06
Ready to race!
Awesome review bender; i personally was turned off by the AWE/GIAC route. The main reason being (call me ignorant or w.e) but ive always been under the impression that airflow = power. So when i found out awe dp is 2.5 inch and apr is 3.0 in made me think, "how do they achieve about the same power?". What are your boost levels averaging at? My main concern is that AWE might require "more" requested boost then the APR tune. Please if im misinformed would love to be educated. Thanks.
Bender1
Banned
Sure thing!
First - I am not logging boost, YET. I will probably start logging in about a month or so. Boost levels are likely fairly similar to APR.
Second - I am not an engineer so the below is conjecture. It might be 100000% wrong.
As Crashdb said, it is sort of explained on AWE's website. Bottom line is that they got more power out of a 2.5 inch versus a 3 inch. Why? I don't know but I have some suspicions. First thing to remember is that there is an optimal post turbo flow rate depending on all other tuning factors. This flow rate can change based on the programming. Second thing to remember is that we know that GIAC judges airflow differently at the MAF than APR does. We know this because when Panda ran his GIAC tuned AWE K04 set up with a Carbonio, all sorts of funky things happened. When he switched it out with a AWE CCB, issues were resolved. This shows that GIAC expects certain readings from the MAF that must be "clean" and therefore require relocating of the MAF sensor. If we take this one step further, one can assume that it expects certain DOWNSTREAM readings as well, and will modify tune based on those. There are so many non-boost related variables that go into tuning/power on these cars that you can certainly achieve similar power numbers without increasing boost.
APR brags about being "safe." Which I think is largely based on their higher range of tolerances. That said, in the real world, the chances of getting a hugely out-of-spec reading without the ECU properly responding are very very slim.
As I plan to keep this car for at least another 120,000 miles, I wouldn't put any product on it that I had concerns about in terms of reliability or undue wear on other parts (the turbo).
Fully understand your concern, but I do not share it.
Side note. My 55 minute commute only took 44 minutes today... and I stopped for a full tank of gas.
grambles423
Automotive Engineer
Dear God, not the whole 2.5" vs. 3" debate again.
Bender has pointed out the main point:
GIAC is not APR. Every compnay does things differently. If they didnt, it would all be the same company, and no patents would be filed and new technology would be developed.
From my calculations, 3" is always better to improve flow, however this is not the case when you literally have about 200 other factors to consider. Any change in ONE thing can impact the other 199 and cause an exponential effect on the back end. Such controlled conditions must apply to actually get a difference.
I appreciate all tuning companies for what they do, it develops competition and better quality products :thumbsup:
Sorry Bender, I didnt mean to steal your thunder.
Bender has pointed out the main point:
GIAC is not APR. Every compnay does things differently. If they didnt, it would all be the same company, and no patents would be filed and new technology would be developed.
From my calculations, 3" is always better to improve flow, however this is not the case when you literally have about 200 other factors to consider. Any change in ONE thing can impact the other 199 and cause an exponential effect on the back end. Such controlled conditions must apply to actually get a difference.
I appreciate all tuning companies for what they do, it develops competition and better quality products :thumbsup:
Sorry Bender, I didnt mean to steal your thunder.
P
plac
Guest
+1. stage 2 only needs a downpipe. never a cat back, that's only for sound. they're (whoever you are talking about) just trying to get more money from you.
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Little Bastard
New member
Awesome review!
dallasjetfan
Ready to race!
Guy at AWE says just DP, but one particular guy at GIAC must be misinformed or new. I think I am going to try the Race file to see what the extra power feels like since they have similar numbers to Stage 2 IIRC. Race gas is $8.75/gallon, but it might be a fun $125 to try out once in awhile.
Austin@giac
Ready to race!
This is correct. I should also add that items like an intake do have a notable gain when added. For that reason, I cannot verify you will make the gains we list without the hardware we have.
plac said:
I'll respectfully disagree with you on this one. I think a catback can be a good upgrade to enhance the sound of the motor and the driving experience, you just need to select the right one for you.
Absolutely. I wouldn't hope that people expect you to verify power gains if they don't match your hardware requirements.
A properly designed intake can make a big difference on these cars and are a great upgrade, no matter your state of tune. Definitely a must do if you can.