Your tails on the Stage 1+
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From: Chicago
Your tails on the Stage 1+
Hey i am thinking about getting the stage 1+ from vishnu tuning. I have seen shiv in many mags and i know that he knows what he is doing with our cars.
That being said I was just wondering what you think about the whole stage 1+.
Some points of intrest to me:
1. Installation( if you did it your self or if you had a shop install it how much was labor)
2. Ease of use
3. Power gain
4. Sound of Exhaust
5. Realibility issues (stalling, hard idle)
6. Any other things youi want to add
I know that this had probally been brought up but i am on a time crunch and don't have the time to look through every vishnu post. Thanks in advanced,
Marc L
That being said I was just wondering what you think about the whole stage 1+.
Some points of intrest to me:
1. Installation( if you did it your self or if you had a shop install it how much was labor)
2. Ease of use
3. Power gain
4. Sound of Exhaust
5. Realibility issues (stalling, hard idle)
6. Any other things youi want to add
I know that this had probally been brought up but i am on a time crunch and don't have the time to look through every vishnu post. Thanks in advanced,
Marc L
I've been running Stage 1+ (with XEDEFlash) for almost 2 months and am very happy. My set-up was installed at Vishnu and custom tuned by Shiv.
As far as ease of use, it is set it and forget it. The only time I need to change anything is when I fill up on different octane gas (there's a jumper in the glovebox for that).
Subjectively the power is great, torque everywhere I want it. Here is a summary of the dyno gains:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...threadid=58047
The exhaust is louder and fuller than stock; I have actually not listened to other Evo exhausts.
As far as reliability, it's been excellent. I have never had any downtime (pretty important on a daily driver). Prior to the XEDEFlash and Walbro fuel pump installation (when I was just running stage 1), the car would occasionally refuse to cold start on the first try. I have not heard of anyone else with this issue and since installing stage 1+ the problem has not recurred. Idle is a little higher but solid, am down 5 cmHg of vacuum or so according to the boost gauge (running 264/272 cams).
As far as ease of use, it is set it and forget it. The only time I need to change anything is when I fill up on different octane gas (there's a jumper in the glovebox for that).
Subjectively the power is great, torque everywhere I want it. Here is a summary of the dyno gains:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...threadid=58047
The exhaust is louder and fuller than stock; I have actually not listened to other Evo exhausts.
As far as reliability, it's been excellent. I have never had any downtime (pretty important on a daily driver). Prior to the XEDEFlash and Walbro fuel pump installation (when I was just running stage 1), the car would occasionally refuse to cold start on the first try. I have not heard of anyone else with this issue and since installing stage 1+ the problem has not recurred. Idle is a little higher but solid, am down 5 cmHg of vacuum or so according to the boost gauge (running 264/272 cams).
Re: Your tails on the Stage 1+
I have basically a Vishnu Stage 1+ (but with another vendor's 3" exhaust)...
1. Installation. I did everything myself; the cam (and cam gear) install is by far the most involved piece of work. If you do all of the Stage 1+ work at once, budget an entire weekend for the job (or one possibly very long day), and get somebody to help you -- someone to fetch tools, take notes, label the parts which are removed, etc. Also, from my experience, breaking the cam gear bolts loose from the cams is a two-person job. If you don't already have a boost gauge, install one.
2. Ease of use? I'm not sure what you mean... If you mean ease of use of the XEDE, connecting a PC to it is pretty easy. The XMap program is not exactly the friendliest program at first, but it's not really bad, just takes a bit of experimenting to figure out what you're doing.
3. Power gain. Impressive. Same dyno testing, I gained 97 WHP over the stock setup.
4. Sound of exhaust. I'm not using the Vishnu pipes, but I don't imagine that makes a big difference. It sounds very much like a tuned-up 4 cyl motor with cams.
5. Reliability. Seems fine. I drive the car daily, and did a 1200-mile round trip from DC to Atlanta recently. The car always starts, and has stalled from idle exactly once. Just be sure to feed it good gasoline -- on my trip to Atlanta, I occasionally had either the XEDE or the ECU (not sure which) greatly restricting my boost, most likely due to my inability to find my beloved 94 octane Sunoco gas. Shutting the engine off and restarting it generally restored full boost functionality.
1. Installation. I did everything myself; the cam (and cam gear) install is by far the most involved piece of work. If you do all of the Stage 1+ work at once, budget an entire weekend for the job (or one possibly very long day), and get somebody to help you -- someone to fetch tools, take notes, label the parts which are removed, etc. Also, from my experience, breaking the cam gear bolts loose from the cams is a two-person job. If you don't already have a boost gauge, install one.
2. Ease of use? I'm not sure what you mean... If you mean ease of use of the XEDE, connecting a PC to it is pretty easy. The XMap program is not exactly the friendliest program at first, but it's not really bad, just takes a bit of experimenting to figure out what you're doing.
3. Power gain. Impressive. Same dyno testing, I gained 97 WHP over the stock setup.
4. Sound of exhaust. I'm not using the Vishnu pipes, but I don't imagine that makes a big difference. It sounds very much like a tuned-up 4 cyl motor with cams.
5. Reliability. Seems fine. I drive the car daily, and did a 1200-mile round trip from DC to Atlanta recently. The car always starts, and has stalled from idle exactly once. Just be sure to feed it good gasoline -- on my trip to Atlanta, I occasionally had either the XEDE or the ECU (not sure which) greatly restricting my boost, most likely due to my inability to find my beloved 94 octane Sunoco gas. Shutting the engine off and restarting it generally restored full boost functionality.
>1. Installation( if you did it your self or if you had a shop install it >how much was labor)
I did the install myself, breaks down like this; ECU was about 5 mins to take out, about 2 mins to put back in (No Xede for me). I have the Turbo-Back exhaust, not to be confused with the other exhausts that go from the O2 housing back. Install was relatively straightforward, if not quite time consuming. First, the guy who designed the splashguard with 87,000 plastic push pins needs a kick in the nuts. Radiator and fan removal was actually really easy after you get the driver side bottom IC hard pipe off (a must) just be careful with the radiator and its fins, they could damage very easily (i used the bubble wrap included in the exhaust to protect it). The exhaust tolerances were very tight, in fact the bottom stud securing the flange actually contacted the divorced pipe about 1/4 inch before the flange was securely seated on the gasket. I took to it with a propane torch and got the pipe hot enough to deflect a little while I torqued the nut down the last couple of turns. As for the nuts on the bottom side, prepare to fill the swear jar and have some spare knuckle skin ready. After some serious Kama Sutra Yoga **** performed under the lift, it all went together. Complete install took me 8 hours to do by myself (first time as well, would be faster now) including lunch with the fiance and bull****ting with a couple buddies and me taking my time. Note I did have a lift, would be much more of a pain on jackstands.
2. Ease of use
With no Xede, simple, drive the car like you would any old day.
3. Power gain
Impressive. Whereas the car seemed to top out on forward g's at 3k RPM stock, it now pulls like a beast all the way to redline (note I do not have my cam gears yet, this should help top end even more). I don't care about 1/4 mile or drag racing, but the area under the curve is much greater across the powerband.
4. Sound of Exhaust
Hard to quantify, more a subjective rating. Slightly louder than I expected, though my last car had a GReddy (very quiet) exhaust. It has a very deep tone to it and does not drone. Radio had to be turned up a little, and you will notice it in the cabin with the windows up cruising at about 70mph. I think the EVO now sounds like a sports car should. Plus I now hear the turbo whoosh under WOT as soon as peak boost builds all the way to redline. Definitely sounds like a turbo car now.
5. Realibility issues (stalling, hard idle)
None, though it is interesting that 2 days after the install I blew the number 8 engine fuse and it totally wiped out all spark. Seems to be a freak occurrence though, had it at the dealer and they could not figure it out. Changed fuse and it has not acted up since. Mitsu tech lines best answer was that my car was loaded with army gear and that the extra weight blew the fuse because the car was not designed to carry stuff around. I call b.s. but so far it has not blown the fuse again and just to be sure I carry a bunch of extra fuses with me now.
6. Any other things youi want to add
Never heard of TaipanXP exhausts before, but they sure do make a pretty exhaust, almost a shame you can't see it. Australian company apparently, but their website is under construction. I'm an aussie myself, so I don't mind staying true blue, just surprised to see an australian exhaust from vishnu, maybe it's an inside connection with Brett. Oh, one last thing, the crossmenber extensions that came with the exhaust are way too long, they clear the exhaust and then some. I actually got hung up on the lift trying to drive off, had to use a jack to get past the ramps. I'm gonna try to cut them down whenever I get a chance, think I might be able to take a good 3/4 of an inch off. Hope this helps and I sure hope my cam gears get here soon. Haven't done that install but don't think it will take any more than about an hour to knock out. Going to have to buy some threaded rod here soon.
I did the install myself, breaks down like this; ECU was about 5 mins to take out, about 2 mins to put back in (No Xede for me). I have the Turbo-Back exhaust, not to be confused with the other exhausts that go from the O2 housing back. Install was relatively straightforward, if not quite time consuming. First, the guy who designed the splashguard with 87,000 plastic push pins needs a kick in the nuts. Radiator and fan removal was actually really easy after you get the driver side bottom IC hard pipe off (a must) just be careful with the radiator and its fins, they could damage very easily (i used the bubble wrap included in the exhaust to protect it). The exhaust tolerances were very tight, in fact the bottom stud securing the flange actually contacted the divorced pipe about 1/4 inch before the flange was securely seated on the gasket. I took to it with a propane torch and got the pipe hot enough to deflect a little while I torqued the nut down the last couple of turns. As for the nuts on the bottom side, prepare to fill the swear jar and have some spare knuckle skin ready. After some serious Kama Sutra Yoga **** performed under the lift, it all went together. Complete install took me 8 hours to do by myself (first time as well, would be faster now) including lunch with the fiance and bull****ting with a couple buddies and me taking my time. Note I did have a lift, would be much more of a pain on jackstands.
2. Ease of use
With no Xede, simple, drive the car like you would any old day.
3. Power gain
Impressive. Whereas the car seemed to top out on forward g's at 3k RPM stock, it now pulls like a beast all the way to redline (note I do not have my cam gears yet, this should help top end even more). I don't care about 1/4 mile or drag racing, but the area under the curve is much greater across the powerband.
4. Sound of Exhaust
Hard to quantify, more a subjective rating. Slightly louder than I expected, though my last car had a GReddy (very quiet) exhaust. It has a very deep tone to it and does not drone. Radio had to be turned up a little, and you will notice it in the cabin with the windows up cruising at about 70mph. I think the EVO now sounds like a sports car should. Plus I now hear the turbo whoosh under WOT as soon as peak boost builds all the way to redline. Definitely sounds like a turbo car now.
5. Realibility issues (stalling, hard idle)
None, though it is interesting that 2 days after the install I blew the number 8 engine fuse and it totally wiped out all spark. Seems to be a freak occurrence though, had it at the dealer and they could not figure it out. Changed fuse and it has not acted up since. Mitsu tech lines best answer was that my car was loaded with army gear and that the extra weight blew the fuse because the car was not designed to carry stuff around. I call b.s. but so far it has not blown the fuse again and just to be sure I carry a bunch of extra fuses with me now.
6. Any other things youi want to add
Never heard of TaipanXP exhausts before, but they sure do make a pretty exhaust, almost a shame you can't see it. Australian company apparently, but their website is under construction. I'm an aussie myself, so I don't mind staying true blue, just surprised to see an australian exhaust from vishnu, maybe it's an inside connection with Brett. Oh, one last thing, the crossmenber extensions that came with the exhaust are way too long, they clear the exhaust and then some. I actually got hung up on the lift trying to drive off, had to use a jack to get past the ramps. I'm gonna try to cut them down whenever I get a chance, think I might be able to take a good 3/4 of an inch off. Hope this helps and I sure hope my cam gears get here soon. Haven't done that install but don't think it will take any more than about an hour to knock out. Going to have to buy some threaded rod here soon.
Just a technique I used to loosen the cam bolts that may help some. I didn't have an extra set of hands, so I loosened the bolts before I did anything.
Basically before I even TDC'd the pulleys I wedged a wrench between the motor mount and exhaust cam gear to prevent the pulley assembly from turning while I broke the bolts loose, then I timed the pulleys afterwards before proceeding with the swap.
Basically before I even TDC'd the pulleys I wedged a wrench between the motor mount and exhaust cam gear to prevent the pulley assembly from turning while I broke the bolts loose, then I timed the pulleys afterwards before proceeding with the swap.
Last edited by n00dle; Feb 25, 2004 at 04:23 PM.
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So you pulled this off with out pulling (sorry for the pun) the valve cover?
Does anyone believe that with air tools the cam bolts can be undone with just belt tension?
Does anyone believe that with air tools the cam bolts can be undone with just belt tension?
Originally posted by n00dle
Just a technique I used to loosen the cam bolts that may help some. I didn't have an extra set of hands, so I loosened the bolts before I did anything.
Basically before I even TDC'd the pulleys I wedged a wrench between the motor mount and exhaust cam gear to prevent the pulley assembly from turning while I broke the bolts loose, then I timed the pulleys afterwards before proceeding with the swap.
Just a technique I used to loosen the cam bolts that may help some. I didn't have an extra set of hands, so I loosened the bolts before I did anything.
Basically before I even TDC'd the pulleys I wedged a wrench between the motor mount and exhaust cam gear to prevent the pulley assembly from turning while I broke the bolts loose, then I timed the pulleys afterwards before proceeding with the swap.
Yes, I loosened the bolts prior to removing the valve cover. Once I had the bolts loose I removed the valve cover and used a cresent wrench to help position the camshafts when slipping the belt and new gears on. I've used this technique on other cars, so I was completely comfortable with what I was doing. Experience pays and sometimes there's more than one way to do something. Maybe unconventional, but it get's the job done.
I would never try to use impact tools on engine components only suspension parts.
I would never try to use impact tools on engine components only suspension parts.
Last edited by n00dle; Feb 26, 2004 at 11:44 AM.
if you want to do it right, with the least possible chance of damage - take off the valve cover and hold the cam (there's a big hex, don't remember what size wrench it is... maybe 1 1/16") with a wrench and then loosen the bolt. takes two people really.
