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Stage 2 questions, what do i need?

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México
#1
Hello!! I have a fiesta st 2016 mk7, i already have mountune rear mount, ramair foam filter, gfb dv+, ngk iridium 5810 gapped 0.026, what else do i need For stage 2? I ordered cobb intercooler... I dont know if i need only a full intake or a catback, or i can use the full intake with stock catback or stock intake with aftermarket catback. I already have my accesport. Thank you!
 


Dialcaliper

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#2
What’s your definition of “Stage 2”?

In the US, our tuners that use Cobb software (Dizzy, Stratified, Tune+, etc) here basically say the only vital thing actually required for a “stage 2” tune is an intercooler, and maybe regapped spark plugs.

Everything else is nice to haves, quality of life (like RMM), or candy with a little more “oomph” Where stage 2 is defined as “intercooler and whatever else you want, or nothing but with stock turbo and stock fuel.

What you have on the car is fine for Stage 1, add an intercooler for Stage 2, everything else optional.

Basically some other stuff is good to have and may squeak out a little extra power (intakes, crossover, etc etc) but there’s nothing else that’s actually required to run the tune safely. The 1.6 Ecoboost can basically adapt to anything else.
 


pixelzombie

Active member
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Chicago, IL, USA
#3
What’s your definition of “Stage 2”?

In the US, our tuners that use Cobb software (Dizzy, Stratified, Tune+, etc) here basically say the only vital thing actually required for a “stage 2” tune is an intercooler, and maybe regapped spark plugs.

Everything else is nice to haves, quality of life (like RMM), or candy with a little more “oomph” Where stage 2 is defined as “intercooler and whatever else you want, or nothing but with stock turbo and stock fuel.

What you have on the car is fine for Stage 1, add an intercooler for Stage 2, everything else optional.

Basically some other stuff is good to have and may squeak out a little extra power (intakes, crossover, etc etc) but there’s nothing else that’s actually required to run the tune safely. The 1.6 Ecoboost can basically adapt to anything else.
Are the plugs gapped larger or small than stock?

The support staff at Cobb are saying that a full intake is required for the Stage 2 OTS maps
 


Dialcaliper

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#4
Are the plugs gapped larger or small than stock?

The support staff at Cobb are saying that a full intake is required for the Stage 2 OTS maps
Gap is slightly smaller than stock. 0.030” is stock, 0.028” is sufficient for a stage 2. Smaller gaps are only needed with upgraded turbos and higher boost. You can even regap them yourself with a spark plug tool.

You can run Cobb Stage 2 and even their old Stage 3 maps safely with nothing but the intercooler and plugs - the Cobb tunes are extremely conservative, unless maybe you live at high altitude. I’ve run both and never seen the OAR budge once.

The Ecoboost ECU is remarkably adaptive - the Dizzy and Stratified tunes are more aggressive than any of the Cobb tunes and yet are still fine with only those mods, per their recommendations.
 


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Pittsburgh
#5
Cobb told me that without the intake you should just run a stage 1 map, even with an intercooler. I’m skeptical of this but that’s what they said.
 


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Western NY
#6
Replace your paper air filter with a washable foam or oiled (K&N style) filter and call it a day!
 


Messages
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1
Location
Escondido
#7
What’s your definition of “Stage 2”?

In the US, our tuners that use Cobb software (Dizzy, Stratified, Tune+, etc) here basically say the only vital thing actually required for a “stage 2” tune is an intercooler, and maybe regapped spark plugs.

Everything else is nice to haves, quality of life (like RMM), or candy with a little more “oomph” Where stage 2 is defined as “intercooler and whatever else you want, or nothing but with stock turbo and stock fuel.

What you have on the car is fine for Stage 1, add an intercooler for Stage 2, everything else optional.

Basically some other stuff is good to have and may squeak out a little extra power (intakes, crossover, etc etc) but there’s nothing else that’s actually required to run the tune safely. The 1.6 Ecoboost can basically adapt to anything else.
You've said a whole lot of nothing here! I bought the complete cobb stage 2 package (u can see on line what it includes), cat back MBRP exhaust (loved its sound), slotted & cross drilled brakes (they stop on a dime & give back 9 cents in change) I use BF Goodrich Comp TA 2 Tires. Is stock suspension good? What is really necessary? I need 2 keep it CA street legal.
 


Grsemky

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Arizona
#9
You've said a whole lot of nothing here! I bought the complete cobb stage 2 package (u can see on line what it includes), cat back MBRP exhaust (loved its sound), slotted & cross drilled brakes (they stop on a dime & give back 9 cents in change) I use BF Goodrich Comp TA 2 Tires. Is stock suspension good? What is really necessary? I need 2 keep it CA street legal.
His point was "stages" are arbitrary... Every tuner has a different map and ones stage 1 could be anothers stage three🤷🏼‍♂️ not that it matters this is an old thread... Also factory brakes stop just as good, big brakes only resist fade and exhaust only adds noise no performance gain on a stock turbo
 


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#10
You've said a whole lot of nothing here! I bought the complete cobb stage 2 package (u can see on line what it includes), cat back MBRP exhaust (loved its sound), slotted & cross drilled brakes (they stop on a dime & give back 9 cents in change) I use BF Goodrich Comp TA 2 Tires. Is stock suspension good? What is really necessary? I need 2 keep it CA street legal.
To clarify, all you need in order to run any US Stage 2 Accessport based tune (or even a COBB stage “3” which is worse than many stage 2 tunes) is an intercooler and step colder plugs.

Everything else is arbitrary and optional for your choose of sound, visuals and maybe a tiny HP difference that you’d have a tricky time even measuring repeatably on a Dyno, much less a vDyno log.

The stock hairdryer turbo is a significant flow bottleneck compared to everything else in the system, so until you get to a turbo upgrade, basically nothing matters, besides an Intercooler to cool down the charge air coming from our little turbo that’s running really inefficiently way off the right side of its compressor map.
 


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#12
If the sound check crap goes through, you might have a problem with your exhaust if it's that loud. I have a stock system and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Apparently like everything else there’s misinformation about what was actually “new” in 2018

Sema has a good article
https://www.sema.org/news-media/ene...h-regarding-californias-new-exhaust-noise-law

Nothing actually changed about the noise laws or enforcement or any sort of mandatory testing. The only thing that actually changed was that you can be issued a ticket with a fine instead of a fix-it ticket.

The more recent bill (2022) only authorized a limited number of CA cities to pilot test automated enforcement machines (like red light cameras) - the bill that actually passed only allowed studies and testing to be performed with no enforcement

https://www.sema.org/news-media/enews/2022/26/california-lawmakers-amend-exhaust-noise-camera-bill
 


TyphoonFiST

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Rich-fizzield
#14
What’s your definition of “Stage 2”?

In the US, our tuners that use Cobb software (Dizzy, Stratified, Tune+, etc) here basically say the only vital thing actually required for a “stage 2” tune is an intercooler, and maybe regapped spark plugs.

Everything else is nice to haves, quality of life (like RMM), or candy with a little more “oomph” Where stage 2 is defined as “intercooler and whatever else you want, or nothing but with stock turbo and stock fuel.

What you have on the car is fine for Stage 1, add an intercooler for Stage 2, everything else optional.

Basically some other stuff is good to have and may squeak out a little extra power (intakes, crossover, etc etc) but there’s nothing else that’s actually required to run the tune safely. The 1.6 Ecoboost can basically adapt to anything else.
Screenshot_20250424_233356_Chrome.jpg
 


Messages
2
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0
Location
California
#15
For a proper Stage 2 tune, you will need a high-flow downpipe, as it is the primary bottleneck for power at this stage. Your intercooler is essential, but a full intake or catback exhaust are supporting mods for sound and response, not mandatory power-adding requirements for the tune itself.







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