Ok…where do I even start?!?!? Well, as many of you know, this board is very addicting when it comes to modifying our cars, etc. There are never enough mods to do and a bystander lurking these boards might think we are all seriously insane! The name of this site should really be modaholics…with a warning disclaimer…stating the consequences of joining this board…going broke, getting fired from work, getting a divorce, etc. for spending too much time and money here! LOL!

Anyway, as 99.9% of us are HP junkies, I decided to take on this new project in search of more HP/TQ but more importantly better efficiency. I decided that with the great success that I’ve had with the UPSOLUTE program (19K miles chipped with no problems at all and great diagnostics), I would stick with it and go with Kevin’s Stage II turbos. These turbos utilize the K16 housing, but have a larger compressor wheel than the K24. This means very quick spool up and more power than K24s. Anyway, Kevin can answer any of the specifics.

Before I go into the details, I have to give credit where credit is due.

First to Kevin for supplying these awesome turbos for an incredible price. The quality and craftsmanship was top notch and almost too nice to install! However, nothing will compare to the level of customer service that I received from him. I am mechanically inclined, so I decided to take on the daunting task of installing these turbos myself. KPV mentioned this before and I will reiterate, if you don’t have a good grasp of working on cars, forget about taking on this task. There are too many risks involved that could cost you a pretty penny should things go wrong. With that said, I was confident I could do it, but it was Kevin’s tips and patience that enabled me to get the job done right. Hat’s off to you. Your service and knowledge alone is worth more than what I paid for these turbos. Thanks again for everything. I will certainly refer your services to everyone that I know and of course when we take on the next project! Did someone say StageIII turbos?

Next shout out goes to Rene at Upsolute. We went through revision after revision and finally got this nailed down perfectly. Rene’s consistent availability to work with me can not go without mention! His patience and prioritizing this project with me was a huge factor in ensuring we had an excellent program to work with these turbos. Just to give you an idea, we used the Upsolute GT2 program as a baseline but went approx 10-15% richer across the board with other tweaks and we were still running lean with these turbos. The second revision changed the boost mapping for quicker boost delivery, more fueling toward the upper end of the powerband resulting in better A/F and increasing the Airflow mapping so that the PSM/ABS lights were not triggered. With the first revision alone, I went from 330 gm/sec airflow with my K16s/Upsolute (which was very fast…as some of the stageIV owners can confirm) to 385gm/sec with these turbos and new program. We went for another revision to deliver even more fuel which bumped my Airflow to 425gm/sec and A/F range from 11.6-12.3. The latest revision increased boost to hold 1.2 bar and perfect A/F to 11.4-11.9. There might be one other revision in the works to hold 1.3 bar, but right now, im very pleased with the performance and diagnostics.

The car is running perfectly. The power delivery is excellent and the boost…well…you just have to see for yourself. The spool up of these Stage II turbos is extremely fast and once power is on, forget it!

So, you guys are probably wondering how fast? Well, I have yet to dyno, but to give you a real world comparison, as part of "The Six Pack" crew, I have my choice of StageIV cars to compare. Mind you, these are StageIVs that dynoed over 500+ AWHP…so they are legit and very fast. We decided to line up side by side around 65-70 in 3rd gear and go at it on the count of 3. This way, there was no driver advantage, etc. and we were on equal grounds. Each and everytime, my boost would spool up faster and I would get the jump and hold that lead the entire way. I believe we took it up to top of 5th. If the GIAC IV got the jump, we would be neck and neck the entire way. We ran many times, at different speeds, etc. and this was the confirmed outcome. We both agreed that I had a much larger margin of error because of the immediate boost spool up.

All in all, I am ecstatic with the results. My main reason for going this route was to have a little more power but most importantly to have better efficiency. In addition to achieving my goals, I received a reliable 600+HP package for an incredible price of only $2250!!!!!! Yes folks, that includes 2 Stage II turbo chargers and a Custom Upsolute program. That’s less than a stage I giac ecu!!!!!!

This is not intended to start a flaming war between GIAC and Upsolute, however with the success that I’ve had with Upsolute…it was a no brainer! I will be the first to admit that I used to believe the mentality that you do get what you pay for when it came to performance. With my E36 M3, I was one of the first to get an ECU program from Dinan (the RUF of BMW). That was just the beginning and in the end I ended up spending over 30K to get 370 FWHP (blower, pulley, TB, custom intake, suspension, etc. etc.). Several months after Dinan released their ECUs, there were a number of other tuning companies that had more powerful yet still reliable programs for a fraction of what I paid. The same applies to blowers, etc. Now, who knows? There are so many tuning companies out there. Long story short, don’t believe the hype. There are plenty of guys running a package a 3rd of what I paid and very reliable that would walk me up and down the road. You learn from your experiences. There are many guys that will always use RUF or other tuners b/c of their great experiences and that’s great! Whatever works for you!

For me, I made a vow to always do my research before throwing down cash on something I knew very little about. As a result, it has been a very rewarding experience.

I’ve never bad mouthed a tuning company that I had no experience with and will never do it. I along with many, many others that have upsolute have been very satisfied customers with exception of 1 or 2. However, that goes with any other tuning company out there.

For all you skeptics, the proof is in the pudding. I had the upsolute with the K16s for over 19K hard driven miles and not one problem. This is more miles that some of you will ever have on your Turbos. I use the car as a daily driver and every chance I get (after the car is properly warmed up of course), I get on the boost on my 40 mile round trip commute! I’ll be the judge of what’s reliable and what is not. There are a lot turbo owners that wonder about reliability, etc. when modifying but only drive the damn thing on weekends or less than 5K miles a year. With that said…there is no question of reliability. The song has drastically changed from about a year ago. It went from “Upsolute is junk, crap, you get what you pay for nonsense, etc. to upsolute is a great package for K16s”. Well, I can and will tell you, it’s also a great package for K24s and even bigger turbos. Yes, I had to experiment and work through several revisions, however, now that the program is perfected, you don’t have to do the legwork. This a project that I took on for myself only…however, you reap the benefits should you go this route.

Next, I’ll probably aim my sights on a bigger and badder turbo…utilizing upsolute again!

For anyone that is interested, contact both Kevin and Rene and mention the StageII turbo with Upsolute and you’ll be set up just like I was. For those of you that are GIAC fans, well, this might bring some good news to you as GIAC will most likely have to lower their pricing if they even want to remotely compete with Upsolute. I agree customer service is everything…well, you get the best of both worlds from Kevin and Rene…Great pricing/performance and excellent/attentive service.

If you have any questions…just reply to this thread as im sure many others will have the same questions, etc.

Happy motoring!!!!!

 

Custom Upsolute 1.2 bar program: $650.00
Custom Stage II Turbos: $1600.00
Custom Ported Headers: $0.00
Custom Airbox: $0.00
BMC filter: $130.00
EVO DVs: $280.00
Fabspeed Exhaust: $2200.00

Your 15K+ setup getting waxed by me. Priceless

Excellent, really!

Are you Korean by any chance? Great negotiators/businessmen.

 

Dan, I am! LOL!... however, if you met some of my korean clients...you would be astounded by the level of discounting that they ask for!

 

How did you measure the A/F ratios when you were tuning the revisions? Did you use 93 octane pump gas?

 

congrats!very impressive!awaiting the rtn of my upsolute ecu n is interested in knowing how does upsolute charge to further upgrade to the level you hv mentioned?

 

I have a datalogging application running off of a laptop that hooks up to my obdII port that logs data every .001 seconds. It measures up to 6 parameters at once...very cool tool!

http://www.ghg.net/dharrison/

I can also run realtime AF...however I just need to watch the monitor as it will not log in that mode. The results are very accurate as i compared the A/F results using this application with my previous dyno runs (upsolute and K16 setup). Yes, this was programmed for 93 pump gas. You can have it setup for 91 octane if you're in CA.

 

A whopping 150.00!!!!!

However, we spent about 1 month, testing and revising 4 times to finally get it right!

 

OH yeah...StageIII turbos from Kevin with fine tuned upsolute will put you in or above stageIV GT category for you really crazy power junkies!

The StageIII program is not out yet...however, if you cant wait for me to test and revise (which i'll probably do later on down the road), please take the honors!

 

Ok - I have an x50 with the k-24's - What upsolute program is there for me to get ?

 

Standard Upsolute X50 Ecu....

There are 3 levels out there...

K16
X50/GT2
StageII turbo (what I have)

 

Great post! Like yourself, I've been an fan of Upsolute since day one. And it has been a troublefree experience both on the street and track.

Just recently, I had actually started to consider EVO's kits in search of more power. But it looks like for me, all I need is the turbos, pay the upgrade charge, and I'll be ready to rock and roll!

You HAVE to keep us posted as to the dyno numbers once they are available. Since you've already got your regular Upsolute dyno files already, it'll be really interesting to see them overlayed!

Don't keep us waiting too long!
Stephen

 

I have a very different view on these turbos and I will share at later dare the truth about zero clearance.

 

these are not zero clearance turbos... just a step up from K24s....very similar to GT1s, but larger wheel.

 

What is the A/F ratio under light throttle cruise or slow acceleration? Do you need a lift to remove and replace the turbos?

 

I have a totally stock 03 GT 2. What difference would I notice with the upsolute ecu? I do not track the car and most of my driving is around the city. Two guys moved in down the street from me and both drive Vipers. I know the day is coming when we will meet at the traffic signal. What can I expect if I decide to do a quick race to 80 mph?