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Power Strokes
6.0 Aftermarket
Stage 2 vs 2.5 vs 3 VGT Turbos (Barder or KC)
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[QUOTE="KCTurbos, post: 1039969, member: 13852"] Well why don't you tell us a little more about your setup. We might be able to help point you in the right direction. Are you running a billet wheel? What are your max WOT egts? Does your truck run really smokey under WOT once the turbo spools? Why r you switching? Smoke? EGTS? Drive ability? Etc? Do you tow? How heavy do you tow? Is your truck lifted? What size tires? What gear ratio? Which turbo I would recommend will come down to how you answer the questions above. KC TURBO OPTIONS Stage 1.5 Turbo (AKA Street/Tow) – 63.5x88mm single plane billet wheel with extended tips, .72ar race compressor cover, 72.5x66 13 blade turbine wheel, new high flowing billet vanes, stainless steel unison ring, and upgraded 360 thrust bearing. Recommended for stock – 175cc injectors (will run smoky on 175s with a race tune) Stage 2 Turbo (AKA Extreme Street/ Light Tow) – 64x88mm single plane billet wheel with extended tips, .72ar race compressor cover, 72.5x66 10 blade turbine wheel, and upgraded 360 thrust bearing. Recommended for 155cc – 190cc injectors (will run smoky on 190s with a race tune) Stage 3 Turbo (AKA Extreme Street/Race) – 67.8x94mm single plane billet wheel with extended tips to 100mm, .72ar race compressor cover, 74x70 gt40 10 blade turbine wheel, new high flowing billet vanes, stainless steel unison ring, and upgraded 360 thrust bearing. Recommended for 175 – 205cc injectors (will run smoky on 205s with a race tune) Everyone has their own opinions.... but these are mine with regards to how these turbos compare with your current setup. The stage 1.5 is very close in size to the powermax but it runs a 13 bladed turbine instead of a 10 bladed turbine. This turbo size is meant for those who are not looking to make big power, but just want a good all around versatile turbo. It will spool up SUPER faster and keep cruising, towing, and daily driving egts right where you want them. The downside of the 13 blade turbine is that it does not have the top end flowing capabilities of the 10 bladed wheels so the power will be lacking in the high rpms. With your current setup you should see an increase in spool up, but you will lose a little top end power. The stage 2 and and a billet powermax are VERY VERY VERY close in size. I would venture to say that there would be little to no difference on the track depending on which billet wheel you have (there are many different sizes of pmax billet wheels). If you are unahappy with a billet pmax... then a stage 2 turbo is not going to make that big of a difference. They share the same turbine wheel, vanes, center section, compressor inducer, etc... the only difference is some "stage 2 turbos" have a VERY VERY minimal increase on the inducer size. It is basically the smallest turbo upgrade possible. There is a bigger difference between a 2004 stock turbo vs 2007 stock turbo (and most people don't notice any difference). That is not to say that the stage 2 turbo is a bad turbo by any means... It is an AWESOME upgrade for anyone with a stock turbo. But IMO it is not worth the time and/or effort for someone already have a good running a billet pmax. If you are in need of a rebuild then it is a good small upgrade. If you have a good running cast wheeled pmax, then you might want to try installing a billet wheel to see how you like it. The stage 2 is a middle of the road turbo for those with medium size injectors that are not looking to win any races, but are still looking for some of that top end power. KC turbos does not offer a stage 2.5 anymore. There was just not enough difference between a stage 2 and stage 3 to justify a difference in size. Some guys bought it hoping for a slightly upgraded stage 2 and felt like it had too many attributes of a stage 3 turbo, which disappointed them because they were really looking for a slightly better stage 2 turbo. The Stage 3 will clean up 175cc injectors to nothing... not even a faint haze. It should drive pretty well on the streets and have tons of top end power. During most daily driving situations you will not notice very much of a difference in spool up between the stage 2 and stage 3. You will notice it more when the tq converter is locked up in OD at lower rpms. You will also notice that the stage 3 runs slightly higher cruising egts (like 800-900) vs stage 2 (750-850). That is just because a bigger turbo will not run as well at lower rpms causing higher egts... but it will have cooler egts at the higher rpms during a hard WOT situation. I hope that answers some of your questions [/QUOTE]
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Stage 2 vs 2.5 vs 3 VGT Turbos (Barder or KC)
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