My car is slow, so I have decided a staged kit is the way to go. What one of these kits would I benefit the most from?

GM stage 2

ZZP stage 3

OTT stage 2

 

i like zzp

 

buy the parts you want and then get a custom tune @ your local speed shop. "canned" tunes suck. i got a stage kit but ended up doing a custom build. while replacing my pistons with forged ones, i saw that my original pistons had so much carbon and "soot" on them with only less than a year of driving on them. this way you will get more power out of the parts that you spent soo much money on anyway and your engine will run clean and more efficient

 

ZZP is best bang for buck, but "people" say their canned tune isn't that great and ott's is better, i have no experience with either. but they have made quite a few fast cobalts and redlines and hold a few records ...

so its a toss up between ott and zzp, id go zzp but I'm just fan from the 3800 days . I'm sure tons of people will want to Chaim in.

I wouldn't say canned tuns suck, they just aren't as good and are better than stock or GM stage II tune.
Canned tunes have to be safe , because they don't know what kind of climate the car will be run in. Getting someone that knows how to tune to tune your car can be expensive ...more expensive than the stage kit it self when you add up dyno time and such. I think most will be happy with a canned tune , then when you want more you can still get it tuned down the line.

 

I would go with the zzp stage 3 and then go get it protuned after, and all tunes from those shops arent really that good, decent but protuned is better by far

 

i had the old ottp stage 1 and loved it . but if i was you i would gather all the parts and then get a custom tune done

 

bah with the extra heat exchangers and junk. if you want to cool it more, fix the parts that are already there, don't add more junk to them.

coat the header, dual pass (with no option b junk), get the current exchanger coated with thermal dispersant etc... there's alot of things you can do that will help without adding extra parts

 

ZZP's stage 3 and OTTP's stage 2 are the same thing because ZZP allows you to choose your pulley size. OTTP uses 2.8" which is widely considered to be the most efficient size for the M62. They also both include the heat exchanger now so either way, you aren't going wrong parts wise. I have not had experience with a ZZP tune so I cannot say anything about it but I currently have the OTTP stage 2 tune on my car and it runs awesome and idles like stock. No one on an OTTP tune has ever blown a motor and i know of a few locals who blew motors on custom tunes (tune time performance anyone?) with the same mods. So just keep that in mind.

 

good point. Custom tunes are great for people that know how to tune, that can keep an eye on whats going on, but some tunes are pushed to far for peak power.
if you dont have a AFR or EGT or knock gauge,id stick with a canned tune, its better than stock ,but safer than pro tune right in the middle.

buying one of the two kits is the most economical method, buying all the parts separate plus tuning is way more expensive.

 

you guys are making it hard for me to decide now...OTT2...or...ZZP3...I'm just wondering which one has the superb tune because I have no tuning options here

 

Go zzp its cheaper, you can put what you save to a header , you'll need it with the small pulley.

 

only cheaper if you get a heat exchanger. saves $75 if not and goes with ottp.

but for the OP instead of talking about us with it, call ottp/zzp and see if they will cut you a deal on anything.

 

the zzp stage 3 comes with a HE no matter what , you just get to pick what size , so you could go with a smaller HE and save. even ZZp admits there's not much of a difference in performance between different HE cores... they just offer different cores to stay competitive.

http://www.zzperformance.com/cobalt_...new1.php?id=49

 

I've heard positive and negative about ZZP's tune and I've only heard positive (and have had a positive experience) with OTTP so just look around and see whose happy with what. Chances are, you'll come up with OTTP having the "superb" tune but I dont think there is really that much of a difference TBH. I'm running OTTP without a new heat exchanger and I've been fine for months (still meaning to get one but I'm broke and my tires are shot so they come first :lol)