Don't get me wrong, I know how these computers are running these cars and I can tune the crap out of a non-computer auto and I'm sure with some guidance I can program my cobalt.
My question is how far can I go on the stage 2 reflash.
My first order will be to do the dual pass and the CA heat exchanger,exhaust, header, then the stage 2 soon after. Then after the funds replenish I thought about GMPP head, and a set of Comp Cams.
I'm thinking when I go to my second set of mods I'm in the relm of a programmer to make up for the increased air flow and cam duration.
Any help is appriciated.

 

I think on the stage 2 reflash you are good to do bolt ons, plus a 2.9 pulley, but I think thats as far as you can go. I, personally, only really want to go down to the stage 3 pulley (3.06") on stage 2 without a tune and monitoring, but thats just me. Of course, you can go to town on suspension mods too, which are always good. I just got the progress rear sway bar, and its great.

BTW, welcome to the site!

 

why even get stage 2 flash if you are going to invest in a reprogrammer such as a HP Tuners?

 

if u want to go straight to tuning yourself, just skip stage 2. get a canned tune and a decent aftermarket stage kit and go from there. you'll save quite a bit of money. stage 2 (GM) is only good if you want some decent power and a warranty. good mod path to start, but just search around the site a bit (or just keep on eye on the 2.0 forums for a bit)

 

if you get the cooling mods and stage 2 and exhaust you should be sitting tight with a 2.9" pulley. If you need more, then scrap the stage 2 idea right now lol

 

Ok, if I keep the waranty people happy and just stage 2, do the exhaust, header, high flow cat, dual pass, and CA heat exchanger with my AEM intake I'm feelin bout a 280 hp range right.
Now if I go the other route what would be my best choice for a programmer that'll be fairly user friendly? I just need one that is straight forward and detailed. I can comprehend what egts, afts, afr and so on are just want something that dosn't take alot to make the adjustments needed.

 

280?? You are over shooting a lot my friend. You will prob. be in the 245, maybe 250 range with those mods. Remember HE and dual pass dont give you more ponies just help with cooling. Which means the ponies stay there no matter how much you run the car.

 

If you're going to do stage 2 and care about your warranty you may actually want to ask one of the dealers that you may go to what he thinks about mods. Reason I say that is because some dealers are pretty tight and from the list you have right here some dealers would find a problem with the CA heat exchanger and a few other parts simply because they aren't GM parts, that's it. Some will be cool about it and some will not work with you at all. As far as the power, you won't hit 280hp at the wheels, but it will be a nice number.

Now if you say screw it to all I just said, then skip Stage II. There are many choices beyond this point; HP Tuners is good for tuning. Search around you'll learn alot.

Edit: With this car, when you bolt on a kit you do gain alot of horsepower at once; 210WHP to 240WHP is a big jump. From that point on, you can still gain power but you can't quite expect every mod you add to gain you 10-15WHP. Very few people have broken 300WHP on the blower without nitrous, at least I've not seen many.

 

i put down 207whp=240hp stock
stage 2 should give u like 40hp they say


so thas should be about 280hp

like 245whp?

 

Right, all the #'s I see are about 20% loss of hp to the wheels. If I can get the motor up to about another 100hp I'd be happy but I don't see that under waranty.
Another question, is there a reason the boost on these motors come on trhew the rpm range, are the superchargers fairly large for the motor and they're just spinning them slow and it takes the higher rpms to get it spun up?? I know when I built my blown big block chevy I went with a smaller blower that spun faster because the boost is imidiate where the bigger (6-71) would have actualy made the truck slower.