Stage 1 question
 

Hello anyone and everyone, ive been searching around and cant seem to find an exact answer. Would installing 42lb injectors and having a shop dyno tune be the same as the gm stage 1 kit? It doesnt seem like hardly anyone ever went for stage 1, and this video kind of scares me away, although i kind of think it was the maybe the tuner?

well, thats all the gm stage 1 kit was, the 42lb injectors and a reflash, so yes, it would essentially be the same thing.

not many people went for stage 1, why go for a 20hp gain when you could have a 40hp gain?

something seems odd in that video. stock they are rated at 205 flywheel hp, dynos typically show 190-200 whp. being 211 stock and not gaining anything with the stage 1? and was it a real gm injectors and flash, or some 42lb injectors and someones tune?

thanks for the reply, yeah it stinks that the vid is so old and theres no other info about it, but i do think it was just a bad tune. And the stage 1 route just sounds so easy and hassle free where as stage 2 requires removing stock sc pulley and replacing belt as well as injectors, and for only 15 more.

you don't really gain any power from only getting larger injectors. you aren't increasing the airflow over stock by just installing injectors. the other thing about that video is that he had the car dynoed on 2 different days, but didn't mention the temperatures on either day. and we don't know if his ic pump was working either. (I didn't watch the whole thing though)

that's the whole point of the smaller pulley, to bring in more air. but you need injectors to support the extra airflow, because the stock injectors are maxed out from the factory.

getting the pulley installed isn't that much of a hassle. I know injectors are easy, but the pulley isn't bad if you have a good puller/installing tool

if you go that route though, I wouldn't recommend spending the money on gms2, unless you just want the hassle free part of a reflash from the dealer

the inj were dam near maxed from the factory and you will pick up hp from an inj change it gives you room to up the rpm and to run an aggressive timing map

i emailed zzp about their pcm 1.0 and they said if i got 42# injectors and this pcm it would be better than gms1 and at around $270 for injectors and the pcm after core refund, that seems like a good deal considering the local dyno tuner charges 100-125 an hr for tuning.

Honestly man I would just go right to stage 2..that's what I did and it was well worth it and a big difference..if not GM stage 2 there are other stage kits out with good power to be had

I would just get a "custom" kit. I don't think you will be happy with just a "stage 1" kit. Like it has already been said in this post, all you get is the ability to run more RPM and get a bit more timing. An extra 20 HP over stock (if you even pull that much) is hardly going to be noticeable. I would remove the stock pulley and put on a hub then you can put any size pulley you want. I would then get 42# injectors (or you can go 60# if you want to go with an even smaller pulley), a 76mm or 75mm pulley for the hub, and a tune. It may cost a bit more but you will be much more happy with the outcome. I would recommend doing option B cooling if you go smaller than a 75mm pulley or your IAT2 is going to be hard to manage.

I agree that stage 2 does seem to be "the way" to go, more hp + if i did get the modular pulley system i could upgrade more in the future, the way i was looking at it though was 230hp @ $270, vs 245hp @ $404... that extra 15hp costs $134... does anyone know anybody who did a stage 1 with dyno?

I had GM Stage 1 back in the day... That dyno video was done by one of our members on here (micro). I always found those results to be off.

Stage 1 def pulled harder than stock due to the updated tune, increased limiter to 7k, etc.

Stock, the SS/SC puts down anywhere from 205-215whp (they were underrated from the factory). Stage 1 was prob around 220-225whp.

Def skip it and go right to S2 though... They are both the same tune and injectors, but the smaller 3.067" (77.9mm) pulley will make things more interesting for ya.

Plus the added torque from the smaller pulley gets the car moving sooner.

Welp that pretty much settles it then, thanks everyone for commenting, i'll start planning on getting either the zzp stage 2 kit or like rnjmur said piece parts together and get a custom tune.

How many pounds are the stock injectors?

34