At what point would going with aftermarket headers be beneficial?

 

do you have to have the hood? or does the sc fit under the stock hood? it doesnt say on the stillen sight.
btw those headlights rock!

 

From the research I have done recently it appears with the M62 blower likes backpressure too much. Doing headers, a smaller pulley and a new fuel/timing controller won't add enough to be worth the price.

It is a great kit for what it is: tons of low and mid rpm power, decent up high, a great improvement over stock. For someone like me who does 99% of his driving on the street (mostly city too) it is by far the most useful. The average power under the curve is right up there with the 400whp vortech's. But if you want a HP or 1/4 mile monster this is not the kit for you.

 

That's the Stillen hood.

The stock hood will not work, you need an additional ~3" to fit the blower.

 

There are no other mods needed for the Stillen stage 2 beyond the kit. A good exhaust and intake will help but are not required. If you make more power you will use it and suspension and brake upgrades are a good idea. The car was not designed around that kind of power. Are they a need? Not in my opinion. Helpful? Yes!

Camshafts don't do much for this kit nor do headers or high flow cats. I would not waste your money on any of them. Some have tried it with little success.

 

Would the Prenum (Iso-Thermal) spacers help much?

 

cool , thanks . i wonder why they just dont tell you on the site u need the hood.

think the stage 2 kit is the same?

 

Did you build the engine out before the blower? I am curious what could be achieved by a fully built engine without FI. I think that my be a route I would like to go...but I want to know where it would get me.

thanks

 

You can't use a spacer with the blower because it replaces the entire plenum.
But I kept the iso-thermal gasket that came with my old spacer and used it. Anything that will help with heat is good for this kit.

 

The blowers are all the same regardless of the stage. It does say on the site that the hood is required, it is just in the description.

 

It is always a good idea to build your engine before any FI but this kit really does not need it. The rods are one of the biggest weak points in the VQ and still I don't know of a single person with the Stillen and a built engine.

If you want to go with an all-out N/A engine you can get some great results. You will spend just as much as the Stillen and still not have the same low end power. But from what I have seen ~310whp is possible going N/A with major work. I would take a Stage 2-3 Stillen over a N/A engine any day. I hate turbo lag...

 

Nope. I built the motor a couple of weeks after going f-i. Before the motor I had 390whp 410tq, yes tq. I'll post my new numbers in a later thread after the smaller pulley and everything get into place. IMO if you wanted all motor I would have chose a different platform. Something with crazy ITB's.