Stagea Owner In Need Of Your Thoughts.

[stageaharts]

Hey guys, here's the deal.

I've had the Stag for a few years now, never had a problem with it and always enjoyed, even loved, the experience. One of the greatest experiences I have had with the Stag is being part of this forum, and as such I thought I would throw this out to you guys.

I have now come to a point where I have done enough to start thinking about a new turbo. The problem is, I have become disillusioned. As it stands I feel like I am pushing shit up a hill. Sure I can spend $3000 on a new turbo and injectors, lets say it nets me 260awkw (3076r). But how fast will the car be? I don't give a shit about the 260kw on paper if I get beaten on a track or in a straight line by my mate in his S15 or WRX with 160rw/awkw (respectively) or Liberty with 220awkw. Moreover, if I sold the car and paid a little more than $3000 in changeover, I could by an R33 GT-R. 4.9 seconds out of the box, no mods, and there would be no need for a manual conversion down the track.

So, I have two questions for my fellow forum members:

Firstly, how fast has anyone officially recorded a stag (Whether it's yours or one you have heard of), 0-100, q/mile, track times?

Secondly, have I outgrown the Stag itself, am I after a different style of car (Your opinions would be appreciated)?

I had planned to keep the Stag as a project car and take it off the road as a daily driver, track it and drag it eventually, what I'm most scared of is dropping another $20k into the Stag and having a low 13, high 12 second q/mile car (Not great times for the overall outlay in my opinion) that can't be tracked due to it's size and engineering.

Cheers for your time guys,

Harts.

[scotty nm35]

You're right, its never going to make a good track car, I want a little turbo ae86 for that. What it will be is a great cruiser, mine feels so light when the boost kicks in and punting through the black spur it really feels at home. Safe power delivery with the awd and great brakes now. It just has to be moulded into the car you require.

I know it has cost me a bit but I love the challenge of tuning something different. Who wants to do up another XR6t, its been done to death.

You could probably get away with $1500 for the upgrade if you do it on the cheap. GT 3076 would net 300kw on pump and 360kw on E85 so that's a bit bigger than you need... Unless you want to blow your mates away.

[pipster11]

ultimately it comes down to you

if i ever have the money i'd get a toy to play with, something like an s13, gtir, r32 (or maybe i should turbo my r31)

saying that i will still hopefully highflow mine and get a nisstune etc

if you want more boost you could prob highflow your stock turbo for $1k by hypertune

if you already have a nisstune then just get a retune for about 16psi without injectors

i think the power/money limit for the neos is about 220awkw because at that stage your at the limits of the stock ecu(without nisstune), stock turbo, stock injectors and stock afm

once you do those then your all good for a fair bit more power

as for track times, they should do ok because of the wizardry of the 4wd system, saying that i struggle to keep up with my mates e36 325i depending on the road and he only have 140kw at the engine but it weighs much less and he drives like a mental patient some times (but last time we went for a thrash my rotors were warped and i had nfi where we were going and it was getting dark)

either highflow and tune

or sell

but bear in mind that the market is pretty slow atm so you prob wont get what you want for it and it could take a while to sell

i'm sitting in the same boat as you atm - the stag is awesome but its a bit thirsty, a bit heavy and handles a bit averagely (but some sway bars could fix that last one)

[kidafa]

Firstly Pipster..... Why would even bother suggesting a Highflow if hes willing to throw serious cash at it and want a quick car? We all know Its going to run out off puff. Also suggesting to set boost to 16psi on a highflow on stock injectors? Let me guess you also recommend installing a bucket around the pod and maybe paint the car purple while your at it?

/end rant

Harts think you need to decide what you want from the car.... Why did you buy it ect. Wasnt it for driving to the snow and having something a bit different that still boogies to a certain extent? Maybe its time to asses if you still need the wagon space wise.

To much to type perhaps we should get lunch again on Friday.

Maybe even take a leaf out of tangles book and keep the stag and get something more beastly for driving hard..

Talk soon.

[scotty nm35]

If he only wants 260awkw, a highflow can achieve that easily, on a budget, and remain "legal". I'm running one at the moment and there's nothing wrong with the power delivery.

I suggest keep the wagon, set some power goals and start slowly buying parts. Personally I would go for 300awkw with the 3076.

[stageaharts]

Scotty:

You know, one of the main reasons I chose the Stag was because it was unique. That has always been important to me and one of the things I feel like I would be losing if I bought something like an R33 GT-R. I appreciate the $1500 option, but that is not the avenue that I want to take, which is why I feel like I'm at a crossroad. If I dump a further $20k into it, sure it might have 400kw at the treads but, according to some of the reports from guys that have owned more powerful stags, it'll still be doing high 12sec quarters. Is the cost worth it? I could dump my existing Emanage Ultimate and Blitz SBC IDIII into an R33 GT-R and it would have 250ish awkw and probably do the same or better over the quarter.

Pipster:

You said it when you mentioned your mates E36 325i beating you on the twisties, wizardry or not, the Stag needs SERIOUS lightening/stiffening to be able to keep up with a sports orientated car on the twisties/track, not to mention that the e36 325i is an underpowered sedan, albeit German. Hi-flow is not what I want for the car (powerwise), as Kidafa said I'm more interested in making it a performance/drag weapon not a zippy sports wagon Mine is S1 BTW.

Kidafa:

The more I listen and type the more it seems obvious that I'm growing out of it, because I know that I want it to be faster, much faster than it is, and there seems to be no proof that they can get that fast within what I consider to be a reasonable budget for the life of the car. I just love te car so much, not to mention it was just getting into shape hehe.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

[stageaharts]

Scotty:

I just wrote 260awkw as an example, that wouldn't be my final power goal, it was meant to be read in context From original post:

"Sure I can spend $3000 on a new turbo and injectors, lets say it nets me 260awkw (3076r). But how fast will the car be? I don't give a shit about the 260kw on paper"

The point being that a Stag with 260awkw is probably still doing mid 13 quarters. I'd love to see some times from Tangles or anyone else that has achieved these power levels, so at least I could have a glimmer of hope

[kidafa]

Sell it then.

Id love to work on a GTR

[stageaharts]

I hope so, because if I do, you will be

[scotty nm35]

No worries, it sounds like you have already decided.

I prefer the shape of the 32 personally but its still a heavy car.

I'm worried a worked gtr would be cop bait, don't you need a daily also?

[stageaharts]

Hadn't thought about that Scotty, though I have a squeaky clean driving record and have never had a problem so far. The Stag is a bit of 'bait' at the moment what with the lowered, kitted, black bonnet, black rims thing going on (not to mention the stereo), always get pulled over at breath testing stations, with a bit of an honest smile and chat keep on driving. I had expected the same from the GT-R.

In a way I guess I have made my decision, I was just hoping someone on the forum could chime in and give me the hope/advice/evidence I wanted to keep the car I love so much. I think I'm looking for evidence of a Stagea running a mid 4 second 0-100 and good-excellent handling with a build cost of $15-20k, purely because I'm looking at it as a (competative) trackable weekender project car in the long run.

harts.

[KiwiRS4T]

Psymins 500 - 600kw Stagea was only doing 12s on street tyres. The Stagea is a big lump of metal and it can be made to outrun other family wagons and be fun to drive but it will never be a competitive circuit car. On the road 260kw is very quick but not as quick as a hotted up rotary or some 400kw Honda.

If you have the time and energy ( and money) stick an RB30 in your Stagea and keep it for a fast cruising tow car and build an R32GTR for serious performance.

[Stooge007]

i've recently discovered how badly a stock C34 Stag (RS Four S) is in the twisties

sure it pulls out of corners quite nicely, but is hard to carry speed into, given the weight of the car (stock suspension didn't help!)

i was following a mate in his Caldina GT-T, and he left me for dead, although he just installed some nice Tein coilovers, whilst mine is stock in every way shape and form

imo, a Stag is not, and will not ever be a "bang for your buck" track/strip car

a unique, comfortable tourer? hells yes

with enough $'s, sure it could be competitive, but "bang for buck" you'll get better results elsewhere

good luck with it

[scotty nm35]

Hadn't thought about that Scotty, though I have a squeaky clean driving record and have never had a problem so far. The Stag is a bit of 'bait' at the moment what with the lowered, kitted, black bonnet, black rims thing going on (not to mention the stereo), always get pulled over at breath testing stations, with a bit of an honest smile and chat keep on driving. I had expected the same from the GT-R.

In a way I guess I have made my decision, I was just hoping someone on the forum could chime in and give me the hope/advice/evidence I wanted to keep the car I love so much. I think I'm looking for evidence of a Stagea running a mid 4 second 0-100 and good-excellent handling with a build cost of $15-20k, purely because I'm looking at it as a (competative) trackable weekender project car in the long run.

harts.

I agree with kiwi, a 30 would give it a nice kick and turn it into a great tow car to trailer the track car down to the circuit.

I should measure the time properly but I thought mine did mid 4 seconds to 100. Mmm, perhaps i'm counting slow? If I could get rid of the throttle lag there's another half second shaved off.

[iamhe77]

I agree with kiwi, a 30 would give it a nice kick and turn it into a great tow car to trailer the track car down to the circuit.

I should measure the time properly but I thought mine did mid 4 seconds to 100. Mmm, perhaps i'm counting slow? If I could get rid of the throttle lag there's another half second shaved off.

Sounds about right

[Tangles]

perhaps buy a RB26 engine and build it up, drop it in?

make a project out of it.......

a gt3076 sure is nice, dial out the lag as much as possible and it will be quick on the road.

it may just be that its time for something else ? does the budget approve a cheap 2nd car ie 10g r32 gtr ?

[stageaharts]

Kiwi:

"Psymins 500 - 600kw Stagea was only doing 12s on street tyres." That's the sort of info that I had read before and got me thinking in the first place, thanks for re-iterating it though as that's what I was looking for

Here's a question, did Psymin ever work out why the car was so slow for the power range, was it just weight or was there another issue?

Stooge:

"Bang for your Buck" is unfortunately not what I'm seeking, I have already invested a reasonable amount of dough in the car just to get it to the stage it is now. I am prepared to go further, but am trying to work out whether or not it is worth it, as kiwi mentioned Psymins above running 12s with 500 - 600kw, that's a 30-40k build with supporting mods in my books, maybe more. I don't think I can sink that much more into it, and 12 seconds is not a great q/mile time for the investment unfortunately.

Tangles:

RB26 was my next option and a friend offered me an example from an R34 that he has sitting around. But the fact still remains that if I did build it to 600kw over time and I only cracked mid 12's (Like Psymins example above) I would still be disappointed. I wish I could afford two cars, but I'm sure, like many of you, that I would end up spending twice as much on mods... not good for the old gf situation .

How quick is yours (ballpark) Tangles?

Scotty:

Would be interesting to see M35 time vs. C34 times as power goes up, I wonder how much they would differ? Is the M35 lighter?

Cheers again boys, feedback appreciated

[M I K E]

if you were considering a motor conversion, i'd consider a 26/30 or 25/30

quick times come down to weight, so drop as much as you can that you don't need if you want to make the stag 'feel' faster

are you planning to leave it auto? sorry if i missed it, only skimmed

[Tangles]

yes, my stag is quick. auto is going fine. stagea is loving the 335rwhp its producing

little bit of lag down low, but makes it good to drive off boost, and comes on nicely.

if I come across 5g laying around Id love to finish off and do the bottom end of the engine.

as is car plus mods = 50k now, over time I plan to drop a built rb26 into it. got all the parts for that, just need the $ to do the work

[GoldZilla]

Psymins 500 - 600kw Stagea was only doing 12s on street tyres. The Stagea is a big lump of metal and it can be made to outrun other family wagons and be fun to drive but it will never be a competitive circuit car. On the road 260kw is very quick but not as quick as a hotted up rotary or some 400kw Honda.

If you have the time and energy ( and money) stick an RB30 in your Stagea and keep it for a fast cruising tow car and build an R32GTR for serious performance.

If that time was done with all his stereo gear in, then that's a great time for just about any car - IIRC his stereo was pretty extensive with custom door moulds, custom sub box/amp rack, quite a few amps and quality gear throughout. I'm guessing he wouldn't have done all this without sound deadener, and that adds a fair bit of weight too.

Add the weight of the stereo to the ~1650kg of the Stagea, and it's gotta be close to ~1850kgs, if not more.