Stage II Vs. Stage I performance & handling

[DaraSue]

Those of you who drove your car stock or Stage I for a while and then upgraded to Stage II, what kind of differences did you notice as far as acceleration, speed, handling?

My car's got some leaks around the valve seals so some oil is getting into the valves, and there's some carbon buildup on the valve stems. Mike from DMCMW didn't think the carbon buildup was abnormal based on the pictures my mechanic sent him and it doesn't massively smoke or burn oil (my local mechanic saw some minor smoking on startup and the oil was dirty on my last change, but I didn't have to add any between when I picked the car up and when I had it changed (about 1500 miles). I elected not to have my local guy do the valve seals and pull the heads since it didn't sound like it was in imminent danger of blowing up, but I still want my car to be as good as it can be and head off any potential problems later, so I'm planning on taking it back to DMCMW to get the valve work done either over the winter or next year. And I'm figuring if I'm going to go to all that trouble, it would probably be an optimal time to do a Stage II upgrade too. I've already got the Spec I exhaust so that would knock a bit off the price.

Other than the cost, the only reservation I have about doing it is, will it have enough power to get me in trouble? I feel like the configuration I have gets up and goes just fine while still being easy to keep under 80 and handle at freeway speeds, and I'm worried that if I had a lot of extra speed to play with I'd find it getting away from me and wanting to exceed my speedometer limits, or that the handling would get more squirrelly especially on the rare occasions that I drive it the rain.

Anyone have any insights?It's a 5-speed, if that makes any difference.

[Iznodmad]

You will have zero problems with the car "getting away from you". It doesn't make that much of a difference. Really gotta get the RPMs up there to tell a difference. If you have the disposable income, then go for it. Get someone to take you for a ride in one and you'll realize the performace is not enough to scare you at all. When the power levels exceed the stock brake system, that is when you need to worry. Headers and cams don't do that.

[David T]

You will have zero problems with the car "getting away from you". It doesn't make that much of a difference. Really gotta get the RPMs up there to tell a difference. If you have the disposable income, then go for it. Get someone to take you for a ride in one and you'll realize the performace is not enough to scare you at all. When the power levels exceed the stock brake system, that is when you need to worry. Headers and cams don't do that.

Before you go doing a valve job I would check on how the oil consumption really is. If you use more than 1 qt per 5,000 miles then you are probably using too much. Valve seals don't seem to go bad unless you have a very high mileage motor. You can also do a compression test and a leak-down test.
As for the Stage II, it is only worth it if your motor is dead. It does have a lot more "pep" then a stock motor. It makes no change to the handling and even a stock motor can go as fast, just not as quickly.

[DaraSue]

Thanks, guys. I haven't run it more than 2000 miles between oil changes yet but it didn't seem to be low at my last change, just dirty. I don't typically race it up to more than 3-4000 RPM so maybe the Stage II isn't something I really need right now. I still feel like I should get the valve seals done b/c so many other things on this car have gone kaflooie and I'm probably better off dealing with it now rather than waiting until something goes really wrong at the worst possible moment.

[David T]

Thanks, guys. I haven't run it more than 2000 miles between oil changes yet but it didn't seem to be low at my last change, just dirty. I don't typically race it up to more than 3-4000 RPM so maybe the Stage II isn't something I really need right now. I still feel like I should get the valve seals done b/c so many other things on this car have gone kaflooie and I'm probably better off dealing with it now rather than waiting until something goes really wrong at the worst possible moment.

Bad valve seals will cause no real damage if in fact, they are bad. You will just consume some oil and eventually, if it is really bad, you can foul the spark plugs.If you drove 2K miles and didn't have to add oil you are not burning it to any large extent. The motor is one of the most rugged and reliable things on the car if you don't overheat it.

[DaraSue]

Bad valve seals will cause no real damage if in fact, they are bad. You will just consume some oil and eventually, if it is really bad, you can foul the spark plugs.If you drove 2K miles and didn't have to add oil you are not burning it to any large extent. The motor is one of the most rugged and reliable things on the car if you don't overheat it.

Hmmm, now I'm thinking back to that grab bag of spark plugs it had in it and wondering if any of this was a factor, although it sounds like it should have been burning more oil than it has been to cause fouled plugs. Weird...

[opethmike]

Stage 2 is a joke. Not worth the money unless you save on labor doing heads/cams yourself. Even then, hardly worth it. These cars are slow, just let them be slow and enjoy them for what they are.

If you want a fast DeLorean, you're going to spend more money than the car is worth.

[David T]

The Stage II is a worthwhile upgrade if you blow up your motor and you have some extra money to spend. You do get a little more noticeable power. The other path to more performance is to put a turbo on it. Either the single turbo (the BAE kit) or the Island twin turbo kit. Both kits are no longer available unless you can find a used kit taken off a car. Or make up a custom kit, a lot more expensive.

[ILM1010]

My PO really messed up my original motor so I got the stage 2, its very fun and zippy. Its no GTR or Hellcat or even a minivan....but it really gives the car a boost