Stage 1.5 tuning Myth
Mike Knowles • November 8, 2025
Stage 1.5 Tuning
Having heard this term a lot since becoming a tuner and customers asking if they can push the power past what the manufacture specifications state a vehicle can handle while still running an unmodified vehicle has resulted in many questions which we have had to answer. Therefore I will explain this term and the consequences of it and why we steer customers away from this risky decision, but first lets start with a stage 1 tune and stage 2 tune, which are either side of a 1.5 tune. Stage 1 tuning is raising the vehicles performance to the limit of what the factory parts can handle without exceeding them, this is a cost effective way of increasing performance without spending lots of money and labour of changing parts to increase a vehicle performance but most importantly its very safe to do, this is because we stay within the tolerance of what the vehicle is cable of, therefore not risking component failure. Stage 2 on the other hand is where you start to change vehicle components which are uprated to the factory fitted parts, this paired with suitable tuning allows the vehicle to exceed the power that the manufacture states the vehicle can handle, this is different for every vehicle and depending on the performance looking to be gained can result in more or less parts needing to be replaced.
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Now a Stage 1.5 is in the middle of a stage 1 and 2, this is when you increase the performance by tuning past what the manufacture states a vehicle can handle without replacing physical components, this is very dangerous and often leads to premature component failure, while this can work for temporary performance gains, it will inevitably lead to costly repair bills or worse engine failure. An example we encountered at MSK was a customer bought a golf MK4 with a tune on the vehicle, after a few months of owning the turbo failed and they had to have it replaced, the a few months after that the turbo went again but resulted in the engine failure and a new engine had to be replaced, during this time they asked us to preform a file diagnosis on the tune as something wasn't right, after investigation we found that the peak boost which should be 2.1 bar for the standard turbo was running at 2.4 bar at peak, this resulted in premature wear on the turbo and unfortunately resulted in the engine being damaged to the point of needing to be replaced. This is why at MSK Remapping we don't recommend a stage 1.5 but if the customer understands the risks involved and signs a waver that we are not responsible for any premature damage to the vehicle, then we will provide this service but always try to recommend and assist in choosing a better route to higher performance.
