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Stage 2 is not Stage 1 with bigger numbers
Stage 2 expects supporting hardware — intake, exhaust, often an intercooler. FILHEX offers it only when File scan supports your dump. Scan is free.
Workshops sometimes treat Stage 2 as “Stage 1, but more”. The maps are not a louder version of the same calibration. Stage 2 assumes the vehicle already has the hardware that calibration was written for.
What Stage 1 assumes
Stage 1 is the software-only step on a mechanically healthy car that is still on stock hardware. Intake, exhaust, and cooling are the parts the manufacturer fitted. The File changes calibration; it does not replace those parts.
Background: Stage 1 File workflow.
What Stage 2 expects
Stage 2 is written for a car that already has supporting hardware — typically a freer intake, a freer exhaust, and often a larger intercooler. Flash a Stage 2 File onto a stock car and the calibration is asking the engine for airflow and temperature control the hardware cannot deliver.
File scan checks the software, not the hardware. Stage 2 appears as a Solution only when scan supports that dump; whether the car has the parts is still your call. If scan does not list it, it is not offered on that Solution Job.
How a FILHEX job handles it
- Upload the original File from your read tool.
- Scan — free. No Credit is spent.
- Select Stage 2 only if it is in the scan result. You can combine other Solutions the scan lists on the same job.
- Process. 1 Credit when the Solution Job completes — one Credit per processed File, not per Solution.
Hub: Stage 2. A Brand page may list Stage 2 for that Brand; scan still decides for your File.
What stays your call
Matching the File to the hardware that is actually on the car is workshop judgement. FILHEX delivers the result File. It does not inspect the vehicle, and emissions rules vary by country.
Continue: Stage 1 workflow · How File scan confirms Solutions · File service · How it works