This Hyundai owner doesn’t think he’s going to Stage 2 Tuning anytime soon.
Depending on your car knowledge that may sound bad or it may leave you scratching your head asking what the heck is “stage 2 tuning?”
It’s probably not a term you need to know—unless you’re buying a high-performance vehicle. We’ll walk through the term, as well as the other 2 stages in this article.
The original TikTok post, by Hyundai Elantra enthusiast 8 Speed Luna (@8speedluna) was made on Saturday. Since then it’s picked up 1,3 million views.
This Hyundai does not sound good
Like many of Luna’s TikTok posts, the video focuses on his modded-out Hyundai Elantra N.
The video shows the car with its engine apparently running and its hood up. The cameraperson walks up to the vehicle and a distressing amount of noise can be heard coming from the motor.
The engine can be heard sputtering and clattering, seemingly on the verge of shutting off.
However, things are not what they seem. The sound heard in the video is not the actual sound of the engine—it’s a TikTok original audio that is often used by car enthusiasts as a joke.
Luna’s punchline seems to be the screen text, which reads, “I guess I’m not going Stage 2 anymore.”
So what is Stage 2?
What is “Stage” tuning?
While most people think of “tuning” their car in terms of a regular service like a lube job or tune-up, stage tuning has a different meaning.
Essentially it’s a process of modifying a vehicle with a series of upgrades that are— theoretically at least—installed as a set in three stages. These modifications often involve “remapping” the vehicle’s electrical control unit (ECU).
Stage 1 tuning includes “modifications that can be fitted on their own to a standard car” per the Demon Tweeks car blog. Common stage 1 mods include engine remapping and increasing the air intake and exhaust performance.
Stage 2 timing would include “removing limiting bits of the exhaust in combination with software that takes advantage of this.” This involves further tweaks to the air and exhaust.
It may also involve the installation of an intercooler, “a type of air-to-air radiator that cools the air coming from the turbo before it goes into the engine.”
By stage 2 your vehicle will likely be so powerful you’ll need to replace the standard engine and gearbox mounts to avoid excess vibrations in the passenger cabin.
Finally, stage 3 involves further mods as the engine grows more powerful.
“As you push the engine past what it was originally designed to do, various components that were quite happily doing their job at a lower power level will start to need replacing with higher rated parts.”
What is the Hyundai Elantra N?
According to Hyundia, the N stands for high performance and is modeled in the style German carmakers such as Mercedes’ AMG, BMW’s M, and Audi’s RS. The 2025 Hyundai Elantra N starts at $34,000.
Is the Hyundai Elantra N a good car?
Car and Driver praised its performance, aesthetics, and comparative value. The car publisher ranked the N at No. 4 on its list of best sport compact cars, sandwiched between the Toyota GR Corolla and the Volkswagen Golf GTI. High-performance sedans are designed with higher power, speed for more, ugh, intense driving.
The Daily Dot reached out to Hyundai via email for a statement.
Viewers have thoughts
One viewer commented, “Praying to never hear those noises.”
However, boosted_pack (@boosted_pack) was onto Luna’s “joke” commenting, “People not realizing it’s not his sound is crazy to me lmao.”
Another viewer wrote, “How are y’all believing this, that engine is literally off.”
“Here come the Hyundai/Kia haters for literally no reason at all,” another added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Luna via TikTok comment and messenger for further statement.
@8speedluna 💀💀 #fyp #foryou #elantran #cars #viral #cartok ♬ original sound – 8speedluna
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