Me and a mate are both interested in getting better performance out of our mk1 gti`s. He is thinking about going for a 2litre 16v conversion and i`m considering a 1.8t engine conversion. Are there people with any experience of either conversion here who can offer an insight into what each conversion is like? I`m aware that there are quite a few variants of both engines. Can both engines be tuned to get similar performance? Would the car be strong enough to handle much more power? Any input appreciated.
Search function is useless on here but if you search topic post and in a particular section only, you should find good info on both conversions.
More power less traction, The 2.0 16v will be as quick as the 20v but put Itb's on then the 16v will be quicker
you havn't mentioned waht the car is for, road or track. N/A engines will be better on the track in general you can tune a 1.8 t to over 500 bhp (money allowing) and to get around 260-270 bhp you will be paying about 500 (revo etc) or roughly 900 will a get you a full milltek exhaust. giving roughly 300bhp in a well set up motor. assuming you start with a 225bhp tt lump a 2litre 16 with some costly mods will run around 200bhp (from what ive seen). in order to gain those extra ponies you will need some fairly expensive kit. forged pistons, big valve head, billet crank, cams, new rods, the list goes on. both engines will need limited slip dif's if you are looking at running more than 200 bhp. overall if your looking for big power then the 1.8t will be the best bet. the 2.0 16v will be plenty powerful enough to push a light mk1. you will also probably need to upgrade your breaks if you haven't already hope this helps.
apple and pears tho.. factor in the x1.5 on the 1781cc 5vt motor and you would want a 3000ltr 16v motor..
Well my car manages around this figure on a standard 9a bottom end...no new pistons/rods or crank, though it does have 2500 worth of ITBs & DTA management! Head is flowed with standard valves & mild (for the application) 268/276 Schricks..... Think the spec you are talking about is 215+BHP race motor territory...or the big spec cars you have seen are underperforming
depends if you like turbos or NA, totally different driving experience a 9a witha kr cam can be very quick in a mk1 for very little outlay, i'm sure you could do it for around 400 A 200bhp 1.8t could be done for 2K if you did everything yourself, but they are such a different drive that you really need to try a turbo car first.
i've driven both type of cars (turbo'd and NA) In a mk1 I recommend sticking to a NA engine, think how light the car is 750kg!! 200bhp in this is 250bhp a tonne!! Will see off many cars from the lights. To be honest doing 120 in a mk1 is scary enough would you need to go any faster?? I'm a 0-100 man myself, no need to go faster in my opinion!! However a 225bhp engined car as standard would be fun, but you would need a LSD!!
The big problem is the exhaust manifold. The only standard VW fit part is a Scirocco 16v manifold and downpipe but most people will use a tubular aftermarket manifold which will make hitting that 400 limit much harder.
I done a KR conversion and have had no problem using a 200 ashley 16v mk1 manifold and downpipe. Just welded this to my Magnex exhaust. Oh and my engine cost me 200 with a complete car
all down to personal preference i think,as prof says they will drive very diffarently in a mk1. if i had the choice between 200bhp n/a and 300bhp turbo,id go n/a all the way not taking costs into consideration...
If you're handy with a welder you could always knock up a downpipe to fit a mk2 16v manifold with the Mk1 system.
It'd have to be a BFH. It's possible by chopping and welding the KR downpipe but that approach isn't very common. It's definitely a hidden cost with the mk1 though.
Well, I've done both. Well kinda, the 20v is almost done. There's only so far you can go with a 16v, with a 20vt all you gotta do is uprate the turbo for more power. You can get an AGU engine very cheap if you look hard enough and I've seen K04 turbo's gone for very little on ebay and the like so 280bhp is possible. The thing with the 20v is the consideration of aftermarket EMS's, but then again the same goes for a 16v on ITB's. No NA 16v can match the torque of even a chipped k03 equipped car. A Mk1 16v is a good quick car, but a well setup 20vt would be in another league all together.
