8v Vs 16v

[knobby]

Hi Guys

Currently have a Mk2 Golf GTI 8v. The engine has been to TSR to have some work done on it. Its been bored to a 1900, had the throttle body uprated, airbox modded and thats about it i think. it seems pretty quick but i have been offered a 1800 GTI 16v engine.

WHat would be quicker and how easy would it be to change the engines?

Cheers

Dave

[richandhazel]

There has been a lot of discussion, sometimes heated debates, about this in the past so I suggest a search through previous posts.

[trustno1]

 

[VeeDubGTI16v]

its probably less hassle selling your 8v and buying a 16v. theres a few different things like hubs, brakes and suspension that are different snf theres not that much difference in the cost of 8v and 16v cars.

just my opinion, but if your getting the engine and it installed cheap then go for it

[Mixologist]

If you listen closely you can hear jv banging his head against the wall at the sight of this one

[Deefadog]

Yep, do a search, there's loads on here.

but basically i think the general difference is IMO (I have had both)

8V - better in lower gears, if your doing alot of stop and start (city) driving.

16V - better top end, good for motorway driving etc

Good luck

[Gambit]

i wouldnt bother going for a 16v, id stick with the TSR lump. at least you know what you've got. you dont know what condition the 16v lump is in - and unless your gonna rebuild it, it not worth the effort. - there's probablly not much difference in performance - just the way its delivered. all 16v power comes between 4.5k - 6.5k rpm, 8v will be lower down the rev range.

you'll need the 16v loom and all the electronic ignition components also for the change over.

just to give you an idea of how std 16v's & 8v's compare.

a 16v will just behave like an 8v up until 4.5k rpm, the 8v will then start to tail off in power where as the 16v will still accelerate round to its redline (7.2krpm)

also, a 16v is worse for motorway driving due to the short 5th gear it has. alot of 16v owners run 8v gearboxes or at least an 8v 5th gear so that the engine aint screaming its head off on motorway journey's!!

[marcus123]

my 16v performs great on the motorway

[Gambit]

i didnt say it doesnt perform on motorways

some people perfer longer gears for motorway journeys

on a std 16v, doing 70mph in 5th gear you will be hittin 3400rpm

whereas 5th gear in my 16v, it'll be hitting 2900rpm

the engine isnt having to work as hard, and aint as noisy for motorway cruising

[davidhawkins_78]

For what it's worth, if the engine has been to TSR and had that ammount of work done (unless you have documentation to say otherwise ofcourse), I'd be very suprised if there's not been some mild head work and a cam of sorts.

If anyone was thinking about that level of tuning, and missed the opportunity whilst the engine was in bits needs shooting !!!

If that's the case - still with the 8V. It should have good performance with loads of life left ....

(Here's one for you K Jet boys, is there a soft limiter as with the digi GTI's When's it kick in ??)

knobby - at what point in the revs can u feel the power tail off If it's higher than about 5000 rpm then you might have more than u thought