How good is the 1.8 16v

[Diamond Hell]

My Cobra did. Had that balanced to 8k.

£10 says the balance alone cost nearly the price of a 16V GTI.

is it there to get a 2.0 16v?

In English?

[dubber36]

I have to say that I prefered driving my 8v, as you could drive it a half throttle and 4000rpm was all you really needed. I drive a V6 TDI Passat as a daily, so it suited me just fine.

I bought a 16v to replace it because, well, I wanted a 16v really. It was the car I wanted new 20 years ago. It is not as tractable below 4000rpm as the 8v, but it does come on song above that. I have to admit to been a bit of a girl though. I tend to drive it with a bit of mechanical sympathy. It's 20 years old, done 159000 miles, so I dont give it too much of a hard time.

[Ben Lessani]

i no this question has more than likely been on here lots of time, but how good is 1.8 16v engine? is it there to get a 2.0 16v?

Am I missing something here, the fella didn't ask a thing about 8 vs. 16 valve - he said 1.8 vs. 2.0 16 valve

[danny_p]

allways go 2.0 16v if you can be arsed to swap the bottom end.   give's you more torques ( everywhere )

the 5th gear pull from 30- 100 is how you stop 8v lot saying they have more torque.  the 16v will start to pull away from the off as the revs rise it'll just pull away faster and faster

[laurenceyon]

I've owned both (Mk3 2.0 16V & Mk2 1.8 16V)

I think the 1.8 delivers it's power in a much faster and feisty way however the 2.0 (especially at high speeds) felt much stronger and holds the power much better in comparison.

I've never driven a mk2 2.0 16V but apparently they're supposed to be the mutts nutts!

The 1.8 16V is more expensive to run, maintenance & consumption wise. And finally I'm forever spending money on the 1.8, they're a big financial drain!

Cheers

[Reasty]

The 1.8 16v Kr is a great engine,mines done 175k now and it still pulls like a train and that noise is awsome,one thing i would say is the 16v kr is hugely restricted by the manifold,the reason i say this is because i replaced mine with a four-branch and now the car seems to pull much harder and from lower down in the rev range and above 4000rpm it really does scream! i found it has lost the flat spot that the 16v kr has from about 2-4k rpm,i cannot comment on the 2.0 16v as i have never driven one but i am tempted by it,the mk3 bottom end with a mk2 16v kr head and cams is meant to be mental and alot of fun so maybe i might go that way in the winter months but all said and done i think the 1.8 16v kr is ONE of the best engines vw ever made in terms of all out fun and noise.

[fishnchipsx2]

Can anyone else comment on ...

ABF head + ABF bottom end     
          vs.     
KR   head + ABF bottom end??

 

[Neo Badness]

Can anyone else comment on ...

ABF head + ABF bottom end     
          vs.     
KR   head + ABF bottom end??

 

I'd be interested in in the +/-'s of this as I have an ABF and a KR so would ideally like to build this best of both over winter.
Think the difference in the heads is a larger inlet valves and smaller exhaust and vice versa, ABF cams give more lower down but are less peaky KR?   

[Ben Lessani]

You only use the KR head on ABF bottom if you insist on keeping it on K-Jet management.

Otherwise, much easier to stick to ABF + ABF.

[VeeDubGTI16v]

ben the head makes no difference to the management

kr head on abf block raises the compression a bit, i think its raised by 0.5

kr head has better inlet ports as standard as well