MK3 GTI ABF Engine 16v Port Polish

[coolgirls]

Hi All,

Im planning to do a project on my existing 16v 2.0 litre abf engine. Is running on 200k km now on the clock.

Need some help and advised on this matter. The engine claims from factory is 150hp but i never feel it like a 150hp car. The power delivered is slow and the car is heavy as well. How to make it more torque and faster. I have do a chipping on the ecu itself by buying the ecu chip at ebay brand POWERCHIP that claims it will increase the HP to 171hp and also i have dyno the car on wheel is only 132hp is this accurate?

Here i list down the job that i wanted to work on my ABF;

- Port polish the head (need specification on this)
- Lighten and balance the crank shaft, flywheel & clutch plate
- Hydrolic cam follower

Did anyone do this before? How much HP can the abf engine go?

thanks

[Len]

Do not believe quoted bhp figures! Any chip/remap will only add at most 5 bhp.

If yours is only putting out 132bhp then it is not very healthy!
Do a compression test see if you have a valve or ring problem.

Doing a port/polish on the head yourself is not really on unless you have access to milling machines.

An abf engine can get up to 240bhp if you have very deep pockets! Cost of that is approx £5,000.

[Ess_Three]

A few quick pointers…
The easiest way of making the Mk3 quicker up through the gears is to change the gearbox FD to a 3.94…or even a 4.2 if you are feeling really brave.
Then it accelerates far quicker, with no engine mods.

To improve how quickly it revs, lighten the flywheel.
Personally, I wouldn’t bother with the  crank unless you are looking for 8000 RPM+, by which point you’ll be going solid lifters anyway…so do the flywheel and that’ll give you 90% of the gains for a fraction of the cost…in the areas you want it.

The Ebay chip is unlikely to give anywhere close to 171 BHP.
Probably 160ish along with other mods, at best.
There just isn’t 20 BHP to be found from as remap only…sorry.

132 BHP @ wheels is VERY GOOD for a standard 16v…dyno lottery dependant of course.
You did say at the wheels, didn’t you?

If you are going to port the head, only match port the inlet manifold to the head, Also the TB to the manifold, and open up the ramps on the TB. There is enough info out there on the ‘net to show you how to do this.
I would NOT open up the ports in the head unless you are going to bigger cams…and that’s a whole different world of cost and pain.

Changing the lifters?
Why?
You can fit lightweight lifters…but the gains on cars that aren’t revving any higher than standard will be minimal, and IMHO not worth the additional money.

ABFs will go to 280+ BHP if you want to drop £20000 into it.
I doubt you will see 240BHP NA for £5000 as Len suggests…I’ve spent well over £4000 and can’t break 200 BHP. To get to approx 210 I am looking at dropping another £3000+ into ITBs, even bigger cams  and standalone management…and I’m still 20 BHP away from Len’s esimate…so a 2.1 forged internals, lightened and balanced bottom end at another £2500+ and I reckon I could see 220-225 BHP.
That’s the best part of £10000, because you’ll need the brakes and gearbox to use it too.

My advice: do the basics, get the engine to 165ish BHP, lighten the flywheel and change the FD.
It will drive like it’s got 200+ BHP but cost you 1/10th of the outlay.

[blueandy]

Great post.
Along with the 160 ebay chip, did you expect to see a full stainless system with decat pipe?

[leigh_harty]

Glen

You say you cant break 200brake... Is this because your keeping it MOT friendly or is it just because its that hard?

[Ess_Three]

Glen

You say you cant break 200brake... Is this because your keeping it MOT friendly or is it just because its that hard?

You can break 200 BHP with headwork/cams etc...but you run into problems with the plenum/ECU. You get pulsing in the plenum that sends the ECU haywire, giving lumpy idle, poor emissions and abysmal throttle response below 3500 RPM.

Clearly this is an MOT no go.
You can get round it to some degree by changing the ECU to an aftermarket one, without a MAP sensor and by mapping Alpha-n.
Or ditch the plenum and go ITB.

To be honest...if I run the cams to break the 200 BHP mark, it feels flat in the midrange. How I run currently gives up 5 BHP at 7500 for 15 lb-ft through the midrange - which makes for a quicker car...but without the pub figure of 200 BHP.

A Mk2 KR 16v will run 268s or even 276s no problem, as it doesn't have full engine management.

My advice is not to bother with cams unless you are prepared to go big cams, big headwork, ITBs and standalone management...and even then, a high compression bottom end is really needed or you are wasting the cams.

Believe me, out on the road, a lightened flywheel and 3.94 is quicker than £1000s worth of engine work saddled by the awful standard gearbox.

[leigh_harty]

So your basically going the long... but correct way round because of the engine management?

I wouldn't mind another ABF i really liked my old valver, but id have to whack one in a mk2 though 

[Ess_Three]

So your basically going the long... but correct way round because of the engine management?

Hmm...I've ended up going the long way round because I believed 'internet experts' and lying tuners who promise the world when in reality, it won't happen. You find out the hard way. No matter...it's been a nice hobby for the last 12 years or so.

[leigh_harty]

I totally agree.. I dont even like taking my car to garages let alone tuners

But im now starting to move into the world of 'make it go faster' so we'll see how it goes.

Im even concemplating giving some porting a go just because i like doing this stuff... like you say - a hobby 

If you dont give things a go....

[Khare]

Glen, how difficult is it to fit a 3.94FD? Is it something average tools and knowledge can change?