New driver, need turbo help

[S11EPS]

Normally Aspirated engines are very expensive to tune when comparing them to their turbo counterparts.

The simplest and most cost effective mods for a non-turbocharged engine are exhaust and air filter. This aids getting more air (and therefore fuel) into the engine, and then out of it. A good exhaust and airfilter might (MIGHT) get you 10-15bhp. This will cost you in the region of £400.

Beyond that, you are looking at head-work, replacement camshafts and enlarging capacity, all of which cost quite a bit, and if you go too far will make the car very 'peaky'.

Sourcing a turbo lump and fitting to your car seems like an awful lot of hassle. You've only owned the car for a matter of weeks, so I doubt there's a heavy emotional attachment to that car - sell up and buy a good 1.8t (i have a friend who has one for sale, pm me if you want details).

Then you can start looking at tuning that, and £500 will yield you 200bhp without too many problems.

[topher]

this question crops up all the time, and to be honest turbo charging the AGN motor for 2 grand would mean doing most of the work yourself, you're talking turbo, manifolds, downpipe, pistons, rods, plumbing and piping of intercooler/oil&water feeds, sump, ecu upgrade.. i hope that's convinced you that an engine swap would be easier

as said above though the best thing you can do, is sell it and buy a 1.8T if you're after power.. adding the word "engine modifications" to your insurance policy before you're 25 is a complete nightmare (i've only got 6 months to go !! )

sports cat (or de-cat if you're friendly with your MOT tester), full exhaust, maybe a custom downpipe to match, decent air intake and a ecu remap/chip should see you pushing the 140bhp mark.. next logical step after that would be internal mods like cams and head porting/flowing .. after doing all that is the time most people decide to go forced induction.

as for your engine, might get 600 quid for it if you're lucky, more if you break it and sell bits seperately.

toph.

[topher]

looks like i've typed exactly what mr. ferrari was saying above oh well.. 2 heads better than one and all that, at least you can see its pretty much a general opinion

[richy]

I agree with Si and Topher....

I've got the same model as you (1.8 NA Mk4 GTI), and I've done a bit of research on this subject myself. You might be able to get over 140bhp if you remap it, and get a free flowing exhaust and filter.  This will cost you the best part of a grand altogether.     

The insurance will be cheaper for a stock golf GTI turbo, than one you've 'created' from your current car.  Plus, no-one will want to buy it when you come to sell it - they'll just buy a standard one, cos they know what they're getting.

Like everyone else says ... just swap it for a quicker model when you're insurance is cheaper. In the mean-time, just get some new wheels and drop your suspension a few cms.  I turned 25 in April, and I'm still deciding what new car to get now    Audi S3 is my current fav.

[GazB]

The 25 year old rule is a load of bollox, when you turn 25 they just tell you it will go down when ur 30, mine hardly went down at all when i was 25 and I have always had high grouped motors

[richy]

Mine went down quite a lot.  Now pay about £480 fully comp.

[kniterider]

reet, my bit!!!

i have on eof these and i know how lame they feel (believe me!!), i tried a k+n 57i kit and made no difference, im still running stock airbox and exhaust, but if you can get some one to remove your cat and make you a pipe up for the sensors to fit in, then maybe and airfilter,youll be looking at 10-12 bhp, then with a remap (costly and you dont get alot for it) nearer the 140-145 mark if your lucky,  its not the fact there a bad un der powered engine and im not going to explain why cause there not, this is basically a 20v version of the old 16v lump what kicked serious horses, just packaged in a heavey car, and detuned for emissions and noise and that if tuned it could upset the 1.8t market!!

tuning is differnet though, as it runs a vvt (variable valve timing), which alters the inlet cam timing accordingly high in the revs, now if you can get a independant ecu controller, bang on some webber 40/45 carbs and rip the cat out youd be up there in terms of horses, but i dont know of anyone  brave enough to attempt it???

 

[kingell]

Cheers for your help guys. I'll continue posting here as it will teach me something.

I think i'll leave it. Maybe sell it and buy a nice 3 door mk4 1.8 Gti T.

As for richy - Amen to the S3 dude. I was gonna go for an A3, just went for the golf in the end, now i also have my eye on an S3 for the future. Maybe when I'm 21/22. insurance will cane though

[GazB]

£480, f@ck me mine is almost half that and I thought that was dear