Mk3 tuning / mod advice needed

[patch900]

Hi,

Recently bought a nice Mk3 GTI 8V 2.0 3dr in black.
I plan in future to tune / mod the car and was wondering what people would recommend?
The car is standard all through at the mo except for a milltek exhaust I had fitted as the old one was totally knackered.
I dont think I can be bothered with altering the paint colour or changing the interior etc.
I would like to change the alloys but dont know what sizes will fit on a Mk3 ??
I am most interested in upgrading to improve how the car drives, handles.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated with a rough cost if thats possible.

Cheers

[neil_1821]

I think the largest size alloys you can fit are 17" without any major modification.  If you want the car to handle better then lowering the car would allow you to take corners quicker. You could always removethe engine and upgrade itorjust modify the current engine depending on what you want to do. You could strip out the inside interior andloose everything that's heavy, e.g. speakers etc etc and have some bucket seats, would give you more acceleration. It depends on how far you want to go and how much you want to spend.

[Len]

wheel size - up to 17x8 with 215/40 tyres without wheel arch work.

Set of lowering springs and adjustable shocks will sort the handling.
Plus maybe a new front anti-roll bar.

as for costs these can vary greatly depending on which Manufacturer you go for.

I mean you could see a set of alloys with tyres on ebay for say £300 or you can spend that on just one wheel!!!!
Suspension kits from £300 up to well skys the limit!
Roll bar - I have seen a Wietec one for £130 but normally £240.

[patch900]

Cheers for the quick replies.

What do I need to remove the engine restriction and how much does it cost ?

[golfpro]

just re-read that and seen your more interested in performance so the above may not be over useful. Coilovers will make a huge difference to handling. engine wise i dont know, not an enormous amount without spendin big bucks

Think what was meant was remove the engine all together and throw in something like a 1.8 20v turbo from a mk4.

[patch900]

Again thanks for the info.

As you say, dont want to spend thousands on the engine. Was wondering what I could do to improve performance and work with what I have as the engine is in very good condition.
At the moment, the car still has the rev limiter fitted. So around late 4000 to 5000 revs it kicks in and cuts out 2 of the valves (so my bro told me). I know you can change the chip to alter this, would you recommend it ?

What I am thnking to do at first, is drop the suspension, add alloys (maybe some 17") like these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/17-Sniper-Black-Alloy-wheels-Tyres-VW-Golf-mk4_W0QQitemZ270061224970QQihZ017QQcategoryZ9888QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and then improve the handling, suggestions ??

[neil_1821]

Besides dropping the suspension i cant really think of much more you can do to get the handling better, maybe give it some negative camber, just a bit more grip. Personally i wouldnt recommend taking the rev limiter off, if you intend to do that then i would presume you want to take the revs past this mark, which isnt good because if you do that on a regular occasion you could really end up ruininga good engine, hence why they put the limiter on in the first place. Your best bet to the engine is either fit a standarish induction kit, or upgrade pistons, camshaft etc or if you can afford itget it supercharged or turboed.

[Len]

If your limiter cuts in at 5000rpm then its gone into safe mode or something like that. Might be worth doing a search on here for that subject.
If that is the problem then you need an ECU reset. Not sure but this may only a battery disconnect thing but please do check that thread.

As for performance - usual stuff air filter/exhaust then a chip/remap before you even consider charging!

Or just go buy a 16 valve!

[adyh]

"At the moment, the car still has the rev limiter fitted. So around late 4000 to 5000 revs it kicks in and cuts out 2 of the valves (so my bro told me)"

Erm , your brother is wrong . You need to check the timing , sounds to me like your a tooth out somewhere . Common problem .

[patch900]

Think the rev limiter comes in over 5000, speaking from memory (was a bit conservative earlier sorry). Do you know what the normal is ?
Have had the cam belt changed recently and havent tried to rev the engine till the limiter kicks in since.

Is this a decent summary of what people think are the best things you can do:

performance wise - exhaust, induction kit, air filter, chip. Handling - new springs / shocks. New Alloys.

A guy yesterday at Awesome GTI in Manchester said he didnt recommend above 15" as he said the handling was awful from his experience, would springs / shock solve this or is he talking cack.

Cheers for the advice, sorry for being such a noob.