Modding the mk3 8v. Waste of time or not???

[i-espedair]

My 8v's been on the rollers after all my mods were made and i'm getting 132bhp and more mid range tourque.

I have got a cat back custom powerflow exhaust with magnex back box. I have changed my leads and plugs for splitfire brand. drilled my existing airbox and installed a K&N pannel filter. I have also changed many standard parts, new clutch and cable, new accelerator cable and a very thorough throttle body clean. I last had the ecu remapped.

Of the things i have done and all the money spent the most effective change was the 20 quid spent cleaning the thottle body. Massive difference. Second to that i think i'm getting an extra few bhp from the exhaust witch looks and sounds great. The plugs and leads made a noticable difference to feel, which i was supprised about. New clutch and cables make an instant improvement on responce.

I haven't tried any iduction kits as my opinion is they are a waste of time on this engine. due to the heat problem. Cold, moist air increases engine efficiency and performance. Engineering fact! I don't think the induction kits available acheive this. I would be interested to see it the piper cross viper makes any difference to the performance of the 8v. My guess is it would but its all a question of justifying the cost.

I chose my 8v coz i am 21 and wanted a GTI since i was 12 years old. I am over the moon with it. I have made the modifications to mine because i love playing with it and wanted to replace some standard bits with higher quality parts, not for performance. I have tried to pick the areas that give value for money more than anything else!

I agree that this engine will never give you big bhp. I am happy with the improvement i have gained and more importantly i have a very reliable ride that averages 36mpg, 42mpg on long journies!

[Overseer]

not a waste of time if you enjoy it

what are the other performance stats now your cars off the rollers?


how come cleaning the throttle body cost you 20 quid? after fitting my new smoked fogs and doing some other small maintenance stuff I'm looking at doing it myself..


probably the only mod i'm thinkin of i dont think i can fully handle myself would be the suspension

[i-espedair]

yeh, i was just talkin engine above. I have 17's and a full adjustable koni/eibach setup. The susspension was expensive, ?700, but i had it done properly at AMD when it was rolling roaded. Am very pleased with the result.

Throttle body cost 20 for the rags and carb cleaner WD40 etc...

Stats for car are:

peak bhp:           132.4 @ 5550
peak tourque:     147.7 @ 2566

0 - 60mph: about 9 secs its hard to judge accurately.

Pulls to 110mph fairly quickly no probs then slows but reaches 125mph

lots of pull in 2nd and 3rd, a moderate pull in 4th over 50mph, a little in fith after 70mph.

Very quick in 1st 2nd, beats 16v and many others off the line due to low end tourque, looses it about 30mph accelerating in a straight line.

[Overseer]

hwo much paperwork do you get from a rolling road session normally?

did u get a graph thingy?

[Cupra Turbo]

Curious.

i-espedair I've done most of what you've done

Remapped ECU (cos VW thought it was all setup wrong etc)
New spark plugs (Bosch Super 4)
New silicone HT leads (Magnecore)
New throttle body (Brand new)
New injectors (Brand new)
New clutch cable
New accelerator cable
K&N 57i Induction kit

Getting a full S/S Magnex exhaust. Can I be expecting 133Bhp too?

Mines a 1997 8v.

[i-espedair]

Yeh i got 2 dyno plot charts of before and after.

Black - i guess you can expect the same. Mine is a 98/R. The guy at AMD had all the same mods as me but diff exhaust and he was pissed off coz he said he's car was 129bhp and mine beat his on the rolling road!!! LOL.

I guess it does vary car to car and maybe brand to brand of parts. Plus the guy who built my exhaust system knew what he was doin! Mark at RSR Redhill.

I can be bothered with cams and other expensive stuff, i think i am lucky with 132bhp and could jus spend loads of money making the car unreliable! She's as good as she gonna get!

[Cupra Turbo]

yea 6 says I should put a sports cam on it ... but i dunno ... i dont want to take it too far ...  my insurance is expensive enuff.

Tho u say different exhausts give different power increases etc ...

I know Magnex are supposed to be good ... what did the guy at AMD have as an exhaust? i'll remember not to use it lol

btw, how much does a rolling road test cost?

[i-espedair]

LOL... Think he had a scorpion or maybe a remus or supersprint, can't remember!

My magnex was expensive but worth every penny. They are true to they're reputation, excellent, would recommend to anyone. Get rid of that center box so you have a 2.5" pipe running as straight as you can from the cat to the back box. Sounds awesome, and remains legal but it is quite loud! So don't go for it if you don't like turning heads. Burbles like a rally car as you come down through the gears...

If you get the exhaust done, go to a specialist tunner not just the local garage or Kwick (Quick) Fit. If they get it wrong it can reduce power and cause a drop in pressure on roll out.

AMD charged me ?250 for the ecu map and rolling road, dunno how much just the rolling road would be. If you go to your next Club GTI meet they will tell when they are doing it and feature your results in Rabit magazine.

[Cupra Turbo]

Magnex backbox and powerflow system.

Cat or De-Cat?

Oh and my powerflow authorised dealer place is like 400m away ... better than quickfit ... and are authorised to fit powerflow so must be ok

[S11EPS]

De-cat!
I wouldn't bother with Magnex box either, I'd have powerflow all the way - you get the option of picking looks and noise.