Ronaldovw

The only figures I have are what my backside told me and from racing other peoples cars. My car had a Stage2 ported polished head - Kent GS1602R cams - K-star + extra injector and the usual exhaust and filter mods. The gains from the headwork felt marginal and I'd only do this expensive mod if you have to strip the head and get the valve guides done (around 100K miles) The K-star was anice mod and let me use 95 Ron fuel but at £400 the gains where not that amaizing. The Cams where by far the best bang for the money, car had a lot more power above 5K and pulled hard to the limiter. Bottom end was un affected so no worries with torque. The 9A mod is pretty involved and if your not clued up on building engines I would get someone else to do it. Dave Wort fitted his own so he's the man to talk to. I the short of it. You will need to remove the head and a lot of the ancillarys, then unbolt the gear box/exhaust manifolds etc Un bolt the engine mounts and remove the block. The 9A block is a straight swap so no worries there. The problem is that while this is being done you may as well get the head re-furbished (Ported etc) fit a new clutch and fix any other bits n bobs. Looking at £300-500 for a 9A block and around £500 labour + 500 for head work etc So not cheap!

I agree with David, there is no proof that the 50mm intake increases performance. More like moves it around. If you want up top power you can't beat a pair of cams in the 16V. Personaly I think you need as much low down as possible otherwise, with the 16Vs long gear ratios you can easy end up in a flat spot. No matter how much you have high in the revs. I looked into almost every conceavable mod for the 16V and dounf that the best ones are: 2.0 bottom end Cams (I used Kent) Head work (although this is pricey and the gains are not as good as the above.)

I'd use the Beru ones from G&S/Euro. Had them on my 16V and they where OE quality, flashy leads don't do anything for performance. I think they cost £28 3 years ago. Ron