_leon_

option 3. why? you'd regret selling it. plus i think for such major work, you'd prefer to be there while it's all happening, so i'd choose 3 over 4. unless you have a liking for another car, don't go with option 1. and no 2 isn't an option really

I do find the variants a tad confusing myself - but do have the opinion that the BAM has to be the strongest due to its purpose. Odd about the rods yes. CRs all seem quite high - 9.5:1 (I think crasher clarified this earlier in the thread). I'm curious to know if people lower these before extracting more power... I'm tempted to go 1.8T within the year - was out in one at Knockhill and I was impressed. Could be an easy job of sourcing an engine and sorting out a few parts while its on a stand. And setting the mapping - yes I felt totally car sick! It was a good laugh though - and interesting to see how far out we were when starting off. Getting the right balance took an afternoon due to working through the rev range. Plus the looks I got when drivers saw me - hair standing up - cramped in a little kit car with a huge laptop in my hands LOL!

a very modest response ;) been doing some reading about AGU vs BAM. I think I read the AGU has the best head, but I still can't see why people would not choose the BAM version. However the AGU seems a popular choice. Not entirely sure of the reasons. Availablility and cost? Something else you could probably answer - apart from water jacket/cyl head differences between the AGU, BAM (and all the others) - is it just the turbo and manifold that set them apart - or are there other important differences? For example - is it possible to achieve the same power from an AGU after changing the turbo/manifold (rods?) etc? Theres a black spot in my understanding there.... Why is that with cylinder 3 - anything to do with the location of the turbo? I was out with a friend writing his fuel map while he was driving in his westfield 2 weeks ago - that was very interesting and good fun! And I got sunburnt!

erm those on the nugget are LM's...

when did you learn all this about the 1.8T lol keep it coming - its all interesting and relevant info

what do the DBW and Motec add exactly?

vince from stealth? almost default to think that now isnt it... was that always in your car?

that is confusing pipework lol

LOL that was confusing! Well this month getting brakes and arbs sorted - a bit of paintwork - and next month i may be looking at sourcing parts for later this year. i remember you highly praising it a while ago - is it the bam engine you've got? have you ever looked into a 6 speed close ratio setup? thats probably what i'd be interested in most defo keep us posted. and if you've used anywhere online for info other than qpeng then pls share! have questions regarding engine management etc...

yeah that must be irritating. but now you know... let us know what ratios you go - I'm starting to think seriously about sourcing 1.8t parts - and the gearbox choice seems a bit unclear to me at the moment

theres just no point in that tbh. why don't you get comp mos 5-6 spokes. have a look on their website - you can get both with protruding spokes or inset spokes. inset being the nicest looking of course

no - just seen a vr6 front cross member or a subframe - cant remember which now

changing to a vr6?

yalan - i've never liked estorils much - but that looks fantastic!

those borbets look ok - but they will look very aftermarket imo i think the original speedlines are excellent - must your choice be limited to 5 spokes?

i think those are pretty boring in my opinion - the speedlines look hard as nails - much much better.

surely DDI could tell you no?

I read a while ago Joe M contested the opinion of fitting only an uprated rear ARB. He uses his VR on track and seems to highly rate fitting both front and rear. Since we all have different driving styles it may make more sense to try both then remove the uprated front if you don't like it. After all, the experienced people on here who've found that combination works better for them did the same - tried it all first. Next month I'm fitting 22mm front and 25mm adjustable rear Neuspeed ARBS and going from there.

i learnt a while back that taking a few good hi-res photos of your bay etc works wonders - few months later you'll be glad you did!

Agreed I hate the sickly smell of it. Good stuff though - you'd be amazed at what's possible when you just try. Let us know if it all works. Bet you're still enjoying the engine change?

nice work! was it hard going doing the swap over?

83mm pistons? same rods and crank?

no doubt it'll definitely make a difference! i got mine and took it to an eng firm and they rebuilt mine anyway including new valves. so, its always an option!

ahh be careful though - a p+p head isnt entirely the same - a big valve head will have enlarged valves and be ported and polished

haha. well it cost a lot in the end - that might put you off. but it accounted for quite a lot with my setup.