What sort of Power

[KARMANN 0]

Ok,iv got a 1.8 16v Raddo. The engine has only done 88k but has been hammerd early in its life so its not the best. I can get my hands on the same engine from a Jetta of the same year. I noticed when looking at it that it has the larger inlet manifold (guessing same as mk2 golfs). I remember reading somewhere that the golfs had more power than the raddo-is this correct, if so whats the output?

Bassically im going to overhaul the engine anyway before i put it in the car. I would like to get the engine so that its running very sweet im not too bothered about big bhp & I do not want to merge it with the bottom end off a 2.0 16v.

I would like to tune the basic engine though and would like advice on good things to do and where to get the parts from price etc.

Would rolling road benifit it aswell?

Im from central scotland so if theres any good places for this kind of work near me that anyone knows of please let me know.

 

Cheers Fraser

[Henny 0]

The difference between the 2 engines was purely the inlet manifold.... The larger

(late Golf) diameter one gave better up end torque and power, whereas the thinner (Corrado) gave better low down torque... (I can't remember the diameters, I only got back from the pub an hour ago! :oops: )

 

88K on a KR engine is sod all.... even if it was hammered when young...... the worst it will need is lower Big end bearings which you can happily do by just dropping the sump off while it's still in the car... 8)

 

I did my 120K KR 16V about 2 months before I wrote it off and it was REALLY easy to do and made a hell of a difference... 8)

 

Have a search around on here and there are a few tips for tuning the KR engines that will give you some good power increases for not much cash... 8)

 

Hope this helps... 8)

[davidwort 0]

Ok,iv got a 1.8 16v Raddo. The engine has only done 88k but has been hammerd early in its life so its not the best. I can get my hands on the same engine from a Jetta of the same year. I noticed when looking at it that it has the larger inlet manifold (guessing same as mk2 golfs). I remember reading somewhere that the golfs had more power than the raddo-is this correct, if so whats the output?

Bassically im going to overhaul the engine anyway before i put it in the car. I would like to get the engine so that its running very sweet im not too bothered about big bhp & I do not want to merge it with the bottom end off a 2.0 16v.

I would like to tune the basic engine though and would like advice on good things to do and where to get the parts from price etc.

Would rolling road benifit it aswell?

Im from central scotland so if theres any good places for this kind of work near me that anyone knows of please let me know.

 

Cheers Fraser

 

couple of things:

VW's quoted power outputs are only ever a guide, an old engine will be unlikely to have the same compression as a new one and so perform worse, also, many older VW engines are better once they have 'loosened up' from new, which is why the urban myth that all GTI's go faster the older their engines get exists. I've never seen any real evidence that the golf 2's are up on power compared to their corrado and passat equivalents,

 

Also, putting a modified, gas flowed head on a tired bottom end is asking for trouble so unless you have stripped down an engine complete and know it's history it's best to rebuild completely if you wan't to create a reliable lump.

 

A rolling road session, plus a compression test should find any major problems on an older engine and could transform an engine that is badly set up or has a ropey ignition system or a timing problem, it's not uncommon for simple things like the condition of plug leads or a refit of a timing belt one tooth out to leave a car running on significantly less power than it should be, so 100 quid or so spent on a couple of hours rolling road to maximise ignition advance on say Optimax fuel, plus new plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotor arm, oil change, gearbox oil change, wheel alignment etc can easily gain you 10-15bhp if things are not quite right to start with,

 

David.

[KARMANN 0]

Yeah i know they can go on well past 88k with no major work needed,but im happy to get another lump to put in it.

Knowing that its running well etc. plus good way to spend time and money.

Is there anyone out there thats got a ke-jetronic with good performance figures that could suggest some reletivley easy mods.

Im almost definately going to put the webber throttle body on it.

 

Cheers Fraser

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I got 154bhp out of one my 1800 KRs with the twin exhaust cam trick and K Star KS-301. Loosened up KRs with the larger bore manifold (50mm) regularly see 145 on the dyno.

 

The above mods work well with the KR.....just got to be careful not to shift the power band further up the rev range with silly cams and porting as the KR breathes exceptionally well in standard form.

 

To that end I prefer the smaller manifold (42mm) as it speeds up the gas speed a bit and if you configure the K star box well, you won't lose any top end pull.

 

K

[KARMANN 0]

when you say K Star KS-301, what is this you are refering too Kev?

Is there anywhere that modifys or supplys these exhaust cams so they can fit the inlet-or is it a diy job?

 

Cheers Fraser

[Henny 0]

IIRC Stealth do the Cam mod...

 

the K-star KS301 is a bolt on addition to the KE-Jetronic system that effectively adds an ecu and a couple of extra sensors to the engine to allow you to "chip" the K-Jetronic system...

 

It's made by Milford Microsystems

 

Have a look at what Stealth say about it HERE 8)