16V TUNING GUIDE

[flusted 0]

Heres a guide to tuning your 16v engine!

 

Air filter

 

Changing the standard air filter for a performance panel filter is a good step to increase the engines breathing although power increase will be minimal.

Cone filter induction kits cannot be fitted to the 16v golf and corrado type of injection, but you can drill holes in your air box on the wing side only, this will give you more induction noise and allow your filter to take in extra cold air.

It is also possible to remove the snorkel from the front of the airbox to give similar effects

 

Exhaust

 

It’s a good idea to buy a stainless system as it will last a lot longer, and if you want to gain big power from your whole engine mods, its normally recommended you go for 2 ½” system rather than the standard 2 ¼”.

4 branch manifolds, Are also a good idea, people using tsr’s manifolds seem to get good results and any improvement on the exhaust side of the 16v is a good choice as the 16v head flows very poor in this area.

 

Gas flowed head

 

As above, as the exhaust ports on the 16v head are nearly right angles, the engine responds very well to gas flowing.

Heres a pic of head ports,exhaust on left

Gas flowing involves smoothing the ports out to aid flow, and polishing the exhaust ports to prevent carbon build-up.

It is not necessary to enlarge the ports as it slows down the air flow resulting in a loss of torque.

There are a few different 16v head castings. Most of the 1.8 heads have larger inlet ports,but smaller exhaust ports. Most 2l heads are the other way round. Both head perform almost identical when flowed so theres no better option between the 2.

heres the pics of the 2 different heads,1.8 at the top

vw must of realised the mk2 16vs had a lack of lowdown torque,so they went to smaller ports and inlet manifolds to address this

 

Gas flowed throttle body

 

Its also possible to gas flow the throttlebody.

Hers a picture of a standard tb

And a flowed 1

You can see the difference

 

50mm inlet manifold

 

The later spec mk2 golf 16vs came with a larger diameter inlet manifold.

When fitted to replace the standard corrado 42mm manifold, the 16v engine will pull harder at approx 5k.

Although theres an increase at 5k, theres a larger decrease in torque up until then, so this mod depends on your driving style.

This what the 50mm 1 looks like

And heres the 42mm 1

You can see the 42mm 1 has a larger plenum but shorter runners

 

2000cc conversion

 

If you have a 1.8cc 16v KR engine code, its possible to change the bottom end to 2.0cc to increase power and torque.

2.0cc engines can be aquired from 2.0cc corrado 16vs, & passat 16vs h-reg on.

As these have the 9A engine code, they are a direct fit into the 1.8 engine bay.

It is also possible to fit the 2.0cc 16v engine from some audi 80s with the engine code 6A.

To fit the 6A engine, you need to use either a 9A or KR engine code sump and oil pick up pipe, and sometimes you may need a 9A oil filter housing.

The mk3 ABF engine code 16v, is also compatable but the block is an extra 17mm higher, causing clearance issues on the bonnet and steering rack.

 

KR inlet camshaft

 

The standard 9A inlet camshaft on the 2.0cc 16v is very mild and has a power band to 5800rpm and 8.9mm of lift.

You can fit an inlet cam from a 1.8 KR 16v, this will increase the power band to 6700rpm and it has 9.6mm of lift

heres a pic of the cams side by side,kr on left

you should be able to see that the lobe on the kr camshaft is wider all the way to the top

 

Performance camshafts

 

The only real way to achieve close to 200bhp from a 16v, but pricey at around 500 quid and require top quality cylinder head work to get the most from and possibly a vernier(adjustable) cam sprocket. Cams from brands like “Kent cams” and Piper cams” are not normally recommended, as these seem to shift the power band higher up, increasing the lack of torque and drivability lower down the rev range.

 

Rolling road tune

 

It will be necessary to have your car rolling road tuned after you carry out most engine mods.

This will allow base ignition timing to be set on the distributor to get the best performance possible from the standard ECU ignition timing map from the fuel you are using. Stealth racing are very highly recommended when tuning the 16v..They can carry out a modification to the warm up regulator to increase fuelling across the rev range.

This is normally necessary as 16v engines tend lean out higher up the rev range and also helps to increase power.

[Trig 0]

Nice :) Added it to the Wiki.

[mrbeige 0]

Good skills Flusted, pretty damn good!

 

Only thing I would mention is the lack of availability of the exhaust manifolds for post 93 16v's that need to retain the CAT, and that a 4-2-1 manifold wont fit, but that you can get your standard one flowed?

[VWci 0]

does abf inlet manifold differ from those 42mm and 50mm manifolds ?

[Cnut 0]

Very good write up, you could also mention the WUR mod on the kr engines

[Bally 0]

Nice one addie..

[corradophil 3]

Very good write up, you could also mention the WUR mod on the kr engines

 

He did :wink:

 

Stealth racing are very highly recommended when tuning the 16v..They can carry out a modification to the warm up regulator to increase fuelling across the rev range.

This is normally necessary as 16v engines tend lean out higher up the rev range and also helps to increase power.

[flusted 0]

does abf inlet manifold differ from those 42mm and 50mm manifolds ?

 

ABf manifold does differ,it uses a single butterfly throttlebody and very long runners to boost torque.

 

I believe you can fit a 4branch to a 9a with cat, if you use a cat bypass?

[mrbeige 0]

I believe you can fit a 4branch to a 9a with cat, if you use a cat bypass?

 

I'd imagine you can, but wouldn't you need to change the manifold back every year for the MOT?

[corradophil 3]

« flusted » wrote:I believe you can fit a 4branch to a 9a with cat, if you use a cat bypass?

 

 

I'd imagine you can, but wouldn't you need to change the manifold back every year for the MOT?

 

If you used a cat bypass, then surely that would be in place of the cat, so you would only have to refit the cat, or run it with the cat. I was under the impression that the 4 branch manifold takes the place of the original manifold, down pipe and cat, is that correct?

 

If it stops before the cat with the correct flange to mount the cat onto then us people with 9a engines could be in luck.

[veeDuB_Rado 0]

Cheers for the write up flusted,

[VWci 0]

this tread very helpful....;) :thumb right:

[flusted 0]

I think it would replace cat altogether

[mrbeige 0]

I think it would replace cat altogether

 

I'm inclined to agree, goin on the pic on the TSR website for example

[corradophil 3]

I think it would replace cat altogether

 

 

I'm inclined to agree, goin on the pic on the TSR website for example

 

That was my opinion, which is why I raised the question about using a cat bypass.

 

 

mrbeige, Did the pipe you bought which fouled the steering rack replace the cat too?

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

good work adie! and thanks for helping my with my C!

[mrbeige 0]

mrbeige, Did the pipe you bought which fouled the steering rack replace the cat too?

 

No it didn't, it was I direct replacement for the manifold only, with a triangular flange (with three bolt holes) that would mount directly to the CAT.

[wcrado 0]

ok if the ABF inlet uses a single- butterfly TB and the inlet manifold also has longer runners etc. wouldn't it be a good upgrade to change to this from the standard KR inlet/TB? never heard of it being done before, but it sounds like you could gain from this.

 

Also, what you say about the head flowing..... i bought another 16v a while back, and as part of the deal a polished ported head was thrown in, this was all the guys own work, but when i asked him about it he seemed pretty clued up. haven't yet fitted it, but when i inspected it the other day i noticed the exhaust ports had been opened out quite significantly, but not really polished or finished, just grinded out a few mil all round. you say this is a bad move as it results in loss of torque, and i also read its a bad idea to do this as it allows more air to flow back into the combustion chamber.

should i bin this head and start again with my own, or do you think it's salvagable? i think the rest of the head is flowed quite well. cheers

[Yandards 0]

Also worth considering Miltek/JMR's big bore down pipe instead of the TSR four branch manifold. I don't have any figures but after driving my car with this setup and 2cc's standard valver mine is quicker through the revs although his does feel torquer lower down.

 

For info on a good flowed 16v head (Up to 252bhp on a 1.8 normally aspirated) have a look and a drool over this beauty.

 

http://www.cncheads.co.uk/vw_1800_16v.html

 

 

As a taster:

[flusted 0]

you cannot use the abf inlet manifold as it cant incorperate k-jet injectors,instead it uses very stumpy digipants 1s.

as for the head,it depends on the casting as the early heads had small exhaust ports which he may have opened out which would be fine.

I know someone who opened out both inlet and exhaust ports to the max and the engine was so pants lowdown but flew high up

[jezzaG60 0]

You want some of these.....

 

 

Just another little project we are working on..... and all in cost of £120 so far :D

[flusted 0]

your right,i do want some of these! where shall i send the £120 to :norty:

 

also spotted the turbo in back ground!

[PoorMansPorsche 0]

Just a quick idiot question though - does the 1.8 valver actually have a ECU what with it being mechanical fuel injection??

[jezzaG60 0]

Once we have this set up running i'm gonna work through some costs and see if we can offer a plug and play throttle body kit.

 

The turbo motor in the background is a 2l Zvh we are building for a customer.... the 16v turbo kit is just out of shot ;)

[corradophil 3]

You want some of these.....

 

Very tasty looking engine. £120 for the throttle bodies sounds like a bargain.