G60 engine upgrade or change?

[jimmytarzan 10]

Thinking of having the upgrades done on my G60 engine to get more power out of it, but people are saying its a load of money for not that much more power as there only so much you can do with it. Alternatively, theres the option of actually putting a different block in it, which obviously is also costly but sky is the limit with the BPH etc. looking for advice really on what the best options are as I want to proceed the right way.

 

any thoughts…?

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

There are plenty of people who run G60's with more power than stock VR's so don't listen to what people say. Chip, Pulley, Exhaust and upgraded cooling should see you north of 200BHP. My mate has just over 200bhp from the smaller engined G40 so getting decent power from a G60 shouldn't be that hard a deal!

[Chris Langdon 0]

All depends on how you like your power and the delivery I have a G60 and a VR6 both are totally different and as above my G60 is round the 200bhp mark ;)

[Matt@OCD 0]

I assume those people have 1.8T engines? :lol:

 

It's really down to you, there's plenty of power to be had from a G60! As above 200bhp from standard will cost you approx £4-500, which is pretty cheap for 40bhp!

 

Any engine to tune isn't cheap if you start chasing big figures, and they're all about the same. 6 cylinders are obviously more as there's another 2 cyliders to buy parts for.

 

A quick run down from ourselves for a base -

 

68mm pulley, 315cc injectors, 268/260 camshaft and a chip to suit would cost £475 in parts, this setup will clear 200bhp easily :)

 

Even if you were to swap in a 1.8T for example similar mods and a re-map will cost more and they're limit is a solid 300ft/lb of torque before rods start bending!

 

Plus keeping the factory engine is going to keep the car that little more special now and keep it's value up

[Kevin Bacon 5]

1.8Ts certainly aren't cheap once you start chasing 300+ hp! As you say, AGUs had standard 16V rods in them and I've seen those bend with less than 300lb torque :D

 

It's usually when people ship in those APR big turbo kits that bolt onto the stock manifold, which has ports the size of my finger. Bigger flow, bigger psi + ports all that extra flow can't escape through quickly enough = rod bendage :lol: Having said that, I have sampled a genuine 350hp / 340lbft 1.8T (disco potato turbo + standalone + rods / pistons / manifold etc) and that thing was very rapid indeed. Didn't even need a bar of boost to make that. It's a cracking engine if built right.

 

I remember being beaten by a chipped Golf G60 when I had my 16V Turbo technics. It just had the legs on me at the top end.

[jimmytarzan 10]

yeah I kinda think i'm gonna stick with it although I had the idea put in my head of swapping it to a 20VT….

but then it wouldn't be a G60 anymore and makes me sad :(

 

Lots of food for thought! Think i'm likely to stick rather than turn to the dark side.

 

I'm Northampton based, any suggestions on where would be good to have the bits done?

 

My mate always says Jabba in crowland.

Edited January 20, 2014 by jimmytarzan

[southerner88 10]

I was a few parts purchase from swapping a VR6 to a 20vT, but I couldnt bring myself to loose the VR soundtrack, and with similar moneys spent on each, can get some similar results im told, probably similar with a G60 although Ive heard they have issues with the superchargers...sure others can help you more with that one though!

 

If you do want to go to the dark side, I have an Oettinger engine for sale as we speak, also have a 1.8 16v KR full engine loom and ECU and other bits n pieces, so could do the conversion and keep all your G60 bits to revert back too if required! its on eBay, its the only oettinger engine on there lol

 

best of luck with whatever you decide!

[Matt@OCD 0]

AS Kevin says, a 1.8T is a mega engine if built right. But you'll spend a lot more getting it there!

 

You might as well built a 16vT then at least it's still period and a little bit different, these can do mad power with ease!

 

As for Jabbasport just have a read round of recent reviews ;)

[jimmytarzan 10]

seem to be mixed reviews from what I've seen, gwerks reviews seemed a little worse.

there was plenty of positive ones too…….!

[JMC 0]

Gwerks doesn't exist anymore which does have an impact on the possible people to go for. I run a modified G60 (1.9l, 65mm pulley, and a host of other things), and currently have about 250bhp and 225lbft of torque. It's a daily runner, and bar a few flat battery issue is completely reliable. But you have to do other things along with that. I have an ATB diff, and traction control, which makes life easier. I've uprated the brakes, and anti roll bars, and suspension. The exhaust is bigger and i have a 4 branch manifold etc etc. All of which gets expensive. If you want easy power and the potential for lots of it, go 1.8T. if you want something different and can take time to do it stay G60. Chargers are fine if serviced well and regularly.

[kerrly 0]

^ as above if a G60 is maintained well then they are reliable.

 

I've been quite lucky and over a few months scouring the classifieds got a 70mm pulley, SNS stage 5 chip, 4 branch + full system including decat, rsr outlet (although i need a silicone pipe to join the intercooler) - should be 185+hp all for around £300

 

I'm undecided on a camshaft upgrade im undecided, id love to try a G60 with a schrick split duration cam. Headwork is where I want to put my money next.

 

200-220hp is the sweet spot I think when it comes to balancing power/reliability. A diff is a great upgrade but another area of the drivetrain which can be changed to benefit the driving experience is the gear ratios - VR6 1st, 2nd and 5th would appear to be the preferred choice or a mk3 TDI as the longer 1st 2nd 3rd are a little less frantic.

[gilty 0]

There are a few things that can b done to up the power of ur G60, mines 250+bhp. It's got a stage 4 BBM charger on 58mm pulley @ 1.8bar, Rallye front mount intercooler, Schrick cam n pulley, stage 5 chip, blow off valve, KnN panel, custom single box exhaust, VibraTechnics mounts, polybushed everything...

I want to use a mk4 2.0tdi bottom end, forged pistons and PnP a 2.0 8v head... Figures should be around or over 300bhp...

[gilty 0]

I have a few vids on YouTube. Search JagerRado...

[Rorgasm 10]

16VG60 :shrug:

[davidwort 0]

...

 

any thoughts…?

 

how old is the G60 engine?, not much point in throwing money/power increases at a block unless it's basically been rebuilt fully, then the cost leaps up.

The 1.8T then starts to look quite attractive when there's plenty of donor cars around, I'm after a 1.8T at the moment to replace an A6 engine that's oil pump died at 200K, found several for a couple of hundred quid quite quickly.

[HummuH 10]

I'll be selling a G60 Turbo engine, 275 BHP and c. 270 lb/ft out of the box if of interest. Very reliable and pretty much a straight swap in.

 

To add some context to this, I'm having a 1.8 20vT race engine built and you can easily get into 5 figures on a new build....very easily.

[HummuH 10]

seem to be mixed reviews from what I've seen, gwerks reviews seemed a little worse.

there was plenty of positive ones too…….!

 

You'll mostly only ever hear of problems on forums etc. in my experience, I personally wouldn't read too much into it, particularly when another competing company tries to put people off. If you decide you want to get work done, speak to folk who have done similar and gauge their views, don't base it on internet reading alone or you'll end up going to no-one!

[Matt@OCD 0]

It's ok saying all G60's have high miles so a 1.8T looks better, but you'll struggle to find a 1.8T under 100k now, and most of them have been thrashed as they're a cheap GTI.

 

Whatever engine conversion you're doing, you want to cost in having an engineers look it over and a recondition. Just so you know once it's running you won't have silly little issues that are now a pain to sort out!