Anyone ECU Mapped/Tuned a VW Golf MK4, 1.6L??

[kendog]

Hi All,
As the title says, I really want to know if anyone has tuned a VW Golf MK4, 1.6L??

I know it's not the best place to start, but I love the colour, it's unique, and have the suspension and wheels siting almost right (for a daily).

I just want a bit more oomph trying to get going at the bottom of 2nd gear mainly. Once I get the revs up, it gets along fine, it's just when I want to give it a bit, it lags from the lower revs.

Any ACTUAL experience would be amazing, I know this little beast can go better!

Look at it, it just WANTS to go harder!..



(old photo, rear and front gap are even now..)

[Njay]

i would be suprised if there any tuners who offered a tune for this engine
even if you do, the gains would be like very minimum

[kendog]

Yeah, viezu said they've done it before and could do it. Only about 10% horsepower accross the rev range, but apparently adds more torque, and better fuel economy.

So I'm wondering if this 'even more torque' is what I'm after, trying to get going in 2nd gear?

[mikinoz]

The tip lesson I was given on 1.6 MKIV ownership back in the day I had one was not to waste money chasing performance.

[Njay]

do they offer a trial tune, you might be the first person

only one way to find out....

[gavs]

Best way to get more speed etc out of the Mk 4 1.6 (speaking from an ex 1.6 owner here) is to either a) do a full overhaul type service with new everything, this will probably get you the same result as the engine will have probably lost 10% of it's performance or b) push it off a cliff.

Do what I did and spend money on suspension, then save up for a replacement, don't waste your cash on the engine.

[mikinoz]

Do what I did and spend money on suspension, then save up for a replacement, don't waste your cash on the engine.

Truth.

And the manual gearboxes are notoriously weak without extra power to deal with.

[kendog]

Hmm, yes, I was just thinking on the weekend that maybe doing a head gasket set and a 'bore-clean' (?) and a new set of rings would probably do it the world of good.

I went to look at a '99-2000 mk4 Golf GTI yesterday, as it was only $5000, it was bought by the guy looking at the same time as me. It was only on carsales just over 24hrs. The paint was a bit crap in spots, and had a few plasticy things needed fixing on the inside, but I think mechanically fine. One owner since new.

I don't think I'll see another one that cheap for a long time. I did keep looking back over at mine thinking: mine looks way, way nicer, evn he was commenting on it.

So, back to solutions for the 1.6L for me! I have a mate who's a mechanic who could do the gaskets and rings cheap-ish, what would you guys suggest, anything else that would be a good improvement?? New valves/valve seating stuff might be good, but that might be a much more complex job.. Thoughts?

PS - Thanks very much for all your suggestions, really appreciated!

[gecko2k]

Did you consider getting a half cut from a GTI and putting the bits into yours? I see that you live in Sydney so you could also got to Golf Loons workshop to get it done if you don't wanna do it yourself.

Personally I Wouldn't bother with investing into the 1.6 engine, it's just not worth it.

[kendog]

Hmm, yeah, that could work. I did get my coilovers put in by those guys down at Camden GTI, and liked their vibe. Main problem is that it's my daily drive & need it to get to work. Camden is also quite a drive from the Eastern suburbs, like an hour each way. How long would a full engine swap take?

That would be awesome though, I'd get to keep my colour and look, whilst having GTI running gear. I'm thinking the cost would be high though. Much higher than if I sold mine to get a GTI.

Also, if I killed my gearbox, does a GTI gearbox bolt on to a 1.6L engine?

[gecko2k]

I guess all these things you might be able to work out using google, Vortex etc.

If you really wanna keep your shell, then be prepared to fork out a LOT of money or keep the engine standard and stick with what you already have...

[parso_rex]

We could tune it but I wouldn't do it because the gains would be crap for the reasons mentioned above and I wouldn't be able to sleep at night after stealing your money
honestly I reckon just wait and get a GTI or A3 1.8T. Theres also the 1.8T polo's to consider and I've spied a nice one for sale up the street for sale today actually

[kai_h]

Performance gains on a N/A car from a remap are minimal at best. 10% gains are very optimistic. You'll most likely get 3-5kW at best, and a few extra Nm of torque. Maybe better fuel economy and maybe better throttle response, but minimal gains across the board in power and torque.
I chipped my MkIII VR6 as it was only $300 at the time and I realistically got maybe an extra 5kW at best on a 130kW engine. I looked into chipping my Bora 4Motion with the 24V VR6 and for the same gains, it was going to be more like $1k. So not worth it.

Chipping a turbo engine is s different story altogether. Gains of 20-30kW are not uncommon for the same $$$.

[kendog]

Thanks. Good, real world example. It's looking more and more like leave it & try to forget about it, or prep mine ready for sale and start looking for a mechanically good GTI...

I should've bought the $5000 one I saw on Mon arvo (even though the other guy said he'd take it before I could even go for the test drive to know what it felt like!). Bad paint, but if I rubbed it back and went matte/satin black anyway, that wouldn't be too expensive. That's ok, another one may pop up for that cheap.