My journey for extra HP in my VR6

[Mustillo]

Hi everyone,

So my project is to slowly maintain while adding some extra HP to my 96 Mk3 VR6. Let me know of some recommendations and what you have done to your own car.


1. Cold Air Intake | 5 - 8 HP increase

This is a proper intake setup. Separating engine heat from entering the intake (made that mistake before :p)



2. Intake Manifold Gasket | 8 - 10 HP increase

This is pretty interesting, I was discussing at work to port out the intake, but I don't think that much hassle is really worth it, so I read about this and thought I would order it in.



3. Stainless Steel Decat 710mm | 8 - 10 HP increase


Replaces the stock resonator allowing for easier airflow through the exhaust, also makes it sound pretty good



4. Techtonics Chip | 7 - 10 HP increase

Something I will probably leave to last as this is something that can potentially blow up my engine :/ especially increasing the RPM limit. I will also work on the cooling system first, install metal thermostat hosing, 70 degree thermostat etc.


Not performance mods but some worthwhile mods, a shield for welding to the sump, to prevent punctures and what not.




Metal intake tube as plastic breaks... Mine has anyway no sake wasting money on another OEM plastic one.


Hope you guys like, not much information but just my little project over the next couple of weeks.

[Alfred]

Sounds awesome. Can't wait to see how you go with these. I'd love to install them also

[cliftronix]

That chip probably won't work with the Australian ECU.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Martin]

It's certainly fun tinkering with cars but I would encourage you to be more skeptical about the claims of these companies if you want to spend your money wisely and achieve worthwhile outcomes
Your VR6 has ~171HP and these 4 modifications together would add 38hp, which is 22%???
That just ain't gonna happen - it's hard work getting more power out of N/A engines
Only the chip is likely to make a noticeable difference

I'm really over the claims of CAI's - certainly the theory is good but the kw/hp claims are laughable

The exhaust gasket is a nice idea, if it's a reasonable price, but you would be hard pressed to notice the benefit
(Remember the velocity of air traveling through the inlet - it's exceptionally fast - not enough time to make a significant difference)

The chip should not present any risk to your engine at all - if it's a good product
(You don't have to use the higher RPM)
This is the most likely item to make a meaningful difference to the engine performance

I would not install a 70 degree thermostat
- The engine is designed to operate at 90 deg (tolerances)
- The ECU will think the engine is still cold, it may stay rich and not advance the timing, likely to be slower

I don't understand the "decat replacing the resonator"???
A decat normally replaces the CAT (not something you want to do if you intend to keep the car legal)
(Gutting a CAT and putting it back in reduces power - need to replace the CAT with pipe of same diameter as the rest of the exhaust)
In principle a free flowing exhaust will help (by half what is claimed)

Most steel sumps are bloody strong (dunno about the VR6), they are also hard to weld to
If you were building a rally car you would install a bash plate under the entire engine/gearbox bay

The metal inlet tube is likely to get hot in the engine bay and reverse any/all gains from the cold air initiatives

I really like the VW shallow V6 and would like to tinker with it...

[stefcio007]

For #1 I think that heat shield only works effectively if you keep the top bonnet carpet so that it creates a seal on top and forces the air to come from the side fender. Otherwise you will still be drawing hot air from the engine. My intake end is very close to where the stock intake end was.

#6? As Martin said, metal intake will just make the air coming in hotter. Ever touched a metal pole? Feels cold doesn't it? It's not actually entirely cold, it "feels cold" because metal has avery high thermal conductivity. The heat drains from your hand/fingers so fast that it appears cold to you. Touch plastic in the same way, which has lower thermal conductivity and it won't "feel as cold" as a metal object in the same room.
In the case of the engine, heat will transfer very fast through the intake and cause the inside of the intake to be hot creating hot air coming into your engine, plastic in this regard is superior.

On the other hand it can be a good thing in other cases, Apple laptops have an aluminium casing which causes them to be feel like they generate a lot of heat. In actual fact the heat is being dissipated better than laptops with plastic casing which traps the heat. In this way a laptop with metal casing is able to cool down quicker because it can transfer the heat to the outside faster. Unfortunately this can be uncomfortable to a consumer if they actually have the laptop on their lap.

It would be good if you did a dyno test now and maybe did #2 first as I haven't seen that done before and 8-10 HP sounds like a lot for just altering intake temps.

[anthony--t]

Someone's been looking at the go fast vortex thread!

[cliftronix]

Someone's been looking at the go fast vortex thread!

The sacred text.

[Mustillo]

Thanks for all of your replies, and sorry for the late reply. Some very good replies makes me question these items twice, it's worth a try but I think a Supercharger kit has the real benefit for a power increase

[HaydEn]

262 cams, 2.9 clone intake manifold, full metal 3" intake, mk4 air temp sensor, ported exhaust manifolds, 2.5" or 3" exhaust, 3.94 final drive. Done. /thread

[Bug_racer]

Id add Phonelic spacer and LSD to ^ set up as best bang for buck . Then reduce weight like crazy . to remove 300kg isnt so hard .

[Mustillo]

262 cams, 2.9 clone intake manifold, full metal 3" intake, mk4 air temp sensor, ported exhaust manifolds, 2.5" or 3" exhaust, 3.94 final drive. Done. /thread

Nice agreed with this one.

[Mustillo]

Id add Phonelic spacer and LSD to ^ set up as best bang for buck . Then reduce weight like crazy . to remove 300kg isnt so hard .

Not a bad idea, user root beer had a great N/A thread on another forum, he's managing 12.5 secs to do 402M.!

[HaydEn]

Not a bad idea, user root beer had a great N/A thread on another forum, he's managing 12.5 secs to do 402M.!

12.43 actually

[Mustillo]

Yeah, all good ideas, but I'm going to hold out and drive it stock while I save. If I still really want to make more power, I will take the engine out, do the chain, new MkIV headgasket, CAMS, springs, rebuild etc.

[mk3pete]

262 cams, 2.9 clone intake manifold, full metal 3" intake, mk4 air temp sensor, ported exhaust manifolds, 2.5" or 3" exhaust, 3.94 final drive. Done. /thread

Plus one for this comment!