Is Volkswagen GTI 1.8T any good for performance?

[How soon is now]

Someone over at VWvortex dyno their car with a REVO chip and intake.212hp and 223 ftlb on 95 oct.

[el~sharko]

Originally posted by How soon is now
Someone over at VWvortex dyno their car with a REVO chip and intake.212hp and 223 ftlb on 95 oct.

wont our cars put that power to 4 wheels with just a chip

[CustomS10]

Originally posted by el~sharko
wont our cars put that power to 4 wheels with just a chip

the wrx makes 180 to the wheels. i honestly doubt an ecu upgrade would add 30hp to the wheels. bone stock that is.

[WRXless]

From an owner's standpoint the 1.8T is a great engine. The platform it's implemented in, as far as performance is concerned, is not as great. It's been mentioned above that the crappy open diff is a really weak point for these cars. The handling issues can be resolved relatively cheaply with some third-party upgrades. The engine itself though is a thing of beauty.

It's a five valve design, which means that it makes peak torque at 1950 RPM, and the torque curve is almost flat up to 5000 RPM. There's almost no turbo lag on the tiny stock unit, and peak power is reached at 5600 RPM (just after the torque starts to drop).

As mentioned, a $500 chip does wonders for these engines. 215 HP on 93 octane (up from 180), but even more impressive is the torque - all 247 lb/ft of it.

Anyhow, there's my two bits.

[How soon is now]

You can get 100 oct. program too.

[ebr0t]

they just get TERRIBLE traction.

[snvin]

Originally posted by ebr0t
they just get TERRIBLE traction.

Exactly. The VW 1.8t is a great engine trapped in a much-less-than-great package.

From a roll, the VW 1.8t is a real threat, but from a dead stop a WRX will make it look like it's standing still. Even the VWVortex.com guys will tell you that. (Good group of guys over there, by the way.)

[WRXless]

Agreed. A lot of people slap in a LSD to help with this issue.

[snvin]

Originally posted by WRXless
Agreed. A lot of people slap in a LSD to help with this issue.

Yeah - it's just unfortunate that the LSD is a $900 solution.
I used to be dead-set on a 1.8t GTI. VW really makes some beautiful cars, and their interiors are unbelievable for the price.

It's just too bad that the traction and VW's reliability isn't better.

[WRXless]

Their traction leaves something to be desired, but I have not had one issue as far as reliability is concerned. They've got great build quality, plus a four year standard warranty which is extendable to eight years.

[JrG18m]

They are very nice cars. I was also looking into one before I saw the pricetag on the '03s...then i headed over to Subaru to see what i could find. My father currently has the Passat and its also nice from factory...im tryin to get him to chip it so he can feel the power which lies beneath...The engine is very very well built. 1.8t BayBee!!

Furthermore..."I'd Hit It!!"

[PowerOn]

traction is bad with our cars, but i wouldnt say it was HORRIBLE... well, considering that we're front wheel drive, and once chipped, we're pulling over 230 lbs of torque...

anywho, you guys should visit club18t.com...that's where the "nice" guys of the dub world hang out... the vortex is a bunch of guys who start flamewars at the drop of a hat...can anyone say clubrsx.com?

a couple of buddies with just a chip have gotten low 14's.... if youre going to break into 13's repeatedly, youre going to have to lighten your car, get some more bolt ons (turbo back, turbo inlet pipe, n75-keeps us spooled longer)...and of course, learn to launch a front wheel drive car with that much torque...

that's probably the hardest thing to do...

[PowerOn]

oh yeah...and our cars can handle close to 500 whp on the stock bottom end

[Griswold]

Originally posted by AspenScooby
There are about four running around where I live(all the same color too) and one is running 12's with the stock turbo and the other is quick as well, just not 12's yet....

Um. He ain't in the 12's on the stock turbo. No way, no how.

[str]

I raced a 1.8 from a roll and a stop in my WRX Wagon. He said he was stock and all I had was an MBC. We were dead even from a roll, I may have pulled slightly. From a dead stop I had him by almost two cars up to about 70 and started to pull from there. They are quick cars stock, no doubt and the chip does do wonders for that car. I test drove one also before I bought my WRX, nice interior.