MK 1 GTI down on power

Hello everyone
                     Sorry I don't post much but do trawl the site often, I had my mk 1 put on a rolling road last weekend as it seemed , well not a GTI power wise. ANyway it started off at 84hp, after a bit of adjustment and several runs they guys managed 95.2 hp with 108lb/ft torrque. now i know this is quite a bit down on original figures, the car has done 169000 miles. it is also run on normal unleaded, the guy suggested I run it on v power. has anyone got any pointers so I may get somewhere near the original figures or is it a total engine rebuild ? thanks for your replies in advance.
Daz

Try a few tanks of 97/98 octane as that was what it was designed for. Adjust timing adjusted to suit and see it that rounds up the full 110 or 112 horses.

If its otherwise running OK (no smoke, no rattles, no knocking and good mpg) don't think I'd bother with a full engine rebuild for a few extra hp? Presumably that's what the R32 is for, going fast?

Yes I was going to put a few tanks of V power in to see if that makes any difference, There is a smell of smoke with the windows down when driving to be honest, when it was on the rollers it did smoke at full chat, am I opening a can of worms though by breaking in to the head to do the valve stem oil seals ? it could lead to more work needing doing. Would you think the higher rated fuel will make up the hp difference ?. Yes the R32 is a nice drive but you cant beat a bit of old skool.

Probably a couple of obvious points but I'll make them anyway:

1. Is that power figure at the wheels or the flywheel - think the 115bhp (or whatever standard is) is flywheel which would equate to about 95 at the wheels I think.

2. Rolling roads won't give an exact reading - they are interesting to compare cars with difference mods / engines and serve a purpose if you are comparing yours over time (for example getting a baseline reading and then adding performance parts and seeing the impact).

Things like wheels and tyre pressure (rolling radius) along with when the road was last calibrated all make a difference too.

The above certainly used to be the case 10 / 15 years ago when I was into such things.

SvenM said

Probably a couple of obvious points but I'll make them anyway:

1. Is that power figure at the wheels or the flywheel - think the 115bhp (or whatever standard is) is flywheel which would equate to about 95 at the wheels I think.

2. Rolling roads won't give an exact reading - they are interesting to compare cars with difference mods / engines and serve a purpose if you are comparing yours over time (for example getting a baseline reading and then adding performance parts and seeing the impact).

Things like wheels and tyre pressure (rolling radius) along with when the road was last calibrated all make a difference too.

The above certainly used to be the case 10 / 15 years ago when I was into such things.

the figures were at the wheels, Like you said you will lose a bit through the tansmission,, it has the original wheels with new tyres