G60 or 1.8t 20v conversion?

Hi all,

Wondering what the general opinion is on the 2 conversions.

What would you go for?

I have worked out the cost of a 1.8t conversion at about £2000 (do it myself)

I have seen a G60 engine complete to drop straight in for £1300 (which seemed a little pricey in my opinion?)

Any pro's and cons and your view would be appreciated.

Cheers.

What does the G60 consist of for £1300?

Is this everything you need for the mk1 conversion?

I can tell you my G60 conversion has cost me more than that and its not done yet either.

I'd go for 1.8t if I were you, parts are readily available, engines are newer etc etc..

Yes, g60 includes everything.

All taken out of mk1 so should drop straight in.

Running 190 bhp so quite temptiing!

Like the idea of a newer engine though…

1.8t??

If the G60 is in good nick and that price includes everything then its a bargain imo.

On paper, the G60 offers 150-200bhp and the 20vT offers 150-250bhp, so more power potential off the later engine. But also more cost to do it. Having said that, if you need to do a charger rebuild (they need done regularly, and more frequently if you're overspeeding it to increase boost and gain power) then the G60 option becomes poor value for money.

Anything I should look out for or be asking?

The main one would be "when was the charger last rebuilt?" along with "what's the pulley size?".

Thanks,

I'll find out and keep you updated!

Cheers.

Is there an ad for the G60 you can link us to??

Be different, fit the 20vt engine but remove the turbo and fit a modern supercharger.

Link here.

Think I'm going to go for the 1.8t.

Newer engine, more parts available. Better reliability?

More money but I'll be keeping the car for a good while!

G60 engine for sale

Yeah I'd avoid that one like the plague.

I'd only ever pay that much for a G60 engine that I could hear running in the car, strange how he has no room for the mk1 yet he isnt selling it as a whole, or am I missing something?  :dontknow:

Seems good at first sight but these aspects niggle me:

- The car looks great in the pics - why is it being broken up/split?
- "mapped live on the road"
- bhp is an estimate figure

If that timing slip is true, then the estimate is about 180bhp, not 198bhp, unless they weighed the car too and it was heavier than average.

Apparently charger was recently checked by Jabba and all ok. 12k since last service. Not been run in car since checked.

Something isn't quite right me thinks.

As you say Raul, why is it being sold out of car. Car has to go but no mention of the car being broken/sold??

mmmmmmmmmmm. 20v it is!

Anyone kow if I can run the standard 20v ECU on a 20v conversion and just get it de-coded? Not after massive BHP.

Yeah, best way to go if you dont like messing around with electrics (megasquirt), would probably be the QPeng set up, that uses alot of the original equipment on the 20v engine.

Megasquirt is the cheapest engine managment system tho.

The 20v conversion is well documanted, on this site, cgti and a few other good sites on the net.

ive had a g60 and now a 20v in my mk1 . the g60 was simple to install myself with no mechanical knowledge at all . the pro of a g60 is boy the power is there when u need it. the sound is mental. the cons rebuilding the charge alot of money. 020 gearbox did not last in my g60 i had 4 boxes it killed them,plus drive shafts lol. now the 20v its a newer engine. and again i done the converstion easy, all parts are of the shelf. out of the both i stick with the 20v
more reliable and i love the kick back when full boost is on . plus you wont need to drop another engine when you borded with the power just wack a bigger turbo

peterg60 said

ive had a g60 and now a 20v in my mk1 . the g60 was simple to install myself with no mechanical knowledge at all . the pro of a g60 is boy the power is there when u need it. the sound is mental. the cons rebuilding the charge alot of money. 020 gearbox did not last in my g60 i had 4 boxes it killed them,plus drive shafts lol. now the 20v its a newer engine. and again i done the converstion easy, all parts are of the shelf. out of the both i stick with the 20v
more reliable and i love the kick back when full boost is on . plus you wont need to drop another engine when you borded with the power just wack a bigger turbo

Ditto..

I did a G60 conversion, easy todo, lovley sound, you can always tell if a mk1 golf has a G60 lump inside not only that people will turn there heads due to the sound it makes around 30mph,,
I wanted both G60 and 20vt mk1's but wife aint having none of it lol so i sold the G60 purley i want more power..

Here's my 2 pence

Buy a G60 if,
1. Your happy with around 200 bhp with pulley good exhaust system.
2. You want to get noticed with a beautiful sound.
3. Very simple unit to get your hands around!!! thats a big plus in my eyes…

Buy a 20Vt if,
1. You want more than 200 bhp

Thats pretty much the differance between them, of course the G60 is getting long in the tooth and replacing a charger is not cheap if it blows but its still a fun unit to do if i was allowed to have another shell i would defo do a G60 again

Will say the G60 unit is capable of more the 200 bhp but you would need to spend way more cash to achive that over a 20vt, tbh it really comes down to what you want!!

Make sure you have a clear idea of all the parts for 20vt conversion including engine mounts etc. Bigger budget needed IMO when everything is considered.

For character the G60 would be a nice job. Maybe a KR or ABF on Weber 45s as a third alternative? or 16v G60 or go from Glader to Bahnbrenner charger  

Theres not that much differance..

Both need fabricated engine mount.
Both need gearbox mounts unless you stick to the gti box
Both need an intercooler inc pipe work
Both need front brake upgrades to be safe
Both need loom mods to work

20vt needs a down pipe where G60 dont but tbh you want a nice manifold on the G60 need this to breath as much as possible! ive got a 4-1 magnex with a 2.5" conversion with lambda hole which will be for sale soon

A G60 lump will cost about 1k if your lucky you may get one out of a mk1 golf with all pipe work etc
I sourced a 20vt for under £500 with everything inc gearbox

The big plus for the G60 is the ECU, you dont need to get it defeated and swapping the chip is easy if you want to use a smaller pulley, swapping the turbo for a bigger one then it the ecu is going to need remapping not cheap..

Im in the middle of the 20vt conversion atm and will be doing a build thread with pics, ive done a G60 build thread Here The Link its not 100% complete and theres some editing to be done but only have 15 mins to edit once you post

Both engines are good and if you have a budget for either setup it will be broken be warned