1.8 GTI tuning

Alright guys. I've got a 1.8 gti and it is pretty much standard. Over the winter months I would like to fiddle with the tuning of the engine to try and get it up to original BHP and maybe a bit more. What do you people think will be the best mods to get/do? Cheers for the help in advance guys.

16V Warm up regulator and/or 1.6 metering head (it has a slightly different profile and fuels the car more, so on a 1.8 it would give more bhp). Note, these would need properly setting up though - ie rolling road session with someone who knows what they're doing.

Ummmmm, the next thing I'd do is lighten the car a bit - remove interior trim, rear seats, bumpers, etc for a bit more performance.

Then….I guess its into head work (porting and polishing) and/or bigger valves. I think there's a worthwhile mod on the throttle body for more flow but I can't remember the details.

After that, its into bottom end engine balancing/blueprinting to allow a higher rpm and thus more power.

Then you're into capacity increases - at this point may as well go 16V and do an engine conversion.


There's always nitrous…..for a quick increase in power.

Cheers mate. I have seen a lot of people carb the engines as well. Is this a worth while mod or just to much hassle for what it is worth?

alexkiernan94 said

Cheers mate. I have seen a lot of people carb the engines as well. Is this a worth while mod or just to much hassle for what it is worth?

I have no idea why people replace fuel injection with carburettors. Hopefully someone who's done it, or knows why people do it, will reply though.