Turbo or engine swap?

[pwnt by pat 10+ year member]

A friend of mine is goin' to a tech school and he can do some work on my car, should I wish. He can get parts for waaay below retail or dealer costs because he can get it through his school and labor is free //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif.

I have a 2.0 vw golf. He looked into it and a Kenne Bell turbo/kit, everything from intercooler to custom 3" exhaust for ~1500. I don't know any other prices but that's pretty **** good if you ask me, and free labor.

Now, I know VW's and Audis, mostly same parts, same cars. Would I be better off making a turbo golf or looking for a complete engine swap with a "high performance audi engine" (his words)? I know a bit of audio but performance I'm :boobies:

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[scrappy 10+ year member]

Kenne Bell makes turbo kits? I always heard of him for superchargers. What is included in that kit?

 

[kuijo 10+ year member]

Engine swap, safer, easier to maintain and its legal (Depending on where you live).

 

[Blunt 10+ year member]

whats not legal about a turbo?

 

[kuijo 10+ year member]

whats not legal about a turbo?

They don't pass emissions laws and depending on your state you can't have an aftermarket turbo.

 

[pwnt by pat 10+ year member]

PA, and in my county we don't have emissions testing, only visual inspection.

Jmac, I don't have a 1.8. I have a 2.0. I could go 1.8 from a GTI if I was daring.

Anyway, I think he said kenne bell. I looked at their site and only saw products for domesting goods. I could be mistaken what he said though.

Also, for those who say swap, what engine?

 

[WillyG4444 10+ year member]

Think of how long you're gonna keep the car too if you're gonna swap the engine. Also, with the swap, you'll probably wanna upgrade the turbo or do a lot of other stuff anyway. Depends on how much cash you wanna dish out

 

[pwnt by pat 10+ year member]

Well, if all the costs are as low as he says then I might be inclined to do a lot more //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif. I plan on keeping the car for a long time.

 

[scrappy 10+ year member]

I know of a few turbod nissans that can pass emmisions but wont pass the visual test. How many miles are on the motor you have now? If its low miles you are probaly better off just going turbo. If its high mileage then engine swap to the 1.8t

 

[pwnt by pat 10+ year member]

I ticked over 40,000 a couple weeks ago.

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

dont even bother with the 2.0 liter engine its not very tunable, get the 1.8l or if your daring a 2.7liter VR6, or Eurospec 3.2l VR6,

 

[dubbinjet 10+ year member]

woohoo, a topic i know about...vws. okay, i had a 98 2.0 vw jetta. it was a quick little car but sure as hell not fast. now, i do know a guy that had turboed his GTI 2.0 with the ATP kit. he was running pretty fast times. but he had went through 2 trannys with it. i know a turbo'd 2.0 will be a beast, but nothing that is near the capabilities of a 1.8T or a vr6 without $$$$$$$$$$ into it. i sold my 2.0 jetta and bought myself a 1.8T. i love it, the only thing i miss about it is that my mk3 was a little less bulky and more sleek lookin. personally, i would either look into a 2.8 VR6 swap, or get a 1.8T. what year is your car? if you have an mk3 then if you swap in a 1.8T or VR6 it will be quite fast with some mods. so overall, i would forget the 2.0 and get another motor. as for your buddy, get him to throw in a vr6 and spercharge that. theres a guy that lives near me with a stage 3 SC'd Vr6 that stomps on everything. theres my .02 sorry for the long reply.

 

[Loud3 10+ year member]

dont even bother with the 2.0 liter engine its not very tunable, get the 1.8l or if your daring a 2.7liter VR6, or Eurospec 3.2l VR6,

I beg to differ. A few years ago, strictly-foreign.com built a widebodied 2.0 that was turbo'd and that thing was killer.

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

I beg to differ. A few years ago, strictly-foreign.com built a widebodied 2.0 that was turbo'd and that thing was killer.

ive seen F22b engines cranking out high amounts of power, but they're still not very tunable engines, ends up costing too much to get it too the same level

 

[pwnt by pat 10+ year member]

I forgot about this option and purposly neglected it, but what about a supercharger? Neuspeed makes a 2.0l supercharger. Cost wise, it'd probably be a bit cheaper than a swap and upgraded turbo but nowhere near the performance. How would it compair to a turbo (he clairified for me, greddy) kit for the $. I think engine swap may be too far up there $ wise.

I 'heard' from friends that they greatly reduce the gas mileage of your car, which I'm trying to keep, as much as possible.

I know vr6's aren't that kind on gas (26ish) and I'm used to my 30. I expect a loss and I'm willing to accept that...

Oh, it's the mark IV I believe, 2002.