ECU Question

Author
Discussion

The DJ 27

Original Poster:

2,666 posts

260 months

Monday 19th May 2003
quotequote all
I have a 1.4 SEAT Ibiza. Reading my owners manual, the engine comes in three versions. 60bhp, 75 bhp (which I have, I think), and 100bhp. Looking at the data in the manual,this is exactly the same engine, so the difference must be the ECU (correct me if I'm wrong). How hard would it be to change ECU's, to give me 100bhp, or is there more to it than that, like different pistons and such? And how much would it roughly cost?

pistol pete

804 posts

270 months

Monday 19th May 2003
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Don't know about the 1.4 petrol, but this is getting pretty common on the VW diesal range so it may well be possible on yours to.

Pete

deltaf

6,806 posts

260 months

Monday 19th May 2003
quotequote all
Dont forget the other possible differences, ie; the compression ratio may be different, and cam profiling, valves may different size.
And ecu will also then be different.

The DJ 27

Original Poster:

2,666 posts

260 months

Monday 19th May 2003
quotequote all
The compression ratios are very slightly differnt. 10.8:1 in mine and 10.5:1 in the 100bhp version. Would this be down to the ECU, or different valves and pistons?

Planman350i

599 posts

260 months

Monday 19th May 2003
quotequote all
Assuming its all vw engine, then the 100hp version could be a twin cam 16v head. VW 16v polo had a 1.4 100bhp engine. Just to confuse things the polo saloon (and seat corboda) ran a 1.6 8v 100 bhp engine.

deltaf

6,806 posts

260 months

Monday 19th May 2003
quotequote all
Cr difference is probably due to the head gasket being thicker and so lowering it.
The ecu has nothing to say about it!
Pistons possibly could be different, but for 0.3 of a cr point its prob the gasket, may be a metal one.

The DJ 27

Original Poster:

2,666 posts

260 months

Tuesday 20th May 2003
quotequote all
So, if i bought a head gasket off a 1.4 Sport (or whatever they're called), and fitted it to my car, the ECU conversion would be fine?

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

262 months

Tuesday 20th May 2003
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The 60bhp Ibiza uses a 1.2 12v lump IIRC. Both the 1.4 engines (75 and 100bhp) are 16v units. On a N/A car this difference in power would not normaly be controlled by just an ECU change. At the very least the cams will be different as the 100BHP engine makes it's power a fair bit higher in the rpm range.

The DJ 27

Original Poster:

2,666 posts

260 months

Tuesday 20th May 2003
quotequote all
Yeah thats true, but, VAG are notorious for offering the same engine with different outputs. For example, the 1.8T comes in 150bhp to 225bhp forms. Different cams wouldn't be a huge problem, as I'm planning to uprate them anyway. Any ideas on which companies I should talk to about what I want to do?

MR2Mike

20,143 posts

262 months

Tuesday 20th May 2003
quotequote all

The DJ 27 said: Yeah thats true, but, VAG are notorious for offering the same engine with different outputs. For example, the 1.8T comes in 150bhp to 225bhp forms. Different cams wouldn't be a huge problem, as I'm planning to uprate them anyway. Any ideas on which companies I should talk to about what I want to do?



It's far easier with a turbocharged engine. In that case it's simply a matter of what they limit the maximum boost to in the ECU.

www.auto-amd.com/ specialise in tuning the Audi/VW engines, they may have some idea of what's involved.

Personaly the best way of getting more power would be to sell your car and buy the 100bhp version. That way you won't attract huge insurance premiums for having a modified car.

annodomini2

6,907 posts

258 months

Monday 26th May 2003
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The 150bhp 1.8T only has 1 intercooler the 225 has 2 much larger ones, plus I think C/R is different, meaning there could be allsorts of minor differences in the engines, cam profile port shape, etc

PreacherCain

27 posts

257 months

Wednesday 4th June 2003
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FWIW there's a pretty large number of differences between the 150 and 225 bhp VAG 1.8Ts.

The 150 and 185 engines are identical, excepet for the ECU, which increases the boost requested from the turbo.

The 210 and 225 engines have different pistons (for a lower C/R), a stronger big end and con-rods, a larger turbo (K04 rather than the K03 in the lower output motors. It's the same physical size but the compressor blades are more aggressively angled, and it can generate a fair bit more boost), bigger injectors, twin intercoolers, *and* an ECU upgrade...

Having said which, the 150 engines can be raised to 200-ish (for the newer, drive-by-wire ones at least) with a simple ECU remap. They do this by increasing the boost and fuelling (plus various other things). However, it is a lot easier to do this with a turbocharged engine, and chip upgrades for N/A engines seem to be a last resort after intake, exhaust, post and flow work, and hot cams...

forrestgump

62 posts

258 months

Wednesday 4th June 2003
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Thought you may be interested in this seat enthusiast site. They are a nice bunch
www.seatenthusiasts.co.uk/forum/index.php?s=

I think it could be down to different throttle body may be the answer.