Tuning MK4 Golf GTI Turbo

Author
Discussion

pdavison

Original Poster:

1,637 posts

282 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
I've got a standard MK4 Golf GTI Turbo and wondered if there was a simple and not too costly way to improve the performance? I know some of the later cars had 180bhp rather than 150bhp, is this something that can be easily achieved?

stone

1,538 posts

252 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
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You can get a REVO remap amongst others that claim to an increase upto 212bhp. Try googling REVO

htsd

263 posts

245 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
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www.vwvortex.com is a good resource. There was a post on this topic a few weeks back that I replied to...

www.petrolheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=287292&f=86&h=0

Robatr0n

12,362 posts

221 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
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www.mrctuning.com/

These guys really know their stuff and the get the most out of an engine without causing damage/harm.

Both Doug and Mihnea own pretty high performance turbo'd cars and they have re-mapped practically everyones cars over on the audi S2 forum.

pdavison

Original Poster:

1,637 posts

282 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
What exactly is involved in a remap? Would you be able to tell that the car had been done from looking at the engine?

Are there any risks in terms of reliability?

Robatr0n

12,362 posts

221 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
As far as I know, my S2 has been chipped for the best part of 5 years. Realiability wise I havent had any problems but I havent had the car for long, but I know the previous owner very well and any problems he has I can easily find out about.

Currently the only problems he ever had would be the steering rack packing up, aircon packing up and an auxilliary radiator packing up and he had the car for 4 years. These, as you know, have nothing to do with the engine.

So long as you go to a reputable tuner the car will be fitted with knock sensors, the very nature of the mapping will mean that the car is run pretty lean but not to the point of dangerous levels and it should push as much BHP as comfortably as possible from the engine without causing damage.

There will be absolutely no visable difference what so ever, however in my case once VAG-COM is plugged into the car an MTM sign pops up to let people know it has an MTM chip. I'm pretty certain some are practically invisibly mapped now as tuners often re-map the standard chip. This way the only way to find out if the car has been tuned is to put it on the rolling road.

Robatr0n

12,362 posts

221 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
Also a good point to add that custom mapping is excellent. This is because every engine is different, some are just naturally stronger from the day they were built. So by custom mapping each car the best/safest gains can be made over a generic chip.

Also custom mapping is good because you can tell your tuner whether you want more torque lower down or you want more power higher up in the rev band, personally for me torque low down wins everytime.

The mapping of the ECU dictates when the turbo starts spooling up, how long for and where it tails off. By mapping a car the fueling of the car is adjusted accordingly so that it is not over fueled or the engine is left starved of fuel.

Commonly by remapping a car you see fair rise in the cars BHP but you see a massive hyke in the cars torque values. Often better MPG can be achieved even with the power increase which was the former owners excuse to chip my car!

If you are in any doubt give MRCTuning a call on 01295 277308 and ask for Doug or Mihnea. They will tell you all you need to know and if swing by www.s2forum.com and search for MRC, many people will vouch as to just how good these guys are, I have never read of one complaint. They are basically a couple of enthusiasts who loved their hobbies so much they made a career out of it.

pdavison

Original Poster:

1,637 posts

282 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
Great stuff.

Sounds like a custom remap could be the preferred option as I don't like reving engines too high so increased torque low down would be ideal.

Thanks for all the info guys!

Robatr0n

12,362 posts

221 months

Wednesday 20th September 2006
quotequote all
No problem!

Best of luck with the car, and remember, torque over BHP, we gota fight back against the diesels! hehe