anyone else got a 2.0 16v corrado engine'd mk1 golf gti???

[dan69]

hi all,

just picked my new toy up this afternoon. it's a mk1 golf gti with a 2.0 16v corrado engine. Car goes like stink and looks the bo####ks to. just wondered if anyone is familiar with this engine and gcould give any advice as this is my first vw, have been a ford nut for the past 10 years so this engine is all new to me.

[zcacogp]

I built such a car once, so yup, I know the engine.

What do you want to know about it? (Apart from the fact that I'd never build another one as the car was better with the stock 1.8 8v engine in it.)


Oli.

[aka_kerrly]

yo! glad you got past the ford stage and progressed to VW i made the change to and will never go back, apart from maybe a RS500 hehe. Anyway i suggest you join up CLUB GTI (www.clubgti.com) an become a forum member. Then you can access literally tonnes and tonnes of information- there is a very good search function and even a thread on specific engines including FAQ etc and the guys + gals are great amount of help!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way your engine code for your 2.0 16v is "9A" that should help you find info. It can be tuned to around 160BHP without an huge amount of work :-)

[iguana]

Yeh well known conversion, 1st tip is that if its got the stock 9a cams- in throw in the bin & use 16v Golf (KR) cams. 9a are mild as horse pi$$.

If you have the head off- get it properly flowed, proper engine dyno tests prove its worth 10-15bhp on its own.

[iguana]

zcacogp said:

I built such a car once, so yup, I know the engine.

What do you want to know about it? (Apart from the fact that I'd never build another one as the car was better with the stock 1.8 8v engine in it.)


Oli.

Odd thought that Oli, I track a mates Mk1 regually as well as my Mk2 & its an ABF rather then 9a conv, but with merely a flowed head & 4 branch is an easy & genuine 40-50bhp over the old 8v lump & pretty much on par power wise with my high comp 1.9 that cost a lot of dosh to build back yrs ago, & its a great lump for the car (tons of pure track chassis mods too but even merely engine wise its chalk & cheeze) do agree tho that as stock the 2.0 Corrado lump is a tad uninspiring, my old 1800 Corrado (or many 16v mk 2s) was a much nicer driver than the 2.0s, more revvy & much more 'pep' as the yanks would say, but 9a on k jet flowed head & KR cams is a lovely unit & much nicer than stock 1800.

[dan69]

hi all,

cheers for all your comments, will try6 and get some pics posted up of the engine soon. Been to avonbar racing today and discussed with him changing the standard cams for a set of schrick ones and mildy porting the head. Going to cambridge on saturday to get it rolling roaded to get the carbs set up and make sure everything is okay, plus it gives me a satribg figure so i know how much difference the cams will make. Also need to upgrade the ignition system as it is still running on points, not sure if i can just swap over to a later system off a mk2 golf or wether ive got to go downt the leumention route.

[zcacogp]

iguana said:

Odd thought that Oli, I track a mates Mk1 regually as well as my Mk2 & its an ABF rather then 9a conv, but with merely a flowed head & 4 branch is an easy & genuine 40-50bhp over the old 8v lump & pretty much on par power wise with my high comp 1.9 that cost a lot of dosh to build back yrs ago, & its a great lump for the car (tons of pure track chassis mods too but even merely engine wise its chalk & cheeze) do agree tho that as stock the 2.0 Corrado lump is a tad uninspiring, my old 1800 Corrado (or many 16v mk 2s) was a much nicer driver than the 2.0s, more revvy & much more 'pep' as the yanks would say, but 9a on k jet flowed head & KR cams is a lovely unit & much nicer than stock 1800.

Several people have quizzed me on this one, and I can't put my finger on what I didn't like about it. I built a 16v Mk1 with the KR lump - it wasn't actually the 2.0 16v - but I never got on with it. I did as good a job as I could (and it was much better executed than most of the conversions that TSR/BBR/Venom were offering at the time, even if I say so myself) and I wrote it up extensively for Rabbit magazine, with lots of photos (magazine number 74, I think.)

Why didn't I like it? I guess I just didn't get on with the more revvy nature of the engine. I tried it with both the large-bore Golf inlet manifold (bag of bananas) and the small-bore Corrado items, but it didn't make much (any!) difference. I got off to a bad start with a load of small niggly problems which led to me blowing one engine up, and the second one was a bit better but still not great. I think I just preferred the huge flexibility of the 8v engine, despite the fact that it wasn't as peppy. Perhaps if I was building a track slag then I would consider a 16v Mk1 for that, but for a daily driver the 8v was more my cup of tea.

Suffice it to say that when I bought another Mk1 GTi some years later with a knackered engine, I bought a replacement 8v lump to go in it.

(Of course this could all be different if I had been trying a 2.0 16v.)


Oli.

[dan69]

couple of pics i took today

[MJK 24]

dan69 said:

couple of pics i took today

Brilliant!

Standard looking Mk1 sat on its arse with plenty of power!

[michm3]

Built that engine once for a MkII...a decade ago:-)

I only used the 9A block and bolted my good old KR head on top of it. 268° Schrick cams, ported head, Supersprint 4-2-1 + complete system, Porsche 924 turbo K-Jet and injectors...then bring it to a specialust who can match the air/fuel ratio and it brings you close to 180 bhp...I loved it, both torque and hp..great engine!!