Mopzilla

Hey guys! I just bought another car, real weak but it gets the job done. It's a new 2005 VW golf with a 2.0L 115hp engine and 5-speed manual. I bought it for 18,000 out the door, with a $7000 downpayment. Since it is pretty slow, I have mastered double clutching and am good at heel-toe technique in turns (at least I can leave the turns much faster), but it is still so slow that entering a fast freeway is kind of tough. I would like to know these few things: If I am going to modify it, should I get a super, turbo, or just get that chip that changes the fuel mix? I am thinking maybe I should just wait or something.. this is a beater to me; I smoke in it, I let off the clutch too fast, I rev it up to 5500 daily. And I use it to carry drums and girls.

Are any mods worth it on this car?

If the job allows, I will get a better car when I'm done with college (BMW, maybe a Caterham...etc) and will probably keep it around because insurance is cheaper on two cars. So, is it worth it to upgrade a cheap car like this one right now?

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

The super charger is the way to go IMHO. A turbo is to complex for the average person. A chip will only get you a 10-15% gain. Do a search for a system for your ride. Plan on a budget of $5000-$7500. This should cover the SC the header and exhaust system.

David

mikewoodkozar

yeah, turbos by themselves arent that much, its the install and extra parts that get you

SIM2U

WOW...your still in college and you can affort all these things, prety good for a colledge student I think. When I was in university, I could not affort anything even with two jobs and a third on the weekend as my parents did not help me in this regard...always said that I had to learn to support myself. And I did. Your bands must get alot of cash for playing gigs lol.

Turbo requires you to have many other mods adn you also need the chip with this to help with the fuel. all up you may look at around $32, 000. and I am not sure about labour costs...? The super charger is instant powere in any gear and any speed so its better than a turbo in that way. A turbo reuires you to build up speed at a cetain RPM the turbo will kick in adn you perhaps would need a stall converter aswell?

Superchargers are cheaper but its a whole different set up than a turbo. And if your not careful you will damage the gearbox and your engine if its not right. You have to think about your exhaust header, your axhause system as your stock will only dampen your system. You need more info, go to the garage and show them your little VW and say what you want do and why then get the expert advice and also get 4 different quotes form different places.

mirage-twin

Id just get a centrifugal sc becuase they are relatively cheap and very easy to install compared to a turbo, turbo's are better but you need to get a custom exaust made and its much more money in the end.

I dont know what is available for vw's but either a roots type or centri will be great.

None2Slow

I've had Turbo Thunder birds and Supercharged 'Birds as well and I would prefer Turbo any day of the week. A turbo doesn't put a strain on your motor as a SC does. Granted, the SC is USUALLY a simpler install and a smaller package, but it takes less power to run the turbo. Basically, it's free power. With either system, your going to have to upgrade the rest of the car. Pound for pound, the turbo is the better power adder. Whether you go turbo or sc, they both will require the same modifications as far as fuel, air and spark. They will both need a custom tuned chip. With a turbo, you have the ability to add or take away boost as needed. If you get a tank of bad fuel, you can decrease psi and avoid detonation. If this happens with a sc, you have to change a pulley to accomplish the same, or take it easy on the pedal. Just my opinion, but the turbo is worth it in the end.

mikemcnair

i have built MANY VW's, with turbo's and SC's and am biased toward the turbo's. if you do your research you can easily do a low boost turbo setup on a VW 2.0 for 1000-2000 dollars. the key thing is research.

go to forums.vwvortex.com for all of the info you could ever need. i will tell you that the 2.0 can be a pretty fun motor once you get some power out of it. a few things to search for on VORTEX:

salsaGTI is a buddy of mine, and has a 2.0 x-flow like yourself, and is makeing VERY respectable power. search his name.

look at my profile also. threads started, and threads watched.

go right to the "forced induction" forum for a great FAQ's page on the top of the forum.

feel free to ask me as many questions asd you wouls like, as i have a TON of VW/'Porsche/Audi experience.

also, plan on C2 software for the car regardless of what direction you go, it is absolutely amazing!


edit for a link to my current weapon of choice.......... (the green VW at the bottom)

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_54...tm.htm#5448136

edited again for another link to the FI forum on vortex.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeroforum?id=113

octanehuffer

Adding a turbo to that car is like decorating an out house. Come days end it will still be an economy vehicle, just with a bunch of clutter under the hood. 3,000 dollars for a car that will only run a best of 15 seconds. Save your money for a real car. Just my experienced .02
Adam

mikemcnair

actually, 13's are totally possible with a 2.0 and a compressor. stuck in the 15's, not sure what you are basing that upon, but yeah, that would suck.

either way, it is his car, and he can do what he wants. all we are posting here is our opinions in an effort to assist him.

also, the engine bay does not have to be cluttered.... here is my buddy dave's car, 2.0 crossflow in a mark 2 chassis, so the layout is basically the same as the original poster in this thread, but the covers and suck are different(as well as the space)

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2541909

octanehuffer

The kid said it was a beater car and he trashes the car. Just adding a turbo wont do much for time unless he intends to add the other parts that compliment it ie, exhaust, shifter, tune, etc. Why do it to a beater. Waste of money IMO

mikemcnair

i agree, for a beater, it will not make as much sence. BUT, i am the guy that likes to tinker, so i would find a way to do it, just for kicks.

Mopzilla

Thanks for the suggestions. The only problem is that I drove my friend's V8 5.7L Camaro, which has 170,000 miles and a screwed up diff... and I easily burned a few beemers, older m3's, subaru's etc. Oh and the fact that he can do a 180 on a dry sunny day and spin the wheels even while moving at 40 mph.

I kind of lost interest in modifying my car after that.

However, if a supercharger is that cheap (relatively), I think I will go for it when I get some money. Just that off the line and need-to-pass-this-guy-cut-him-off-and-take-that-turn type acceleration isn't quite there yet.

Mike - sweet ride. [8D]

mikemcnair

i can spin then from a roll at 60 mph too, with out "punching it". lol. and thank you.

do what you want, just make sure you have fun with it.

Zooomzoomguy

i'd go with turbo, i find them simpler then superchargers actually, i drive turbo'd car everyday and i love it

asl4lyfe

Get a turbo. They beat sc's any day. You can't get as much power with a sc. Plus that don't you love that "ppppssssssssshhhhhhhhh" sound of a turbo when you shift? Anyways sc's use power to make power, they can use as much as 40% of the engines power. Turbo's on the other hand use WASTED power to make power.

None2Slow

I beg to differ. You can get just as much power from a SC. It all depends on the SC your using and what size. If you put a big SC on a car, you will make more top end power (if you can spin the engine high enough), but your drive ability will suffer bad. Same as a Turbo. If you get the right size, the difference is not that big. I still prefer Turbo as it is a little easier on parts.

rideicon

turbos are great and you can do a cheap remote turbo with basic mechanical fuel pressure regulator.
http://www.ststurbo.com/
instead of using a turbo header they mount the turbo under the car where the muffler would go and run the intake piping back into the manifold. it works very well we have done many at our local shop.

asl4lyfe

On the other hand turbo's ARE good but there is a noticable amount of time when you press the gas and the turbo kicks in. This is called LAG. If you stick with those big 500+ horsepower turbo's, your turbo will only kick in when exhaust gas pressure is enough and of course that will only be in very high RPM's. I say just go with a small turbo for street drivabillity. There are other setups too such as sequential twin turbo, there are two turbo's 1 small and 1 big. At low RPM's only the small turbo operates and at high RPM's both the small and big operate at the same time. The sequential turbo can be seen in supra's.They give perfect response and there is no lag. The other two are compound and jus the normal twin turbo's. Compound turbocharging uses also 1 big and 1 small turbocharger but the big turbocharger compresses the air going to the small turbocharger. Because of this the pressures can some can exceed 100 psi. They are normally used in diesel racing. The last one is just the normal twin turbo where 1 turbo runs off half the engine's exhaust and the other turbo runs of the other half. I don't know if I'm sure but there was this car maker that used something called a twin charger where it utilised a supercharger and turbocharger.Of course if your gonna be racing your gonna spend alot on the engines especially the fuel system and engine block because of the high compression ratios.

None2Slow

Fire trucks use the twin charge setup. They have a Supercharger and a Turbo. They use a roots type blower (the kind you see sticking through the hood) that is good for off idle boost, then the turbo is able to be larger and give a nice boost to the higher end of the RPM range. Of course these are on Diesel engines that only rev to about 1800 RPM. Blowers are an excellent setup for tow vehicles and when the pulley is sized right, can be tailored to a particular driving style, be it Drag racing, road racing or drifting. Turbo lag can be a pain if the turbo is to big. I worked with a guy that had a turbo from an Penske moving truck on his Toyota Celica. Obviously this was to big to use. he also had a 100 shot of Nitrous that was used to spool the Turbo at the track. Around town you never knew he had a turbo. At the track, he was a real threat running very low 11's in the 1/4. If your going to get a turbo, you can find them at the junk yards on some older Ford Thunderbirds. These cars came with2.3L Engines with a Garrett T-3 Turbo. These made nice power and are good up to about 20psi. They can be bought for about $50. You can also get these off of Volvos as well. Very cheap and Garretts are a very dependable Turbo.