Hi, I recently bought a mk3 2.0 GTi 8v and want to modify it. Was just wondering what people's opinions on 1st engine mods are? Induction kit/filter, exhaust? And what brands do you guys think are best?
theres no definitive answer to this but this is my opinion.K n N panel filter. an induction kit will do if your only intrested in induction roar and losing performance. a straight through exhaust system. supersprint if quality and subdued sound is required. i think a 4 branch manifold is not required at this stage. now wait for ten different answers.
An exhaust and induction is the 1st step imo. Get yourself a nice free flowing exhaust, a panel filter, and modify your airbox (see link to guide in sig)
Do this and expect not much than simply more noise. Albeit nice, you may achieve 1-2bhp in performance max, it's not really any upgrade and the drilled box, imo, shows the sign of "boy-racer" ownership to future buyers. New stainless exhaust system might sound better at approx 300, but..... ....as Jamesa2 said, if you want to make an easy and cheapish upgrade to an 8v MK3, then go for the handling, with a decent 300 suspension kit. Proper ,worthwhile, performance upgrades on that engine will involve headwork to start with, which ain't cheap, followed by a cam and 4-branch mani, to take advantage of that head work....could spend loads for not alot of gain tbh (you're talking 800-1000 for that work without labour)....then you may as well listen to DarrynK's advice and get a decent performing MK3 in the first place.....I like VR6's And don't start you mk3 fanboys , we all know they badged that slow ass piece of crap as a GTI to sell more models in the badge conscious UK: elsewhere in europe it was considered a basic hatch, the 16v being the true mk3 VW GTI.
Woah! There's no need to tell the lad to buy a new car straight after he's just bought this one. They may not be the most desirable of the GTi's but it's still a GTi and this is a GTi forum. They're cheaper to insure than most GTi's at least. First place to start is always breathing mods. Induction kit if thats what you want, but like has been said, it wont nessessarily make it faster just louder. And an exhaust system. It depends how far you're willing to go with it. As for brands.... K&N, Magnex, Miltek, Pipercross... Anyone have an insight on any brands? Anyone got any experiences they can share?
As per my post, neither will add to the performance of the car in the slightest. More noise, but no more go! The cyl head is the biggest performance bottleneck with the 8v mk3, not the inlet airflow or exhaust: neither upgrades will make significant improvement, if any at all As for Pipercross, TSC has some prime examples of thier performance quality
Now, maybe i have an advantage here in the fact that i OWN a mk3 8v. Have you ever owned an 8v Mk3 and done the airbox and exhaust mods? I have and can tell you NOW that they make a difference, if you saw the standard pipe that the 8v had to breath through you would know this, it's shocking. I modified my airbox and sorted my exhaust out and it DID make a difference, plus i am NOT a boy racer, hence why i have a pug 406 as well, it's just known that the standard airbox is sh*te. Get your facts right or talk from experience man, people will respect you more for it rather than repeating what you have heard from others.
Absolutely right! gti's have performance exhausts to start with. You won't see much performance gain for your money. (combine with other mods)
Hello Why don't you spend the money you have for mods on getting it set up properly on the rollers. This will give you a benchmark figure for all future mods, and the knowledge that timing and fueling is spot on. Sorry for being so boring PAPA S
^^^^^ biggest load of crap ever. Listen to Funkbaren and Darryn etc.... I had a MK3 8V for nearly 3 years (that enough experience for you?). I had a stainless longlife exhaust system on it etc... etc... and trust me, it made no difference to the power output. Just made a hell of a lot more noise. As for the airbox, if it's so restrictive, why is it exactly the same box as on a VR6? Yes, thats right the same unit, and I think a VR6 will suck in more air than a 2.0L 8v lump. The only benefit from a K&N induction or whatever you want to do will be improving the path the air has to flow through (by reducing the distance it has to travel), the standard airbox is not restrictive at all. What are you going to gain from this? More noise, maybe a loss in power if it also sucks in hot air from the engine. Got to be honest here, for the you spend on a 2.0L 8v lump, you're not going to gain much in terms of performance. Better to sort the handling/brakes out and enjoy the car as it is rather than waste money on performance bits for that engine. If you want it faster, buy a 16v, thats 35 top end bhp more for hardly any more and it will be cheaper to insure than a modded 8v, and not drink that much more fuel (compared to a VR6). Also, why not try to save weight if you want performance? Strip out some insulation, get rid of the spare wheel (can of tyre foam repair), empty out your glovebox and thats a few more real bhp per tonne there for free! I also thought my MK3 sucked balls performance wise. I just accepted it, enjoyed it for what is was, and upgraded when I could afford to. I suggest for every mod you plan to do on the engine you put the cash in a jar, and when you buy a fast car in however many years time you may have a good amount of money in there to do some proper tuning and actually make a difference to the engine output instead of wasting it on a MK3 8v. My 2p.
Hmmmm.....talk from experience eh? Well, strangely enough, I own a late spec digi MK2 GTI which shares an almost identical airbox to the Mk3. I've done the drilled thing and run a full stainless exhaust; it makes more noise and does sod all else, just like an induction kit....i'm sorry you feel you know more about these things than the engineers that designed them, but you are wrong if you think it makes even a slight difference, let alone a noticeable one. And maybe theres a good reason "others" say the same thing - but I'm quite able to form my own opinion thanks
That's the most hypocritical statement I've ever read! Dude drills his airbox cos he read on an internet forum that it would make a difference (and believe's it, I mean more air must go in there so it must be at least 5bhp more, no?), and then posts that! Quality!
I drilled my airbox on my first car (a scirocco GTi) LONG before i had internet access and it was Tim Styles himself in 1996 that told me i should do it instead of getting an induction kit. The standard intake on a mk3 goes out of the airbox, 90 degree bend towards the wing in an ever decreasing bore pipe, into a bug rubber grommit on the wing in which it turn ANOTHER 90 egrees through a small opening pointing down inside the wing. it's pathetic and if you think it's "fine" then you have no comprehension of airflow charecteristics at all. Wether or not the 8v is fast or not is not the question here, it's wether basic tuning makes a difference and on my car it does, yes it's still slow tbh, just not as slow as it was. 5bhp? i think not ass hole, maybe at some stages through the rev range, and that's me with a modded airbox, a decat pipe and a quiet DTM backbox. Why not go and peel yourself out of your own ar5e for a second and think about things before having personal attacks on people because they have a different opinion/experience on things than you eh?
LMFAO, ok then, you go girl! Keep drilling them holes. Keep telling yourself it makes a difference. Whatever does it for you. So you think drawing in hot air from the engine bay is better than sealed tubing to the wing? How is the standard air box restrictive if the VR6 uses it? I already said that if you stick a K&N induction kit on you will have improved air flow but you will still suck in hot air unless you have some sort of boxed filter with an air feed to it. VAG designed the system to draw in air from outside the engine. It's not 100% perfect for performance, but it's a compromise and it's a damn sight better effort than your drilled box. Drilled box = more noise, thats it, don't try to pretend you're running 300bhp because of it, you are not. Comprehension of Air flow characteristics? What, you think holes in an air box create optimum air flow! What a joker! This is great, you can't even pay for advice this bad I'm sure! MK3 8V golfs are slow. They're slow before a drilled airbox and an exhaust and they slow afterwards. You're not going to get any discernable performance gain from those mods on that engine. You can take it to as many rolling roads as you want and get printouts with 125bhp or whatever on them, but if you don't first compare the result with a brand new VAG exhaust and filter element (in standard box), compared to your cowboy Swiss cheese box and your "zaust" and see the difference (on the same day), you won't know what these mods have done. Until you do this you only estimating differences in power from the seat of your pants. Pretty reliable/accurate! Ok then mum, shall I tidy my room before dinner also? The day I take advice from someone who spurts out as much crap as you will be...............never. I knew you'd get all minstrel about my post, because of your how to guide on the airbox and all, but just face it champ - you're wrong and you know it. When I'm competing in my next sprint series I'll have a look out for the race car with the drilled airbox. LMFAO.
