VW Golf 1.8t 4motion - 500bhp

[Melm0th]

This project began from humble roots and quickly became attached to me. I've now owned the car a few years and during my ownership things broke - as one might expect - but it's as good an excuse as any to justify upgrading bits.
Suffice to say I never had a clear plan for this project, which consequently meant my R&D was very much a case of pushing things until something broke, then upgrading it. The car is a 4motion variant which is attached to a 1.8t; it was last dyno'd in 2015 where it made 500bhp with 27 pounds of boost (gt3071r .63) with water/methanol injection. Anyway I thought I'd share some pictures of the Golf:

[Joratk]

Good effort! That's a sleeper if ever I saw one

[chuntington101]

Is there any chance of a little more info about the car? Maybe a brake down of parts used in the current setup?

[MDMA .]

engine and exhaust install looks great. big thumbs up from me ( partial to a 5 door Golf ).

[Whitean3]

Good effort! My first car was a Mk4 GTI 1.8T; I always thought it would be good to go back to one, tweak the engine and suspension with Audi TT bits, and marry to the 4motion 4WD with some subtle body tweaks- seems you've done all of this already. 500 BHP is a big number! Bet it shifts and surprises a few people...

[Dave Hedgehog]

very impressive and nice to see its not slammed to the ground for "fashion"

how many engines to the mile did you get out of it during development?

[Speedhunter]

Very impressive, any more info on the engine spec?

[Cupramax]

Joratk said:

That's a sleeper if ever I saw one

With an R32 bodykit and twin exit exhausts and large black wheels? Subtle, but a sleeper its not.

Nice car OP, always a fan of good 1.8t builds. Mad power available.

[Melm0th]

Yea it does surprise quite a lot of cars/bikes, but as its been my daily driver for the past few years I've very quickly got used to it - to the point where I can't feel it boost anymore.

All the welding (intake, charge pipes and exhaust was made to the same standard by Solid fabrication)




The engine has been reliable throughout, that is despite all the standard components used (Pistons, valvetrain, valves, crankshaft). I've installed Integrated engineering connecting rods, Integrated engineering camshafts and ARP fasteners. Then it's just the usual bolt on mods and the big turbo. The turbo setup is a Garrett gt3071r (56 trim) supplied from Owen Developments with the metal bearing cage upgrade, Tial .63 v-band turbine housing and a t04e compressor housing with 4" inlet. The turbo manifold is supplied by TSR (made by Nortech), the wastegate is a Tial Mv-r 44 and the whole exhaust system was custom made by Solid fabrications. The car is mapped by Badger5 racing and the power is transferred through a custom sintered twin plate clutch setup, billet clutch basket and billet 3kg steel flywheel - courtesy of a good friend.
I've currently got Bilstein b16 pss9 coilovers, Compbrake solid top mounts, USRT tubular wishbones, 034 Motorsport solid subframe bushings, solid steering rack bushings, S3 steering rack and all the usual goodies. The brake calipers are 6 piston calipers taken from the front of a Porsche Cayenne. I wasn't keen on slamming the car, as its my daily drive I expect it to be useable amongst other reasons.

Edited by Melm0th on Wednesday 29th June 12:09

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

This thread needs videos!

[vrooom]

Massive thumb up!

[Cupramax]

Knowing Badger5 have been involved i can only guess this is some sort of missile Remember Bill's rather mad Ibiza which was loony fast.

[HybridAero]

Looks a savage build!

I'm currently considering a GTX3071R, which as far as I know is the ball-bearing equivalent of yours?

http://shop.mambatek.com/Ball-Bearing-GTX-Turbo-3-...

What is this like to daily drive, much boost-lag-boost-lag-boost?

(My build thread - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=156... )

[ManOpener]

HybridAero said:

I'm currently considering a GTX3071R, which as far as I know is the ball-bearing equivalent of yours?

Think I'm right in saying that the GT3071R is also a dual ball bearing turbo, the difference with the GTX series is the billet compressor wheel the latte runs.

Impressive work on the 1.8T, hows the Haldex holding up to that kind of power/torque?

[Melm0th]

That's right, gtx range uses a billet compressor wheel and holds the promise of a larger powerband than the equivalent gt series.

I've not had to modify the haldex in any way and it appears to be coping really well with no sign of letting up.

There's very little lag; it makes 225bhp by 4500rpm and 420bhp by 6000rpm. I use the car on a daily basis; for commuting to/from work and food shopping and it feels fine.

[aka_kerrly]

NICE,that's a hell of an engine set up. A fella I know ran a circa 420hp badge5 tuned 20vt in a S3 and that was rather bonkers so an extra 100hp must make this mk4 quite the giant killer.

I presume the car started life as a 2.8 4 motion and was converted to 1.8T as I'm not aware of a UK spec factory 20vt 4 mo.

[Caddyshack]

aka_kerrly said:

NICE,that's a hell of an engine set up. A fella I know ran a circa 420hp badge5 tuned 20vt in a S3 and that was rather bonkers so an extra 100hp must make this mk4 quite the giant killer.

I presume the car started life as a 2.8 4 motion and was converted to 1.8T as I'm not aware of a UK spec factory 20vt 4 mo.

I expect the 4 mo subframes would just bolt in, I may be wrong but the shell is prob not very different so you could easily get the mounting points for the subframes in there.

[Melm0th]

Caddyshack said:

I expect the 4 mo subframes would just bolt in, I may be wrong but the shell is prob not very different so you could easily get the mounting points for the subframes in there.

The chassis is very different from the rear seat backwards and so the rear subframe/beam are not interchangeable, the 4motion variant has independent rear suspension, while the front wheel drive variant sports a solid rear beam, they have different fuel tanks as well, so a conversion of a fwd variant to 4wd (haldex) will involve quite a lot of cutting and welding.
That was why I opted to start with a 4motion chassis and swap the 1.8t over - far easier and quicker.

[aka_kerrly]

Melm0th said:

Caddyshack said:

I expect the 4 mo subframes would just bolt in, I may be wrong

The chassis is very different from the rear seat backwards and so the rear subframe/beam are not interchangeable

Oh Caddyshack.

As said the back ends are completely different otherwise there would be far more 4wd mk4s floating around.

As far as I'm aware only vr6s are 4mo with the exception of the audi s3 & octavia 1.8t. In Europe you can get 4motion seat Leons to.

[J4CKO]

I approve !

Love it, fantastic job.