Golf Mk4 TD engines - info please?

[Frimley111R]

Hi All,

A friend is looking at buying the above but there are all sorts of bhp versions raging from 90, 100, 110, 115, 130 and 150. Were these all the same engines or was there a point when VW upgraded/changed the engine to a new one and what is the ideal engine?

Thanks for you help (on behalf of him!).

Ross

[Craig]

Ross

I suggest you look on tyresmoke.net as there is a lot of info on there. I just bought a 150 as I wanted sports suspension but some people say the turbo lag is worse than the 130. I believe the 130 is the best all round buy.

Craig

[MElliottUK]

115,130 and 150 are the PD engine

130,150 are different from the 115.

130 is seen to be the best. I think thats right

[phumy]

I have the GTi TDi 150, there are issues with the cam and cam followers on this engine, check other VW forums, having said that mine is now sorted out of that problem. They have loads of grunt and shift like any tuned petrol car.
If you tune (chip) them, they have been known to eat the clutch.
Plus you get great milage consumption with these cars, if you use them gentle on the motoway you can see milage of up to 55mpg, if not more, and all the grunt you need to overtake at speed.

[M15_DST]

theres a mkiv site think it ends in net! Type it in a seach engine

The 130 is the best to go for.

I have the 115 and its remapped but so with I had gone for the 130 and had that remapped, theres just so much more you can do to get extra bhp gains.

[Ranger 6]

phumy said:

....there are issues with the cam and cam followers on this engine, check other VW forums...

Not heard of that one as a major issue.
The biggest thing with MkIVs is the window drop - plastic fittings on the cables mean they can snap at any time and your window disappears. The other issue is a very soggy chassis - it takes money and work to make them handle.

Good source of knowledge is www.uk-mkivs.net

100, 115, 130 and 150 are all PDs. Don't go for the badges 'cos they differ from year to year and dealer to dealer. You can get all sorts of combinations of red & silver badges. The only way to tell engine power is the build sticker inside the boot and the first page of the service book.

If you want to tune it for outright power then the 150 is the one to go for, they can be taken to 230bhp+. For driveability the 130 is the best model to go for - the added advantage of the 130 & a50 is that they can be easily modded with the 312mm brakes off a TT/LCR/S3.

Do some digging on the above forum lots of info on mods, problems and potential pitfalls.

Ross, if your mate needs info then PM me - I'm just down the road from you.

Edited by Ranger 6 on Friday 8th June 14:22