Kaninchen weiß - The Chameleon

**Valver.** · 27-11-2011, 05:21 PM

Thought I'd answer your PM here for everyone's benefit.

You can already save a fair bit of money on your list of items. You don't need the smaller radiator. It actually makes stuff-all (i.e. zero) difference to the performance to have the trumpets behind the radiator (I used to think it would until I tested the theory). The air rushes through at such velocity that there isn't enough time for it to suffer significant heat soak anyway. I've played around with that many different configurations so many times and it's just a waste of time and money. You're better off running a nice plenum. It mutes the noise down enough to avoid excessive attention, without being too tame, and makes air filtration easier. Just run a Cabby/GTI radiator.

You also don't absolutely need the swirl pot - mind you, relative to everything else, they're pretty cheap. An adjustable reg isn't necessary either. Use a basic 3 bar one and control your fuelling by choosing the correct injector size (looks like you already have these - what size are they?) and fuel mapping.

A lot of the stuff for ITB setups is for fashion only! If you're running a stock-ish motor, you don't need all the flash bits - it's just a waste of time and adds unreliability. You should use OE stuff wherever you can.

The best ECU setup by leagues is the one I sent you. It's OE-style and has the best harness you can possibly buy off the shelf. You need a good TPS and crank angle sensor - without both, it's all a waste of time!

The other thing to avoid is putting big cams in a stock head. But, bear in mind, you won't get much of a power gain with ITBs on a stock motor, as there's limited potential to induce more air. If you try to get around this with big cams, you can get the air in (the intake ports are actually too big as standard and should never be opened-up during a port job), but the 90deg bend in the exhaust ports just clogs up the cycle. A longer and deeper valve opening time helps on the exhaust side, but only inside a small RPM window, so you end up with a very narrow torque band.

With proper head work, the exhaust ports are refined to flow more evenly at different air speeds, so the torque curve flattens right out. With the big cams in a standard head, you just aggravate the crap 16v head design even more. Here is a cut of the 16v head for interest's sake (1.8 left, 2.0 right) - you can see the crap port angle design in reference to the combustion chamber:

Some of the better heads have material added to the bottom of the exhaust port and then removed from the top, which obviously lessens the angle to the combustion chamber. The header flanges are then modified and port matched to suit. If you look at a nice Honda or Opel 16v head, the chambers are more of a 'v'-shape so there is an angle on the valves. VW 16v valves are only slightly raked.

The best combo with a stock head is ABF or mild aftermarket cams - Schrick 260s etc.

With basic stage one head - 260/268.

With better head - 268/276

With really good head - you need more compression and shorter gearing and then the sky is the limit.

There are better cams (dBilas etc) which have more 'interesting' specs, but these are a whole different story on their own.

Hopefully this offers a good start anyway

**GRN_VAGN** · 30-11-2011, 03:18 PM

mmm ITB's

Your inbox is full btw mate, your parcel arrived today !

**mikinoz** · 30-11-2011, 08:38 PM

mmm indeed.

PM's cleared.

---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:19 PM ----------

Stu I wanted to thank you for all of your advice it is really helpful. There is a lot to learn and if you have crossed a river before it saves other people a lot of swimming because you are willing to assist.

On the ECU front I am just a bit concerned that the tuners here that are local will not be familiar with the EU/US ones and mint be safer with an Australian one. Not much in way of maps are transferable from the us considering the fuels etc are different.

Just weighing up my options, the 16v project will be a slow burn I reckon.

**Volksee77** · 02-12-2011, 10:06 PM

I have a brand new Haltec E6X in my garage I'm not using if you want easy to tune by locals and bosch sensor compatability

**mikinoz** · 03-12-2011, 09:04 PM

I'm interested in talking about the Haltech, I've done some more research and there is a reputable Haltech tuner nearby.

Repaired a small indiscretion with a snapped bolt from the coolant flange in the head, drilled and tapped a larger one in.

Also upgraded the brake booster. Learnt that hard lines are hard work and in time I should invest in a bending pliers set and a flaring tool.

**Water Boy** · 03-12-2011, 10:20 PM

Aftermarket ECU's:

Autronic
Motec
PI
Wolf3D
Haltech
Mega Squirt

But as you said best to have someone to tune it locally.

**Valver.** · 04-12-2011, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by mikinoz

mmm indeed.

PM's cleared.

---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:19 PM ----------

Stu I wanted to thank you for all of your advice it is really helpful. There is a lot to learn and if you have crossed a river before it saves other people a lot of swimming because you are willing to assist.

On the ECU front I am just a bit concerned that the tuners here that are local will not be familiar with the EU/US ones and mint be safer with an Australian one. Not much in way of maps are transferable from the us considering the fuels etc are different.

Just weighing up my options, the 16v project will be a slow burn I reckon.

An ECU is an ECU when it comes to tuning. The better ones just have more channels, multiple coil outputs, better knock control etc. Provided there are some instructions to help navigate the software, any tuner won't have problems - if they do, you know you've gone to the wrong place!

You don't anything too special to run a 16v on a single coil setup. You don't even really need knock control; though, it is an advantage