Beaten down by a Nova.

[Spyda]

I was so disapointed.

My mates old ass Nova, 1.6 16v carby 68kw, stock as a rock and has been thrashed beyond belife has beat my ass down in not one but two head to head drags.

The 8v is stupid slow!! It should not wear the GTI badge!

Its head to head in first, head to head half way through 2nd and then he walks away. Thats from standing start.

"Roling start" at about 100 and onwards the 8v can catch up and over take.
Regardless its a Nova vs a GTI......so embarasing.

I told him that i was not going to be faster and he was shocked to find out that i was right.

The GTI has K&N panel, BMW MAF, and a drilled air box with "cold air feed" oh and a chip. Its is more responsive but doesnt help the slowness and laging, splutering and other hissy fits the car has when you press the loud pedal.

The GTI has problems, it lags and spluters through 4000rpm and 4800rpm after that it goes back to normal but after 5000rpm the 8v goes flat anyway. But it should still be able to keep up with a auto 1.6 carby nova.
When you do press the loud pedal, it makes alot of noise because of the air box but doesnt realy seem to go any faster than when you where accelarating without the pedal being fully depressed. The only time you feel the accelaration is at a bit higher speeds in 3rd-ish and 4th.

Tune up? O2 sensor? put the standard stuff back on? Throw it away and get a skyline lol? I dunno


Just so disapointed and embarassed.

[anarchycamp]

get him on some bendies then see who comes out tops.....

I know my 8v is slower than a wet week (especially after getting out of the APR'd MkV) but still love driving the the thing.

I reckon you have 2 choices....

1.) Go Low and Slow....and wear the GTI badge proudly.
2.) 20VT it....and wear the GTI badge proudly.

OK maybe there are other options as well , but your never going to get enough power out of a 1.8 8v without throwing big dollars at it.

Just dont throw it away and get a skyline....

[tommymac]

its an 8v from 1989 - there not quick PS watch yourself dragging you can get the car crushed

[ausgolfer]

The 8v is stupid slow!! It should not wear the GTI badge!

Gotta agree with that. An 8v mk2 should never have been a gti, unless you include the G60 gti.

And this is not a debate about 16v VS 8v (the fact of the matter is it's been proven several times the 16v is higher power and torque EVERYWHERE in the rev range)

That said I know a lot of mk2 8v gti's have the same problem, both of my mates "aussie" gti's had the spluttering restricted problem. I think it was a simple temp sensor problem in the end....

[gldgti]

I wouldnt dream of doing the 16V vs 8V argument either, merely state that you can make your old 8V go a lot better by freeing up behind - some nice headers and exhaust, and a nice cam always helps. for under a grand you could get way more power... and with minimal effort (alluding to the fact that doing an engine swap takes more effort than changing a cam and an exhaust)

when you consider that the digi mk2 GTI in aussie spec is what??? a weak 90hp? theres no reason for it to be that slow just because its an 8V.... it just needs what the europeans got from the factory, or better

i like the 8V for its simplicity, cheap parts and ease of working on... a little bit of money spent isnt necessarily wasted.

[Jarred]

I donno about any tuning issues, but for more power, get yourself an autotech 270 deg cam, and an adjust cam gear, then you should be able to be quicker, all up about 200 odd bucks (+ some postage too) if you install it yourself.

That'll give you a nice little pep up. Free flowing headers too would be on my list. If you're getting lots more air in, you also have to get lots more air out, So the exhaust must be up to stratch.

[mollins]

sounds like something is wrong that makes it run rich. could be timing, or possibly a sensor or something. get that sorted and you'll be happier.

then...

you need a new exhaust and headers..

aussie gtis have a horrid 4-1 toilet bowl manifold. get some extractors and a good 2 or 2.5 inch exhaust (doesnt need to be loud).

I had a mk2 gti 1.8 8v in my old mk1. It had a DCOE weber carb, extractors, and a G-grind cam. With that car I wouldn't have even bothered racing a nova.

the 8v is a neat little motor.. make it easier to breathe in and out, and you'll be much happier with it. YOur intake mods are good, just take it a step further.

and most importantly.. your mk2 will always be so much cooler than a nova

[GoLfMan]

tutt tutt street racing....

however the 8v should be able to make a healthy 130-140hp with "bolt ons" mentioned above. The 8v is a great engine that many people have made good power from reliably, therefore there are many aftermarket solutions for your problem.


also for the record, please do not post up threads which include street racing incidents as VWWA does not, nor will ever advocate or encourage street racing of any kind.

so please edit your first post

[Golfer]

tutt tutt street racing....

Hey, as far as we all know from the OP, these two silly buggers took their fullsik cars to a "private" road, or drag strip for this speed test...

LOL, owned by a Nova

JHN

[Tim]

a drag between an aussie gti and a nova cant really be considered street racing. They were probably overtaken by the rest of the traffic pulling away from the lights anyways