Hey moto, my old mk2 GTI was an ex UK k-jet with the EV 8 valve engine. It went MUCH harder than my current Aussie spec RV car.
The head on the EV engine does have bigger valves than the RV but i don't know about other eng codes??
But you are totally spot on with thrashing the car to make it go better.
My Aus GTI used to sputter and carry on anywhere over 3500rpm. One day after driving my boss' Cordoba which absolutely flew, he told me it goes well coz he thrashed it on a daily basis. So, I decided it was time to show my GTI who was boss and i drove the tits off it for a month!
Now it goes betterMore power, better fuel econ, and no sign of coughing even up to 6200rpm.
As far as exhaust goes, if you spend $400 on a Jetex system from the cat back, its not going to do much apart from make lots of noise. You can get noise for $250.
Do it right and replace the downpipe with your $400. Changing to a high flow cat wont hurt either if you have some extra cash. Thats where the most of the restriction is.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Wade
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