Unorthodox 1.8T Pulley

[alien]

I don't think it will hurt to use pullies, but I think the gains will be minimal.

[Kor]

I also think you could probably get better gains from other mods. How much would this pulley be?

[Simon]

nitrous

[Boy Racer]

I think I may have mentioned this before...custom chip

[Kor]

Hmmm other upgrades...

Have you already replaced things like your turbo intake tube, intercooler tube(s) or other restrictive tubes? This supposedly makes a difference after you get an exhaust and chip, and they are not too expensive. C1 has some.

Also European Car (this month I think) added a front mount intercooler on a stock 1.8T and reported a gain, and they think that with upgrades and more boost the gain would be larger. I have read that you can add a second intercooler to the stock intercooler somehow (daisy-chain them?) and get more efficient cooling.

I am planning on doing the inexpensive pasenger-wheel fender liner vent mod to get better air flow over the intercooler here in the next few weeks.

Lastly, save up for a turbo upgrade I guess?

[Boy Racer]

Sometimes there is talk of the lightweight pulleys being a problem because the heavy one at the end of the crank is someetimes a harmonic balancer and it effectively dampens oscillations in the crank and hence saving the engine from early internal damage.

[Simon]

Originally posted by Kor
. I have read that you can add a second intercooler to the stock intercooler somehow (daisy-chain them?) and get more efficient cooling.

They put them on each side, like the Audi TT 225, and then get the Audi TT manifold thats already setup for dual intercoolers.

[alien]

I wouldn't waste time right now on stuff liek intercooler and piping. These turbos don't really push enough air to really take advantage of a bigger intercooler and piping. in fact, a big front mount may actually be worse as you will lose a bit of response and pressure because of the added distance the air has to travel and the turbo to pressurize.

Stage 2 Peter. naw, let's go big. T51 or T66! that might be a bit too big, let's just go T04E trim or 20G, that will be plenty.

[Kor]

LOL you wouldn't waste time! If you have the cash and want speed, of course go the stage 2 route!

I agree that a new intercooler is a more typical mod for someone with a larger turbo. However, I think that you can still see some gains (albiet small) from examining this mod direction. For instance, you can read the European car review here:

http://www.europeancarweb.com/tech/0306ec_abdfmic/

I am not saying that this is the end-all bible of 1.8T information, but there seems to be evidence supporting gains throughout the RPM range from this sort of upgrade. I would do this rather than a pulley (which I have not read anything about). Especially if the two mods are the same price (not sure how much the pulley idea would cost). If you don't want a front-mount you can even replace with an aftermarket side-mount intercooler such as that offered by Forge. There are numerous articles about aftermarket side-mount intercoolers or the dual-intercooler setup that cite 10-15 extra HP. Not a lot, but every bit helps.

Edit: A new intercooler would be somewhere around $500US which is probably more than the pulley idea. Perhaps better to save that for a new turbo as mentioned.

As for piping... well a new Turbo Inlet Pipe is way cheaper than a new turbo! Turbo airflow = Power right? This is probably the only pipe that would make a noticable difference, and is relatively cheap I would guess.

This guy thinks it helped:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=851754

[alien]

If you are gonna do an intercooler upgrade, you could go the custom route and find an old Dodge Conquest/Mitsu Starion and front mount it. They are pretty efficient intercoolers and can probably be had for a lot cheaper than a true intercooler upgrade for our cars, although may not quite as well.

Talon intercoolers may fit in the factory location and I think they are a bit thicker thus allowing more cooling. I don't know how thick ours are but a talon one is about 3.75 inches thick i think.