Turbocharge a 1.6?

[Lyn&Hazel]

Hi all,

I'm new to the whole newbeetle forum and to modding cars...
so hope u guys can shed some light...

since i'm planning to keep my car for a long long while... was thinking of upgrading the "power" of my car. I currently drive a 2002 1.6ikon NB.

Do you think its better to
a) put in a turbo
b) supercharge my engine?

(man i dont even know if these make sense, forgive me if they dont )

c) change the engine for a 2.0 turbo

[SMG]

I found a few examples of people doing it successfully but there's not lot of information out there. I'm doing an aftermarket turbo setup on my 2.0, but the 2.0 Turbo community is huge with lots of parts and information available. Your best bet would probably be a 1.8T swap.

[Lyn&Hazel]

so it is possible to just do a swap with the 1.6 engine to a 2.0T or a 1.8T?

[SMG]

A 1.8T would be an easy swap, the 2.0T not so much. I couldn't find much information on the 1.6L engine so I'm not sure what you'd need in terms of a transmission, etc. Ideally you'd want an entire 1.8T donor car to swap parts from.

[Basher]

Unless you got your 1.6 at a very good price I would consider selling the car and get yourself a nice 1.8T. If you take your time and try to find a bargain you'd probably spend the same amount of money. At the same time you get a complete 1.8T with all the parts you perhaps wouldn't change when you do an engine swap, like the speedo, the rear wing, the 1.8T brakes etc.

Then you also have a nice clean platform for future upgrades, e.g. chip, exhaust, bigger turbo, FMIC etc. etc.

[Lyn&Hazel]

Well I bought mine brand new (in Australia) and I don't think its worth too much now...
but I can't bear to part with it! it's my first car as well

well, any ideas as to what else I can do with it to "play with it"?

[mrchaotica]

Originally Posted by Lyn&Hazel

Well I bought mine brand new (in Australia) and I don't think its worth too much now...
but I can't bear to part with it! it's my first car as well

Even if it's not worth much, it still might be cheaper to trade it in than to modify it. Forced induction is going to cost you at least a few thousand $(US!) in parts alone (especially to do it right), not to mention labor. I understand it has sentimental value (and being an "IKON" special edition adds to that), but another Beetle would be exactly the same, except faster. (And the "IKON" wasn't very special, compared to other special editions -- it was pretty much just an option package.)