1.8t vw
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 157
From: pennsylvania
1.8t vw
ok here goes if anyone is interested, so i have an 88 vw gti, and recently purchased a 1.8t engine to put in it. i have two options one i believe is the right way and the other is the cheap easy way but that is all relative. the right way consists of the 1.8 engine harness ecu tranny cluster ect ect requires alot of customizing but will have all the factory components from the 1.8. the cheap easy way requires me two swap an obd2 2.0 harness, ecu, tranny, all sensors, and throttle body, which everything mounts to the engine but requires me to remove the coilpack and replace with a distributer and to mount the distributer id have to remove the camshaft sensor and somehow it bolts in. so from that ill have a 1.8t thinking its a 2.0 so i have to tune the car to keep it from detonating, and some bigger injectors. i know what your thinking the cheap easy way sounds like a pain in the butt, but its not as bad as it sounds. so there it is for the most part, any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 5,485
From: Temecula, CA
Of course you know everybody is going to tell you to do it the right way 
But it really just depends on your timeframe. You wouldn't neccessarily be cutting corners in an unsafe manner so it's not like you HAVE to go one way or the other. So base it upon which you can accomplish. Good luck either way.
But it really just depends on your timeframe. You wouldn't neccessarily be cutting corners in an unsafe manner so it's not like you HAVE to go one way or the other. So base it upon which you can accomplish. Good luck either way.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 157
From: pennsylvania
well after doing a little more research, ive decided to do it the right way, not only because its the right way but also that the other way i mentioned doesnt produce as much power as the right way for obvious reasons. till your done tricking the 2.0 ecu it just doesnt match up to the 1.8t ecu. and another cool thing is now i can use the 6 speed tranny.the 2.0 tranny cant handle any kind of serious power anyway and i was looking to get about 250 out of it till im done. this is a fairly new swap so theres not alot of info on it and only a handful of people have done it. so wish me luck. i dont think im going to start it till the middle of next month. but if anyone is interested ill post some pics of my progress. thanks to jfairladyz and rodmoyes for the input.
