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cooguyfish

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Long story short I am looking for a new car for my wife. Currently we have a 95 BMW 325i which I love, but there are reason's we are looking to sell it. I won't bore you since I can be long winded.

Basically, I need something that is quick, sporty, safe, reliable, manual trans, mod-able, decent on fuel, etc.

The biggest things the BMW has against it is a heavy clutch and I would have to turbo it to get real power out of it (which I am capable of but would prefer a factory turbo car). Plus, it's power band is in the 4-7K range, and we would prefer a lower power band car.

I happened to part out a 99 Passat 1.8T 5spd FWD car a few weeks back and it seemed like a really nice car and I drive a 98 Jetta TDI that i like a lot so...

So, here are my questions;

-How much power can a stock 1.8t make? (the only thread I found said around 250 WHP on 25 PSI on the stock turbo).
-What kind of fuel mileage do you get when being easy on it? (AWD 5 spd perfered).
-How strong is the stock 5spd/AWD setup, I want to be able to shift fast, and launch hard at the track.
-How good do they handle?
-Reliability?
-is there a difference mechanically between the passat and A4? (I go and forth on which I prefer more).
-How heavy is the stock clutch pedal and will it stand up to 250 WHP and abuse?

I have a 99 AEB sitting in my garage at the moment, normally when I buy a car I find it broke and fix it since I can. So I am not opposed to finding one to put this engine into rather than buying one outright. If I did would it be worthwhile to rebuild/upgrade this engine? I'd be more than happy with around 250 AWHP, if they aren't reliable at that level, than what would it take to make it so?

Any other thoughts/opinions would be fine.

Thanks

-Brandon
 
#3 ·
For what my opinion is worth (seeing as I am running a bone-stock 1.8t now), it is a solid platform. Ensure that you convert the ignition coils to the newer variant, or you will be stuck on the road somewhere when one of the old ones go out (I think this is still an open recall... anyone confirm? :confused: ). My main regret is that it didn't come stock with the K04. It was probably typical VW/Audi engineering to put a very mildly tuned K03 turbocharger in, in an attempt to keep the car going for as long as possible. I still love my car though. The AWD plus manual transmission seems like it would be a fairly potent combination (less drivetrain power loss, though it is marginal). If you can find one for a decent price, and can afford to splash some additional cash its way (K04 turbo kit, ecu, intake, exhaust), you would definitely have plenty of ponies to play with for everyday driving, and still make it fun (after all, what could be better than beating the crap out of a high schooler in a civic with a coffee can exhaust?). As far as gas mileage, in an auto transmission, I can get up in the high 20's on the highway. Hope this helps!:)
 
#4 ·
Some addendums: You mentioned wanting a car that is moddable. This is certainly an alternative, as the B5 Audi A4 and the B5 and B5.5 VW Passat share an engine, so theoretically, anything that will fit on the Audi SHOULD (operative term is theoretically) fit on the VW engine. Also, I have found that the powerband for a stock Passat lies between 4k-6k RPM, so there is not a world of difference between the Beamer and the Passat. Can anyone with aftermarket turbo experience help out here?
 
#5 ·
Re-addendum: Forgot to mention handling... Sorry about the multiple posts :eek:. Handling is very good in my experience, however I would look at investing in aftermarket sway bars. Personally, I have found the Passat to be "loose" (for lack of a better term), and the body roll is, to me, mildly annoying. Last post. I promise this time! hahaha
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
No, I don't mind you continuing to post, something is better than nothing. ;)

As far as doing work on it, that is definitely not a problem, Since I have an engine sitting around I thought about doing a mild build/rebuild on it and finding a good condition car to relocate the engine into.

The suspension will probably be replaced with better struts, lowering springs (not for looks) swaybars, poly bushings, etc.

How well do these trannies stand up to abuse is really my biggest concern.
 
#7 ·
I couldn't tell you from experience. I have the auto with tiptronic. The total extent of transmission upgrades I can do consists of a GIAC chip that I know little to nothing about, and nobody seems to be able to tell me anything about it. Oh well, you have to take some bad with the awesomeness of the Passat!
 
#8 ·
Oh, and as far as safety goes...

I was driving home later one night (around 10:15). I live in Wisconsin, the land of the ever present (and stupid) deer. Lo and behold! Three decide to run out in front of me while I'm clipping along at 60 MPH. Now, before you cringe at the potential engine damage, I managed to stop just (and I mean like several feet just) shy of the last deer. Unfortunately, the driver behind me, who happened to be tailgating and playing with his phone at the time, couldn't. So... he runs into me without braking. His car was totaled. My car... needed a new bumper, tailight, and trunk. That's it. I was amazed, and so was the body shop. They checked for frame damage twice, but didn't find any. That is what I call German engineering!

No one was hurt, fortunately. It still amazes me though that the car was able to absorb that much shock from the impact.
 
#9 ·
Oh, the one thing that I definitely forgot to mention is that a K04 kit isn't killer expensive. Here are a few links:

http://www.awe-tuning.com/pages/sha...fm?PMaI=3&PMoI=25&PEI=2&PP=b5passat_18t_drivetrain.cfm&PPT=Drivetrain&IL=AWEK04

http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Passat_B5-FWD-1.8T/Engine/Turbo/ES3365/

I don't know the specific differences between the two kits. My guess would be that AWE's is a more complete package, it seems to be a "one stop upgrade" in that everything is included to really improve performance, whereas ECS's is just the turbo.
 
#11 ·
I don't think there is much concern about the AWD system handling power. Lots of companies are using it with more that 300HP. Volvo uses a version of it for their R cars and my XC90 V8 has it with 311hp. The Passat W8 and Golf R32 both use the same/similar system as well as the Audi A6 bi turbo. As to the transmission I am not sure. The Audi TT puts out 225 with a very similar trans. The diesels use slightly higher gearing in the manuals but use loads more torque and have very few issues in the manuals. My German spec 02 Pasat 1.9TDI 6 spd 4 motion was chipped to 160hp with 300pound feet of torque. I could rev it and pop the clutch and only achieve a chirp because of how well the power was put down to the wheels. The auto trans are a bit more fragile for VW's.

Surely there's someone with real world experience that can chime in. Maybe you should start a thread specifically about how much HP the trans can handle.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Realize that the Passat was designed to be a common family sedan with nice smooth predictable handling, decent mileage, safe with a bit if zip. It was not designed to be a race car.

Yes, the handling can be improved, but ride smoothness and predictability will suffer in the trade off.

The 1.8t engine is solid and people tune them up to 300 hp on the stock internals without a problem. The K03 is really small from a performance standpoint, but perfectly sized for the intended design of the vehicle. It spools quickly and delivers boost in the lower rpm's where most people would use it in this type of car. 25 psi is out of the efficiency range of the K03. If you want that much boost you want to run a larger turbo. The K04 is a step up from the K03 and it's a direct bolt-on. G-Pop Shop and FrankenTurbo have some custom bolt-on offerings that flow slightly better than a K04 without giving up much spool time. The next step up would be something in the Garrett GT-28 series. The bigger you go, the more bottom end spool time you trade away for top end gains. A 1,781 cc engine has very little power until it spools up the turbo and sees some boost. Once it gets boost, it pulls nicely.
 
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Steve in Chicago
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