1.8 turbo 150/180 bhp

[brad180]

i'm thinking of buying a golf gti turbo. how can you tell the difference between the 150 and 180 bhp models.

Also how easy are they to tune? what bhp can you chip both models to?

[Ritey]

Welcome to TSN. The 1.8t lump is very good and very common amongst VAG cars, can be tuned up and beyond 225bhp relatively easy I believe. AMD are a good start for information along with other memembers here.

Not sure what the features are that tells the difference between models of 150 - 180, I'm sure someone could tell you shortly though

[geo_nr1]

Not too sure either, but the petrol Anni is 180bhp. Any GTI turbo should have the red I, although this is not conclusive as there is always someone who doesn't have this.

[A3Floyd]

i thought that only the 180bhp gti has the red 'I' and the 150bhp version doesn't. Anni is the way to go, though. Whenever i see one on the road, i have to take a second look. Other GTI's just pass me by.

[shao_khan]

I'd go for the anni as well if its a GTi you are looking for.

As said above I think all 180 variants had a red I except Anniversary which had distinctive GTI.

[Mollox]

Well it started off (back in ’99) that the 115bhp non-turbos had all silver lettering and the 150 turbo had a red “I”. I think it wasn’t always that clear as a friend’s Gti T came with all silver and had to have it changed.

As far as the differences between 150/180 engines go, as I understand it, the main mechanical difference is in the turbo. The 180 ran a hybrid K03 (is it called K03S?) turbo with internals from the K04 (S3/TT etc) and casing from the K03 or vice versa. Presumably it also ran a more aggressive map to make the most of this.

Does anyone know if it ran a different BAR fuel pressure regulator also?

In terms of tuning, around 200-210 bhp is attainable relatively easily with a stage 1 chip I do believe

[activa]

I think the red "I" was standard on the turbo models at the outset and the N/A models had the silver "I".I think VW then badged them all with silver but included the red "I" with all turbo models but it was upto you if you had it fitted or not.

[Smudge]

[ QUOTE ]

As far as the differences between 150/180 engines go, as I understand it, the main mechanical difference is in the turbo. The 180 ran a hybrid K03 (is it called K03S?) turbo with internals from the K04 (S3/TT etc) and casing from the K03 or vice versa. Presumably it also ran a more aggressive map to make the most of this.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was on the same understanding. My A4 1.8T Quattro was 180Bhp, but to get the 225bhp produced from an S3 or a TT I would have to have changes done to the Turbo.

As for the models badge, I reckon it depends on the dy of the week the car was built & which badges the factory had in stock. A mate of mine had a MkIV 2.0 GTi, and the badges where Silver with a Red i.

[zchybrid]

When my friend bought there 150bhp GTi, it came with plain silver GTi badge, And they were supllied with the "red i" badge incase they wished to change it themselves at some stage.... havn't a clue why they do this, maybe to allow you to keep it descrete if they wish to.

[Mollox]

sounds more like chaos if you ask me!

[brad180]

I think i'm going to go into a dealership at the weekend and ask them, I'll let you know my findings.

On the subject of tuning, Jabbasport do what seem to be some good chips. Some of them going up to nearly 300bhp (depending on engine) and most priced at £475 which I didn't think wasbad for the amount of power increase. Does any one have any experience of these chips?

[R32North]

The chip will give a %age increase.... looking at 35% with chip alone and add in exhaust and filter and you could get another 45% in power.

Now feel free to jump in a correct me, but did the 180bhp models not have the same turbo as the 225bhp TT / S3 but it was in a milder state of tune, and the 150bhp models had a wee'er / lesser turbo.

This is why you can get 225bhp from the 150bhp cars without a turbo upgrade (plus zorst, filter, etc).

[Mollox]

You're not wrong, six, its just that it doesn't have the same turbo as the 150 either Its a hybrid of both.

Also, only the 210/225 (K04) have the 2 intercoolers you really need to push beyond 210ish

[Mollox]

Brad, for £475 you'll be looking at around 200-215bhp I would expect. From what I know of Jabba I think 220-230 is the most you can get out of the standard 1.8T 150/180 lump without getting into serious plumbing. Their site seems to suggest that there are greater gains to be gained from the K03S (180) variant so maybe they have found a way to get more from that particular unit.

However, the 300bhp you mention isn't a simple, cheap remap! For anything above 230bhp you'll need their IHI turbo conversion and suddenly the costs start racking up. IIRC 300bhp comes in at around £3k.

I have seen a Jabba'd Skoda Octavia catch, pass and pull clear of an EVO VI at Bruntingthorpe. It was scarcely credible. Then I went out in it and chuckled away as we made an E30 M3 pull over and waltzed past. Quite amazing really. The car was fast on track but also had revised suspension and upgraded brakes.

Which sort of brings me onto my next point. Even with the Stage I remap you'll be putting 200+ bhp through a set of 205/50 16inch front tyres (assuming its a standard GTi) and thats asking quite a bit.

On the road, with anything over 200bhp you'd really want to start thinking about doing something to the brakes and maybe playing with the suspension to really harness that power. And that's really where it stops being a cheap mod.