1.6l IDI where should I start for more torque and HP

[DutchTouch]

Could someone in the know outline for me some steps for a 1.6L IDI Audi 4000 diesel to add some horsepower and torque?   What are some of the known limits  or walls that you hit when starting with a NA engine?

Stages it can be taken to?  Malone?  935 Racer? HP and torque figures to make it a safer daily driver on the freeways here in CA where everyone else is doing 80 mph and 52 HP is taking your life into your own hands getting on the on ramp?
Thanks!

[chrissev]

Could someone in the know outline for me some steps for a 1.6L IDI Audi 4000 diesel to add some horsepower and torque?   What are some of the known limits  or walls that you hit when starting with a NA engine?

Stages it can be taken to?  Malone?  935 Racer? HP and torque figures to make it a safer daily driver on the freeways here in CA where everyone else is doing 80 mph and 52 HP is taking your life into your own hands getting on the on ramp?
Thanks!

a turbo?

an intercooler?

pump mods?

[vwmike]

I hate to say it but there isn't a whole lot you can do with the NA diesel. The way you increase power output is by increasing fuel delivery. Too much fuel though and EGT's will soar out of control. The result would be a drastically shorter life span for your engine. Melted pistons and/or stuck rings would be the likely results. The key to making power on a diesel is keeping the air/fuel ratio lean enough so that combustion will be cooler. If you force in more air (using a turbo or supercharger) you can inject more fuel. It's a neverending cycle (actually, it will end only when the engine fails due to the increased cylinder pressure and/or power output).

That said, there are some minor things you can do with varying benefits depending on who you talk to. Perhaps you could do the governor mod and increase the total advance. Both of these are modifications to the pump itself which you may or may not feel comfortable with. Porting the head might be beneficial but the question remains whether or not this may be detremental as it will decrease intake velocity at lower RPM's consequently reducing low-end torque. In my opinion, the stock 1.6 head and camshaft also do not bear the characteristics consistant with high rpm power. Most performance modifications come with their own set of compromises and it just has to do with what you are okay in dealing with.

[jtanguay]

would the stage 2 camshaft help lower egt's

[935racer]

Yes the stage 2 camshaft reduces egts, which means you can run more fuel  Like vwmike said, if you are keeping it NA there is only so much you can do, get a free flowing exhaust manifold from a gasser and get a bigger exhaust, do the governor mod and a free flowing intake. IF youa re going to turbo the na block than there is a a ton of performance stuff you can do. Use the search on the site there are a lot threads with quality info on modding turbo diesels.