1.6L IDI performance

[Sask306diesel]

Hi, I'm new to small diesels. I have worked on light truck diesels, and own a duramax @600whp. A buddy and I just bought a 1996 Volkswagen Golf with what we think is a 1.6L IDI. Does that make sense to you guys? Anyways, we got it real cheap and were looking to have some cheap fun with it. Other than turning up the injection pump, what kinds of cheap things have you guys done that got you a little power? Probably gonna throw in a big ol' Duramax intercooler I have lying around, but looking for other suggestions.

[Sask306diesel]

UPDATE-- Starting to think it's a 1.9TD after a little more research. How can we tell what engine we have? Thanks guys.

[RunninWild]

if the valve cover has 3 nuts on top its a 1.9l. the duramax intercooler will probably hurt performance more then anything. get an egt, turn up the fuel and install a mbc. theres a few pump mods you can make as well. check the faq

[vanbcguy]

At stock boost levels the intercooler won't help much. However any of the stock turbos will do 15+ PSI without issue - at that point it'll start to help.

Depending on which turbo you have on there you can potentially crank it up higher than that. If it's a 1.6TD it'll probably have a K24 or T3, those are good for low 20s PSI wise. At that point an intercooler would be a definite benefit, the exit temperature from the turbo will be well over boiling.

Just noticed you said 1996 - if you're in Canada then yep, that'll be a 1.9L AAZ. It may have either a K14 or a K03 turbo. The K03 won't live long much above 12 PSI. The K14 is good for 18.

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