Thanks Frank. I was pleased to find out that Mexico has a bi-turbo 2.0 TDI. Mexico isn't that far of a drive from here, or shipping may cost less than Europe. A single-turbo CR140 or CR170 will have better or easier upgrade potential, but the bi-turbo is already a strong engine out of the box. It also has a wide powerband, which is ideal for syncro. A power bump from an ECU tune will be more than enough for me. I need to find out if the 2.0 biturbo will fit in a MK3 engine bay. Without the CANbus and wheel sensors, making cruise control work may be tricky, but this MK3 Variant doesn't have cruise control to begin with. I drove 7,300km on long highway trips this year alone I haven't felt the need for cruise control yet.
Edit: Has anyone seen a biturbo 2.0 TDI swap into a MK3-MK6 chassis? Are the engine mount points the same as a CR140 or CR170? I'd like to collect any information out there.
This car will the recipient of this 2010 Golf TDI powertrain swap:
It is a 140HP 2.0L 16v TDI stock engine. One of my customers with the same engine produced 271whp on one dyno and 272whp on a different dyno near Denver, Colorado with over 5,000ft elevation:
His only power modifications are larger exhaust, a GTB2260VK turbo, and ECU tune. The engine and fueling system are completely stock. The turbo is rated for 35 PSI and he is currently boosting 29 PSI tapering down to 27 PSI. I was expecting 210whp so we were all pleasantly surprised. I am however waiting for additional dyno verification by another 2010 TDI customer with the same turbo setup.
The main bottleneck seems to be the small ports in the cylinder head, and maybe the HPFP. Some believe the stock TDI fuel injectors are good up to 400HP. I have some doubts, but there's only one way to find out!
I look forward to making some power with this project.
If you can make it work, this car will be in Diesel Power magazine. I'm calling it right now!
Haha, I have a very similar photo of Jezebel with her new engine in a trailer too!!
Mine's an AHU that's going to be an mTDI one day when it grows up.
That does look familiar! You'll love the TDI
To make up for the lack of snow here, I had some syncro fun on a big field:
Did you give up on your 96 Golf?
How did you make out with the cruise control and those clutch/brake switchs?
Haha! No I haven't given it up. The brake+clutch switches were mostly fixed. It solved the brief dead pedal issue after an engine start but cruise control didn't work yet.
A 2010 TDI ECU means a completely different cruise control setup - I won't even bother to get that working. Cruise control isn't important to me, I can't even remember the last time I used it in my MK5 TDI.