Hi Denis, Ya know, I sort of have had the same thing happen to me on my car, only the opposite. I have a nice rabbit converted to 16v's. The person who built the car was meticulous, anal retentive, and spent lots of money on the car. It had a 1.8l though and I could never understand why someone would put all this work into their car and leave a 1.8l in there. When I would take the car out to the green river road and blast it, I was always ***amazed*** at how quick the car was. On the track, it was a thing of beauty. It would rev to the redline and keep building power... I felt like I needed another 750-1000 rpms because I was wasting something by not revving higher. Well, too much of a good thing is not possible so I installed a 2.0l bottom end. Absolutely no other changes... just a straight swap. What I received was great low end... but a marked decrease in the top. Before, if I started out bogging the car in first and just kept if floored, the power would build and build and build all the way to red, then do it again in second. Now, it starts coming on down low and starts spinning the tires at around 4000rpm. It runs out of steam around 6000 rpm, as compared to the 1.8l though. Thought it might be cams, so I stuck in a set of Schrick 268's. Feels a bit better now but still isn't the same feel as before. I can only imagine how your car feels with the 2008. Anyway, long story short, I achieve aproximately the same speed at the end of the straights and the car has the same top speed as before, but the car is not as fun to drive around. Been thinking about doing a 1.8l with the 2.0l pistons to end up with a slightly more powerful engine that dosen't have all the problems that come with stroking a motor. Another thing that might help all this is putting Motronic in. I don't think CIS-E is up to fueling the bigger motor with lots of mods... Clayton
Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 23:26:41 -0400 From: "Denis P. Goldman" <[email protected]> Subject: Driving impressions of Autotech Cam set... (long long long) Ok, now that I have a few days to play around with the new set, I have = mixed emotions. =20 Back in the day, my old 1.8 used to be a fast revving fun motor. = Lightened flywheel, euro intake, tt black box, made this motor a lot of = fun, but no power down low. Then I went to a high compression 2008cc = motor. Wow. The low end power of this thing was absolutely sick. = Quite a quick car. That's how the motor was until this weekend.... Now with the new cams in, the motor has turned into a higher revving, = power-up-top engine. This isn't a bad thing, as plenty of low end = torque is still there. But it just doesnt snap your head into the seat = at 3000rpm anymore. Instead, starting at about 2500 on to about 6500, = the power is very steady, and just builds and build and builds. My = friend said the motor feels somewhat like a VTEC now. Now, I am = assuming this is due to the fact that the new camset has a much wilder = exhaust cam, with higher lift, etc. Idle hasn't changed at all by the = way. Sounds very much like stock, and is very steady (not like a 268 on = an 8v 2.0l). Anyway, the thought has even crossed my mind to put the = old euro intake back in along with my stock exhaust cam. Then there comes the whole idea of cam timing.... I know for sure now = (100% sure) that my cams and my crank are in complete sync with each = other. I avoided that whole part of 'tightening the timing belt and = throwing off your timing' problem. I was thinking I could mess with my = cam gear some to shift the power band down a bit (being as I would like = the motor to peak at 6000rpm, not 6500rpm). But I don't even want to = mess with the perfect cam-to-crank timing. Ignition timing is pretty = good with little or no ping, with the compression it still has to be = somewhat retarded from stock. Maybe a degree or two. And my fuel = mixture should still be around 2.5-3ma. I haven't checked since last = summer, but it shouldn't have changed (plus I always have the black = smoke cloud behind me when I am at wide open throttle). Lastly, the car doesn't run so great when cold. I mean, worse that it = used to when cold. Could this be a thermotime sensor or a coolant = sensor problem? Neither have ever been replaced in over 5 1/2 years, = but I always thought they just went bad, with no intermediate stage. I = have to run over the tests in the bentley when I get a chance... Thanks for listening to my rambles. If anyone has any ideas on where my = low end grunt may have gone, please feel free to let me know. (and = don't tell me its because its a wilder cam set and thats what happens - = I know this) =3D) BTW, anyone have shrick 260's with a 2L on the list? How is your power = down low compared to stock? Being that the Autotech cam set and 260's = are somewhat comparable... Thanks, Denis G. _____________ List Sponsor: http://www.netsville.com To remove yourself from this list, send mail to [email protected] with 'unsubscribe a2_16v' in the body of your message See us on the web at http://www.a2-16v.com Visit the 16V Homepage at http://www.gti16v.org
