Actually, everything that I've heard in the past was that the 1.8 16v head was the better of the two.
However, nobody could substantiate that, and the "everyone" were just people on the web, who couldn't back that up with numbers. I'd read that article in EC and it seemed to point towards the 1.8 head being the better one. I've read your story, and while it appears convincing, there are just too many variables involved to truly say which is which. Maybe your friends car is simply stronger than yours. No two motors are the same. Perhaps you had to do all those mods to your car to simply get up the same level as him. It would've been great if you could've dynoed right before you pulled the 2.0 head and then once again right after the 1.8 head was installed. At the same dyno, with the same gear on the car. It wasn't until recently that I started to hear that the 2.0 head was the better one to go with, from people who've been in the business for decades. They also have access to flow benchs and engine dynos, neither of which any of us have. If I wasn't tossing in a different set of cams in my other head I'd be happy to dyno the two heads, the dyno is only 3 minutes from my house. I'd love to see your numbers Alex. It's just hard to believe it when Techtonics and Shine Racing are saying the same thing... -josh --- [email protected] wrote: > Let me start by saying that I understand that Josh, > everything you've heard > over the years has probably pointed towards the 2.0 > head being the better > head. > From my personal experiences, I've found that the > 1.8 head seems to be the > better one. > > As soon as I have the time and money, I will do a > back to back Dyno test of > the two heads which will put this all to rest. No > tuner has ever done that, > otherwise it would have been published by now. > Everyone "feels" or "believes" one head is better > than the other. > One thing that bugs me is people who have had NO > experience comparing the two > heads on their car, are sitting here and arguing > about it. > I've actually tested and SEEN the 1.8 head making a > car perform better than > with the 2.0 head. > > Let me start with that. > > The cars in question: My old '87 GTI 16V and my > friend Paul's '87 GTI 16V. > Both cars were stock except for an aftermarket > muffler. Both cars ran > 16.3-16.4 at the drag strip before any mods were > done by me or him. > My friend and I have been building and racing VW's > together for 10 years now. > We tune them the same, and our drag racing skills > are equal, as proven over > and over at our many outings to the strip. > We both eventually got 2.0 motors for our cars. > Paul got only the block, and > had read the EC article about the 1.8 head being > better, so he decided to try > out that combo. > I got a 2.0 block with a 2.0 head. I was skeptical > about the 1.8 head being > better, and I said screw that, I'm keeping the 2.0 > head. > We both installed our 2.0's. Driving the two cars, > I noticed that my car, > with the 2.0 head, pulled a bit better from idle to > 4000rpms. Really > torquey. Paul's car, with the 1.8 head, was a > little less torquey, but > pulled stronger past 5500rpms. I figured that when > we would race the cars, > I'd beat Paul off the line, and that he might catch > me at higher speeds. > Wrong. We finally raced the two cars: 1st and 2nd > gear, they were almost > dead even, and as soon as we hit 3rd, Paul's car > just started walking away. > We raced a few times from different speeds. I was > kinda pissed. Paul's car > pulled away every time. > I installed the Autotech power module on my car, and > raced him again. He > still pulled away, though not as bad. Finally, I > got a euro cam and threw > that in my car. We raced again and the cars were > just about even, with my > car maybe edging him out a bit. Too close to call. > Finally, I said screw this! I installed the 1.8 > head, with my eurocam and > power module and raced Paul again. This time I > spanked him! Finally. > Keep in mind that Paul made no mods to his car > during this time. > > Now, other than that test, which really says it all, > as far as STOCK heads > are concerned, here are the other reasons which lead > me to say that the 1.8 > head is the better stock head: > > Driving a 16V with a 2.0 head, it's really > noticeable that they run out of > power before 1.8 heads do. > All the 16V's I've seen pulling 14's or better at > the drag strip were running > 1.8 heads. > Every guy I raced who was running a 2.0 head, I've > beat. > Most of the dyno charts I've personally seen show > that the stock 1.8 head > makes more power up top. (of course I haven't seen > ALL 16V dyno charts). > Dave Rodriguez pulled 142hp at the wheels with a > stock 1.8 head (which still > boggles my mind). > One of my friends who had an A2 running 14.5 at the > drag strip was using a > 1.8 head way before the EC article was published. > He simply said: I put it > on, the car felt faster. Therefore, I used it. > Keep in mind that the 1.8 head exhaust ports CAN be > ported to flow the same > as the 2.0 head's exhaust ports. > > Alex. > _______________________________________________ > A2-16v mailing list > [email protected] > http://maillist.myip.org/mailman/listinfo/a2-16v ===== Josh Wyte Momentum Motorsports 508-833-3024 After 5 pm EST __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com
