1. Car in question: '91 GTI 16V w/European Motorworks stage II 1.8 16V head, euro intake cam, Garrett chip, 50mm intake, Borla exhaust, 3.90 ring and pinion, and .80 5th gear 140hp@the wheels.
Recently, I added a set of Kent 258 regrinds... AND a big fat passat catalytic converter. So, unfortunately it's not a totally accurate comparison, because the catalytic will rob some high end power. The idle is nice and still pretty smooth. There's only a slight lump in the exhaust note which most people probably won't even notice. My gas mileage seems to still be the same. There's a slight loss of power under 4000 rpms (keep in mind the other mods I have, like the euro intake), but there's a nice improvement from 5000-7500rpms. The powerband feels like it drops off at about 7200rpms, but the motor will rev easily to 7500rpms. >From my previous experiences with and without a cat on my car, it seems that the cat really robs power above 6500rpms - basically in "cam territory". If I hadn't installed the cat, I think there would have been a bigger improvement at the top end. Also, even though the car still has PLENTY of low end grunt, this is the first mod I've done that made a noticeable loss of torque. 2. Previously, we had installed these cams in my friend Paul's 16V. Here's my observations from that car: '87 GTI 16V 2.0L block, 1.8 head, autotech power module, eurosport exhaust, euro intake cam. When we put the Kents in that car, we made no other mods, so this is a slightly more accurate review. Slight loss of low end below 4000 rpms (not as noticeable as in my car, probably since Paul doesn't have a euro intake manifold), and a nice gain from 4500-6500rpms. We were very pleased with the results.
