Re: I-5 10v NA power?

["Ken Keith" <ken.keith@specialdevices.com>]

I've never heard of a euro distributor for the 5 banger.  If there is one, that 
is a performance upgrade, I'd be interested to find out about it.

As for a header, there are really only three options.  A 4kq manifold, a tube 
header once made by Eurorace that was sold by them and TAP, or a custom fabbed 
one.  The custom fabbed one might cost as much as a complete turbo motor.

You are correct about the compression though.  With a stock 8.5:1, there is 
alot of room for improvment in that department.  I'm not a big fan of milling 
the head to increase the compression, I'd rather have different pistons.  
Especially for that much of an increase.  But that can get costly.

You could do all of those things, but where is your bang for the buck?  I paid 
$490 for just my Schrick cam, and the regular price is about $600.  Pistons 
would run $500 for Mahle 10.5:1's from Techtonics, I think they are 83mm.  
Headwork is expensive, etc, etc.

You can get a turbo 5k for less than that, especially if it is wrecked with a 
good engine.  Then you can start out at 165, and mods are easy and cheap, 
relatively speaking.  The 230 horse 4ksq is only a chip and wastegate spring 
away, and the sky's the limit from there.

There are alot more parts for the four bangers, IMO.  Wish it weren't so.

Ken

p.s.  Damn, how much would you have to shave the head to go to 10.5:1 from 
8.5:1?  Would you need a smaller timing belt?  Would the water pump bottom out 
trying to tighten it?  Also, figure the cost of an adjustable cam sprocket, 
which is another hundred bucks.

"Wm. Josiah Erikson" <werikson@hampshire.edu> wrote:
>
> WHY isn't it tunable? That's odd. Seems strange to me that the VW 1.8 I-4 is
> easily tunable to beyond the stock horsepower of a JT. Throw a euro dist,
> header and good exhaust, mild (g-grind) cam on and machine the head down to
> 10:1, and presto! you have 120bhp from a JH I-4. What's the difference? I'd
> think you'd be able to get 150bhp from the JT. Why not?
>     Maybe I'm just being silly.
>     Thanks for putting up with me : )
>     -Josiah