I'm not sure what size t/b the 1.6 uses, possibly the same size as the 1.8 one (the 1.8 one will work fine though with the std 1.3 injector)

the main restriction on the std exhaust is the rear section. the midbox isnt too bad, as its straight through anyway. On one of my old gts i had, i just lopped the rear box off and just extended the pipework. made it very free reving at the expense of a little low down torque. it was also very loud!

as for future engine swaps, the early aee 1.6 was available in spi form, which means again you could retain the std loom, and just upgrade the injector plate to the 1.8 item and it would work (whether it would work as well as the std aee fuel injection setup I've no idea, as i dont remember which setup it uses) the 1.6 aee cam is similar to the gt cam profile from memory, so not worth swapping over (gt cams are very easy to sell on though)

the 1.4 golf engine is only 60bhp in std form. it is pretty punchy though when running gt injection and cam. AAV is and has been turbo'd, there is a guy on here and the g40 forum who built one which put out very good power figures, though i doubt it was cheap to do.

for a g40 engine expect to shell out around £500 without a charger £800+ for a complete setup

for cheap and good power i think the 1.6 aee and the 1.4 16v are the best value for money

Cheers g40jon :)

Well, for now then it looks like the bigger TB and GT cam.

The back section of my exhaust was replaced before I bought the car, it must be the std size though as it fits into the mid section with a slip joint. Its all stainless by the look of it and apparently was a JAC custom built back box which cost £150. I like the way it looks and sounds so if thats an impovement over standard it can stay.

The 1600 SPi engine sounds a good option for me. Sounds like a pretty simple swap, and I could reuse a lot of my existing parts. Other than that, those prices for a complete G40 engine aint as bad as I thought. Id be tempted to go down that route but maybe swap the charger for a turbo :)

Cheers for your advice everyone

All good stuff here. Just a heads up to OP, if you are going to go for the gt cam 1.6 injector, I have a gt cam I just bought, but never unpacked from someone on here, but changing plans. Also have an aea (early 1.6) spi unit, with filter etc too. If your interested, let me know. Not meaning to hijack the thread. Good luck with it all

how much for the cam mate?

bringing this old thread back up... again :)

I'm still running my polo daily, and its still standard other than the polace chip.

at the moment, I'm not in a position to throw loads of money at it, but, i can plan for future upgrades...

iv had a bit of change of heart. ill change the engine. would like 100-120bhp.

options I'm considering:

AAV + GT cam + bigger throttle body

AAV + turbo + megasquirt or similar

standard G40 + standard G40 wiring etc

1.4 16valve... what are the options with fuelling? dont want bike carbs.

cheers