I am surprised this has not been said yet but how about a 1.8 20v turbo as u can get them in a range of bhp for instance the Audi s3 one has 225bhp but there are more and there are a lot of parts for tuning

Edited 20 March, 201313 yr by pascoe92

I think bang for buck you just cant beat a 1.8T get a AMK or BAM engine from an audi s3/tt and you're looking at 225 bhp outta the box with torque to match a quick ecu flash with generic software and youre now easily running 260-270bhp plus after that you can take the engine as far as you like if youve got the dollar. Coversions are frequent so all problems such as managment transmission and throttle/clutch controll are well documented and tried and tested.

You can easily pick up a decent BAM for around £1k or try and get a crash damaged car and pull the transmission and everything else required then you have got all the reliability of the OEM (as long as you swap it all to the polo) and you're never going to be able to beat oem for reliability

only realy problems with this engine are packaging can be hard work in a small car and forced induction can produce a fair bit of heat in the bay but this engine has been squeezed in polos of almost all ages lots of times now, albiet mostly with the germans.

Another option (i'm biased here as I've got one in my polo and love it ) is g40 turbo bog standard g40 lump managment all of the shelf parts k03 for 185bhp light weight fits in a polo easily only porblem would be tranissmision but if you have a very light track car and keep it in the 185bhp range then should be too bad

Naturaly aspirated wise two options i would seriously consider dependant on budget firt is the cheapest and is the renault engine from the clio 187, reasonably light wieght cheap as chips comes with a transmission that can cope with the power. you can run it on carbs,bike carbs,injection what ever you like realy. plentiful suplie of engines and a very revv happy motor

Final option in my mind would be the f20 vtec engine 240bhp out of the box lovley engine (although missing torque) realy good for the track good throttle response but they are realy prettey exepensive looking around £2k+ easily and tuning is pretty expensive you can mess about the vtec change over point and some normaly aspirated tuning may net small gains but for big gains forced induction and big bucks are required.

in conclusion cheap options ares 1.8t for forced induction (my personal favoraite) or a 187 clio engine, if youve got big bucks and want big power then go for either an f20 a big turbo 1.8t. G40 engine if you want a reasonably easy conversion!

If it was me id be thinking about a redtop 2.0 16v 150bhp standard but with decent cams, throttle bodies and managment youd have 200bhp.

Engines are ten a penny, so no worries about blowing it up, spares are cheap, simple to fit, take an absolute thrashing. never seen one in a polo before right enough. You can get a decent c20let (redtop turbo) engine for around 1k and will run 200bhp standard.

I think i did alright reveal years ago, had a MK2 and it was all about the 75bhp GT or 115 bhp G40. Fuck that, I fitted a 1.6. For £100 and bike carbs for £30 got torque that'd rip a G40 apart and all in a car that cost me £100.

Those days are gone, but fresh thinking gets the worm for the bird. There's still so much out there, if you've got the minerals.

So far then, a modded red top or a standard 1.8t 20V will get me just over 200bhp at around a grand each. In a toss-up between the two, for reliability I'd go with the standard VW lump. Unless the red top weighs significantly lighter than 150kg, the claimed weight of the 1.8t!

The 2.0 16V GTI, presumably would cost the same amount to raise from 150bhp to over 200bhp as the red top? Standard units seem to go for around £250-£300..

For a standard VTEC that puts out over 200bhp, is twice the price, so no thanks.

For a G40, how much money would you need to throw at it to get it up to 185bhp? As Mikey claims they are a mere 115bhp as standard. And what exactly are the transmission problems? Because I'm not planning to use a VW transmission anyway..

I'll also look into the Renault engines..

Mikey, what use is torque if it's not combined with rotational speed to match

I think you're looking at around 1k for a turbo conversion on a standard engine if I'm honest probably closer to 1500 once you've factored in all the little bits like intercooler pipework, fuel pumps, manifold, turbo,downpipe ,actuator,mapping session,camshaft oil lines etc etc as we all know its the little bits that add up.

I think 1k for a bam or amk engine conversion is a bit conservative you can get an engine for 1k maybe but i think you're looking at around 3k for all the other bits and pieces you will need, unless you get a whole donor car might work out cheaper but not by much.

Yes you need a good sweep of range, which is why I like normally aspirated engines without silly cams.

What about Ford - Pretty sure the Zetec is quite petite..? And the Duratec is the weight of an AEE!

I think i did alright reveal years ago, had a MK2 and it was all about the 75bhp GT or 115 bhp G40. Fuck that, I fitted a 1.6. For £100 and bike carbs for £30 got torque that'd rip a G40 apart and all in a car that cost me £100.

Those days are gone, but fresh thinking gets the worm for the bird. There's still so much out there, if you've got the minerals.

Can beat that. Engine for 80 carbs and mani £30 Only thing that pisses on my fire is that i had to buy ignition set up off you :( lol

And it smoked abit .

What about the rover 1.8 VVC sure there around 170 BHP

^^ And you still haven't got a starter motor for it

My next day off is Monday, it'll be sent then.

Gearboxes are rubbish too, I've just killed another one, dunno about my next engine but it won't have an 085 on it, that's for sure.

i if you're only looking for 200bhp ish... id be going for the cheaper 1.8t's like the agu.... k03s/hybrid turbo... youll see 220bhp

spool time is low so barely any lag, room for improvement if you decide to go all out

parts are everywhere and standard replacement parts are cheap enough

plus there's specialists all over, so if you do encounter any problems you cant fix, someone is bound to know whats wrong

Gearboxes are rubbish too, I've just killed another one, dunno about my next engine but it won't have an 085 on it, that's for sure.

Bellhousing adaptor off a Skoda for an 020 box :-D

Edited 21 March, 201313 yr by Phataz1

Used to have one, but being iron they're heavy, more importantly they add width. This brings two problems - one the space is already an issue and two, the wide Skoda flywheel required weighs a ton.

If I use an 02 box i'll use the Golf block instead.

Used to have one, but being iron they're heavy, more importantly they add width. This brings two problems - one the space is already an issue and two, the wide Skoda flywheel required weighs a ton.

If I use an 02 box i'll use the Golf block instead.

Ahhh. Small block Mk4 Golf? Are they fairly strong?

hayabusa engine? light, good power, low centre of gravity, rag the pants off it and loads of fun!

Used to have one, but being iron they're heavy, more importantly they add width. This brings two problems - one the space is already an issue and two, the wide Skoda flywheel required weighs a ton.

If I use an 02 box i'll use the Golf block instead.

Ahhh. Small block Mk4 Golf? Are they fairly strong?

My old BCB appeared to be an AVY with the other bolt pattern, so same as Lupo GTi, dunno if it had up-squirters though.

I'm running a BCB block now Arun

And the BCB block does not have oil squirters but it does have the extra castings in the block that can be machined flat for the squirters to be retrofitted I've done it already and it's in my build thread

Edited 22 March, 201313 yr by StinkyPete

Aprilia rsv4 engine. Usual bike engined into car advantages and issues, but with one of the best 4 cylinder noises ever!

Lancia Fulvia had the best ever noise. VW's VR6 raised eyebrows in the '90s as it had staggered cylinders so was a kinda Vee engine with one head, but it wasn't the first - Lancia's DOHC four pot of the '60s actually has valves that cross, it may be complicated but despite the four branch inlet and exhaust manifolds looking quite normal they help it sound amazing for a four cylinder.

The car looked like a 2-seater version of a shopping trolley (there were other variants with a 4dr and Zagato bodied version), but though not fast, it's reputed to be one of the best driver's cars of all time on the twisties. Still hard to believe it was more expensive than an E-Type though, or that half a century later they still can be.. But the same engine in an early Polo? Yes please! If only i could get hold of one..

Rest of the coupe was pretty neat, too..

One of the Zagato..

And i'll hold the pictures now..

Rest of the coupe was pretty neat, too..

I know where there is one of these in ok condition, dont know if the owner is willing to sell though

I've always wanted to get a mk4 fiesta shell and get a 2.0 16v focus ghia as a donor car. Apparently the only extra thing you need is an engine mount of a 1.7 silvertop puma.