VW golf mk4

ustari

Right, know sweet f.a. bout cars really, the basics and thats it. Have a 1.4 and looking on tips to get a little more power from it? like is chipping possible and effective on a petrol, heard its only really for diesels. Thanks in advance....

Neilw

Sell the car you have and buy something with a bigger engine, chipping a 1.4 n/a engine is a waste of money, might see 4-5 bhp extra and you won't be able to notice it driving.

Diesels respond well to remapping as to turbo charged petrol cars, gains of 20-40 bhp depending on the car and with diesels a huge increase in torque.

Get a tdi or gti petrol (1.8 turbo) and have it remapped and it will be fairly quick

Neil.

Seperate

As neil said, there's not much you can do to get more power... induction kits/exhausts/chipping the car etc. won't do anything for it.

ustari

Cheers lads, not a hope of selling it for a bigger engine, dream car is a mk4 r32 though, im only 19 and insured under own name so insurance would be sky high. Thought that would be the case but was wondering anyway. Still v. happy with the golf even if its lacking poke.

quarryman

a TDI shouldn't drive the insurance up too much.

you can then get it mapped.

cantdecide

ustari wrote: »

not a hope of selling it for a bigger engine...insured under own name so insurance would be sky high

That sounds like a big assumption to me OP. I've seen it time out of number people switching from small to big engines and a difference of a few % in cost.

Switching to a TDi is a very good idea.

I started driving at the very worst time back in 2000 and I paid a f*cking fortune when I was younger than you are now. People couldn't believe I was lucky enough to have 1.4 Civic (seriously) and sice then, won't go above this size engine cos of insurance has become a bit of an old chestnut. Those days are gone for most. If you want more power you can have it.

If you find a particular car and you want it and can afford it and you're absolutely sure- ring up and tell your insurance company you've bought it and want insurance in it starting the day after tomorrow. A) they'll tell you 'fine, it costs this much more' - if you can't afford the difference, you can just ring them up and tell them you've changed your mind about it. or they'll tell you FO (and I'm wrong) and you're no worse off and youhaven't got the embarassment of going back to a dealer telling them you can't get inurance or C) they'll resist, you start blubbing and tell them you've already bought the car in which case, they'll probably give in (my brother got insurance in a mk2 Golf GTi 16V after ringing for a quote, they said no and he bought it anyway).

There's nothing illegal about having a faster car- you must try to get them to bend their internal policies if they resist.

ustari

Good advice there cantdecide, you sound like you know a LOT more than me, not too hard I suppose!! Only got the car last summer after a lot of searching, got a good deal for the old polo on trade in. Will probably switch to diesel when I'm a bit older but the funds won't allow it now.

cantdecide

Any mk4 golf has to be worth €4k+. You could pretty much swap for somethng like this
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=858200

ustari

No I wasn't looking at selling it at all, love the golf itself, it's the engine underneath. Anyway, sure it'll do me fine for another couple of years, thanks for the help. What is your experience in buying parts from e bay? looking at a set of rear lights(not lexus dont worry!), buyer is in germany

cantdecide

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=660761 ??? I'd change out the wheels. People generally don't boyracer up German cars these days. Tasteful OEM trim is the way to go.

Check out the GTi rear lamps- the nicest upgrade IMO



I quite like these FK automotive lights. You can get rear lights anywhere you like as long as they're a good brand. It's totally worth holding out for a bargain for parts like these.

http://www.icjperformance.co.uk/image%5CFK-lg-FKRL221.JPG

HOWEVER if your Golf is totally standard 5 door with plastic wheels trims, usually filthy and this is your first mod they will look odd.

My rule of thumb (and a lot of peoples) is always sort wheels and suspension first.

dlofnep

You can get a 1.6L Mark 4 golf. THat's probably your best bet - sell your 1.4 and get a 1.6.. Insurance is still pretty cheap for the 1.6 mk 4's. They are lovely little cars, reliable as your mother. Great investment either way man.