Is it worth doing engine swap in Mk4 Golf

Oregano_State

I'm 24 (soon to be 25), male with one years no claims driving experience on a full license. I've had the license for 2 years.

I own a 1.4 Mk 4 Golf that I really love, except for one thing: the 75 bhp engine is really underpowered and the fuel economy isn't great (30mpg roughly).

I was thinking of buying the Gti engine (1.8 turbo), cleaning it up if necessary, and fitting it.

I'd like to get people's opinions of the pros and cons of this. I've done a little bit of looking online and seen a couple of people saying that it would be better to sell up and buy the real thing, although there's a couple of things that would make me not want to do it that way.

First, Mk 4 golfs are getting on in years at this stage, and mine happens to be a good example. I know it's reliable and I don't want a different one. Also, I believe that the suspension and brakes would require upgrading from stock parts if I wanted the bigger engine, however my car already has coilovers so that would be saving some of the extra hassle and expense.

The only other thing I'd be worried about is insurance, but if I had the fitting signed off by a mechanic, surely it would be ok?

I'd just like to get people's thoughts on whether this is worthwhile or not.

Chimaera

Insurance is going to be difficult if you do this. You're going to need an engineer's report to establish that it's done properly. Depending on how far you go with the conversion, the risk rating will be difficult to establish since it's a long way off stock. The number of insurance companies who will take on a project like this is also quite small so you're at their mercy when it comes to quotes.

You're changing engine, transmission, brakes, suspension, wheels to do this properly. At that point there's little enough of the original car's running gear left. There's also going to be a serious amount of work needed on the wiring side given that the 1.4 and 1.8 T are very different engines.

You're better off buying a GTI and putting the money into bringing it up to scratch IMO.

visual

Might be cheaper and certainly easier to sell your car and buy one with bigger engine.

jodaw

To be getting only 30 mpg out of a 1.4 golf then you must be driving it like a lunatic. See it all the time guys acceleration hard into a T-junction and slamming on the brakes.

The 1.4 is not built for speed. Simply dropping in a 1.8 Turbo engine is not going to cut. Alot of other things will need doing or upgrading.

Simply but a Gti and sell the 1.4. A lot less stress and hassle and a far better result in the end.

By doing what you are thinking to a 1.4 it will cost you a lot and make the car worthless. If you buy a nice Gti at least it will have some value to sell on it the future.

colm_mcm

Just buy a better car.
There's a lot of middle ground between a 1.4 and gti golf too.

tossy

Golden rule of motoring - Never build what you can buy.