New Page 1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15000
members - 11/04 |
|
12000
members - 03/04 |
|
10000
members - 10/03 |
|
9,000
members - 07/03 |
|
7,000
members - 01/03 |
|
5,000
members - 06/02 |
|
3,000
members - 12/01 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Part II: The
"Enhancement" Modifications |
| It
was now time to enhance the performance of our project
car. I started off with those 1.8T engine features that
give us the best bang for the buck, not necessarily for
horsepower gains, but for optimized performance of our
unique engine . So, I went out and contacted Performance
Engineered Systems (PES) because they were the
best tuner that we found that carried 2 of the biggest
parts of this project, an intake kit and a new by-pass
valve. |
| The PES
High Flow Intake System kit is designed to give the highest flow possible for your
car, and comes with everything pictured to the right. The turbo applications have a heat
shield to lower intake temperatures because the intake
is located right above the two hottest parts of a car's
engine, the CAT converter and the turbo. All of us car
enthusiasts know that hot intake air leads to lower
performance. Typical HP gains are 3-5%, but it is not
something you should count on. |
|
Picture of the entire kit
|
Picture of the kit installed on my 1.8T |
| An
intake system means a lot more to us 1.8T owners than
just extra air for our engines...it also means that we
get to enjoy a nice head turning "PSSSHHHH"
sound every time we let off of the accelerator.
Childish? Maybe, but we love it. All in all, I wanted
an intake system to compliment my Neuspeed exhaust
system...and I found it at PES.
I also installed this item by myself, and on a scale of
difficulty from 1-10, 10 being easiest, I give it an 8.
I would have given it a 9 but the heat shield took a
little more time than needed to get into it's proper
place. |
The
PES
by-pass valve is made from billet aluminum and anodized for durability and beauty. It features a solid brass
piston/valve with no flimsy rubber diaphragms to tear. The spring rate has been carefully engineered to open at idle, yet stay fully closed at boost.
There are other company's that provide this product, but
we stuck with PES
for their vast array of products for Passats and because
of their support for our Club B5 community.
A
little message from PES...
Why do I need a
bypass valve on my car, and how does it work? |
|
| VW
specialties reported no difficulties in
installing the new valve, but they knew exactly what
they were doing. It would have taken me a while just to
locate the stock valve. Once the stock valve was removed
and I took my first good look at it, I couldn't believe
the difference in quality. The stock valve was made
completely out of plastic! Ron, owner of VW
Specialties, then explained to me how this mod
is probably one of the best upgrades a person could do
in order to optimize their turbo's performance. This mod
is a little pricey though, ranging from $150 to $200
(depending on what company you go through). |
| Another
item on the car that I felt needed replacing was the
stock shifter. Not necessarily because the stock shifter
is horrible, but because us driving enthusiasts prefer
shorter throws. I replaced my stock shifter with the unit that UUC produced. Neuspeed
also makes a short shifter for the Passat, but I found
it a bit too aggressive for my taste...even though it
was a much better performer of the two, in the sense
that the throws were much smoother. The UUC piece
has more of the stock feel, whereas the Neuspeed
piece is evidently shorter, not only by the feel of
it, but by the looks of it. |
|
| I
don't want to say that installing the new short shifter
was difficult, but it wasn't the easiest of mods like
installing a Euroswitch or a Club B5 sticker.. There is
a lot of aggravation involved in fitting the new shifter
in place because there isn't much room to work with in
the center console. You end up eating your knuckles a
little bit on the edges. The problem is that most of
these new shifter were made to fit all of the B5
platforms, including Audi's A4 and A6, so there is a
small fitment problem on the Passat B5.5 The problem is
easy to fix, but very aggravating as mentioned before.
We actually took our new UUC shifter apart and
reassembled it as we were fitting it in its place in the
center console. This job would have been much easier if
there was a 2nd person who could have held the shifter's
shaft in place while I was tightening the 2 pieces
together. |
| Stay
tuned for the upcoming Stage 3 of our project. Included
in stage 3 will be the write up on the new wheels and
tires we will be purchasing by the end of February 2003
and a P&P rear sway bar. Stage 3 will also contain a
review of the overall performance and feel of the car
since the purchase date...not only on the modifications,
but the way the car has been running in general. Look
for this stage of the project A LOT sooner than it took to post this
one. |
|
Document
Notes:
a) By-pass valve install was
performed by VW
Specialties in Huntington Beach, CA.
b) Intake and short shifter install were done by yours truly, Thanasi The GREEK. |
|
Questions? Comments?
Please feel free to email me (The GREEK) at thanasi@clubb5.com.
Please consider posting tech questions in our discussion
forums though because I, in no way, am an
experienced mechanic or technician. |
|
Back
to Project B5.5 Main Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
