Not to long ago there were few options for VW Vanagon engine conversions. Today there are many choices available. Several conversion's out there can only offer slightly better performance over the original engine being replaced. We are very aware of the competition out there and through several years of research and development we decided that Volkswagen's 1.8T engine provides the best performance and ability to meet California's strict smog requirements. Another great benefit of using Volkswagen engines is we are able to keep it as original as possible with respect to keeping it real. All VW!
Here are just some benefits of converting to the Volkswagen 1.8 Liter Turbo
There is not another conversion offered on the market that will produce the power output of our VW 1.8T with better fuel mileage over stock. NONE, NADA, ZERO!
Why get slightly better than stock performance when you could get the 1.8T and have over double the power with better than original fuel mileage. This is the conversion to get!
Reliability The 1.8T engine is extremely reliable. This engine is one of the most wanted engines for VW enthusiasts for conversions due to it’s power potential and reliability. They have been installed in vehicles from the original Rabbit to sand rails to well, Vanagons and beyond… We have seen over 250,000 miles on some of our customers' 1.8T engines and still running strong. Power potential with just an added on Turbo, Injectors and some ECU programming could be over 350hp on a daily driver. Reliable!
Another reason was ground clearance and keeping the engine original once installed. No modifications were needed to the engines oil pan keeping the full amount of oil for needed cooling and lubrication that the engine was designed with. With VW’s 1.8T there is no ground clearance loss*.
Here’s the biggie, CA smog. We wanted an engine that was powerful, VW, and we could get smogged in CA. This was a big hurdle. With the 1.8T engine, we are using all the smog components from the donor vehicle... ALL OF THEM. This project took some time to work out with all of the California smog laws stopping us from installing an OBDII (On Board Diagnostic) engine into a non OBD vehicle. They are now impressed with our workmanship. The 1.8T engine is the only Turbo engine classed in California as an Ultra Low Emissions Engine.
Here is a list of some of the smog components that come with the 1.8T engine and get installed on every conversion we do.
Power! We all know the Vanagon is slightly underpowered stripped, then add in the Westfalia package and try to engage up any kind of hill and it’s all over in forth gear. Now add in the Syncro package and it becomes embarrassing trying to merge onto the freeway on ramps, and that hill, well we know semi trucks are now passing you. This 1.8T engine in stock form produces 180 horsepower at 5500RPM and 174 lb.ft. torque at 1950RPM. That is very low rpm for that kind of power. There is no way any of the other conversions offered on the market today are putting out those kinds of numbers and still being able to get a CA Smog certificate** while keeping fuel mileage up better than stock! Never going to happen. For this reason alone we feel the 1.8T engine is the best conversion offered for the Vanagon and more so for the California market.
Very wide Torque Band You get a flat 174ft.lb of torque from as low as 1950 to over 6000RPM. This is a strange feeling for someone that has not driven a turbo powered vehicle before. Full power is right there when you need it unlike normally aspirated engine where you need to “rev” the engine for it to produce power. Red line on the 1.8T is 6500RPM. You will find yourself hardly needing over about 5500 RPM, but it's nice to know it's there... At lower RPM (lower than 1950) there is still more power than the original Wasserboxer engine. Can’t loose with this conversion…If you are interested in a 1.8T conversion we encourage you to come over and go for a test drive! Call a head of time.
Maintenance Far less maintenance is needed with the 1.8T compared to your original Wasserboxer engine. Other than an air filter (which depends on your driving area), Spark plugs should be changed every 40k miles and timing belt with multi-rib belt every 80k miles. Engine oil and filter service is also stretched to 5k miles due to the crankcase breather system design (of the 1.8T AWP engine code) and the high quality synthetic oil. Required. That's it! The 1.8T does not have a distributor cap or rotor, 3-different drive belts or spark plug wires or funny coolant hoses running all around the engine...
Before we transplant the 1.8T into your Vanagon we replace all Ignition Coils, Spark Plugs, Timing Belt and Tensioner's, Water Pump, Multi-rib Drive Belt and Air Filter. Your next schedule maintenance will be at 40K miles (besides maintenance oil change services) which is spark plug replacement. In other words, all maintenance is reset to Zero Miles.
New information about the next phase of our engine conversion We have new information about the next generation engine conversion that we will be offering. VW's new 2.0T FSI engine has been on the market since 2006 in the Audi A3 model and now is VW's standard turbo engine supplied in their entire line and is producing an impressive 200hp at 5100 RPM and 207 ft. lb. of torque at 1800 RPM's with better fuel economy. This is the next generation of fuel efficient engines from the company we all love. VW!! This engine will also be CA safe..
**manual transmission for CA at this time due to CA smog laws. *** We just had reports of one of our customers getting 23 city and 28 hwy MPG! (we know he drives in the far right lane though...) ;-) This is the best report to date with our 1.8T conversion. Fuel mileage will vary depending on your driving habits. Now that you will have MUCH more power over your stock engine you can also get worse fuel mileage if your speed racer. We have seen an overall increase in fuel mileage from stock from all of our customers. Expect anywhere from 19 MPG (full Westy, GW Spring lifted 2", 235/70R15 4X4 tires, in a Syncro) to now 28 MPG (7-passenger with A/C) on the highway.