New to the TDI world, Don't Blast!

Rstowe34

Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Location
Georgia
TDI
2004 1.9 BEW
Ok, I've been in the LD pickup world of Diesels for 12 years. I've recently acquired a completely stock 04 Jetta BEW M/T. What's the starting point on any aftermarket goodies? Mainly looking for fuel economy. I've fell in love with the car even though she's a bit of a fixer upper.
 

WildChild80

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2016
Location
Nashville, AR
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI 2000 Jetta TDI 2000 New Beetle TDI ALL 5 speeds
Ok, I've been in the LD pickup world of Diesels for 12 years. I've recently acquired a completely stock 04 Jetta BEW M/T. What's the starting point on any aftermarket goodies? Mainly looking for fuel economy. I've fell in love with the car even though she's a bit of a fixer upper.
Depends on your budget but possibly a stbye 1 or 1.5 tune would possibly be what you're looking for but the torque bug bites and it bites hard.

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DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
Depends on your budget but possibly a stbye 1 or 1.5 tune would possibly be what you're looking for but the torque bug bites and it bites hard.

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nahh. i didnt start looking at delete kits and a bigger turbo after i got a non delete stage 2 tune and dsg tune.. in all reality.... its addictive. amazing how quick a 4500lb wagen is.
 

KrashDH

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Location
Washington
TDI
2002 Golf
Not sure what you consider LD diesel pickups (I think Hilux, some might think Cummins, Duramax, etc) but just like anything you want to put power behind, start with the supporting mods first.
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
Most mod for more power. That car is pretty efficient as is, a chip tune can help some. The key is keeping everything working proper. They're simple cars, but quite different. You'll see very soon reading here, a lot of posts you see for an A4 will be for the VE engine, the PDs have a completely different fuel system, most everything else is much the same.

VW TDI Search Engine
 

WildChild80

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2016
Location
Nashville, AR
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI 2000 Jetta TDI 2000 New Beetle TDI ALL 5 speeds
Most mod for more power. That car is pretty efficient as is, a chip tune can help some. The key is keeping everything working proper. They're simple cars, but quite different. You'll see very soon reading here, a lot of posts you see for an A4 will be for the VE engine, the PDs have a completely different fuel system, most everything else is much the same.

VW TDI Search Engine
There's a point to be discussed here. When you make more power, you are inevitably increasing efficiency. What you do with the efficiency is a while nother conversation but increasing efficiency will give you more power usually. The Prius is a good example of taking performance away in the name of fuel efficiency. Proper operation is critical too.

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mjydrafter

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2015
Location
dsm, ia
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon
If it's a fixer upper, I would take care of all the deferred maintenance before modifying anything.


Timing belt & stuff

all filters & fluids


Then drive it bit for a baseline.
 

WildChild80

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2016
Location
Nashville, AR
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI 2000 Jetta TDI 2000 New Beetle TDI ALL 5 speeds
If it's a fixer upper, I would take care of all the deferred maintenance before modifying anything.


Timing belt & stuff

all filters & fluids


Then drive it bit for a baseline.
That's the best point this far, if you can't prove the belt was done, do it. And all the fluids.

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Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
There's a point to be discussed here. When you make more power, you are inevitably increasing efficiency....
Not necessarily. You may be able to make more power by increasing efficiency, but it will only be a small amount in these cars since they are already inherently efficient.

Making more power, say to the 130hp range and above, will be done usually at the expense of efficiency. The trade offs to produce more power are done without doing the other things that allow the highest efficiency levels to be obtained.

For example, to get the most power in a diesel, you lower the compression ratio so you can run the boost up and cram more air into the cylinder. More fuel is injected. You will, at the very least, incur more pumping losses. Additionally, a loss in compression ratio will mean that you lose efficiency as well. Why would you drop the compression ratio? Because the block will fail if you don't.

Trying to produce huge power from any engine, let alone a slow spinning diesel is an exercise in compromises, and if the goal is power, efficiency will be compromised. You can't get around the physics.

Cheers,

PH
 

WildChild80

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2016
Location
Nashville, AR
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI 2000 Jetta TDI 2000 New Beetle TDI ALL 5 speeds
Not necessarily. You may be able to make more power by increasing efficiency, but it will only be a small amount in these cars since they are already inherently efficient.



Making more power, say to the 130hp range and above, will be done usually at the expense of efficiency. The trade offs to produce more power are done without doing the other things that allow the highest efficiency levels to be obtained.



For example, to get the most power in a diesel, you lower the compression ratio so you can run the boost up and cram more air into the cylinder. More fuel is injected. You will, at the very least, incur more pumping losses. Additionally, a loss in compression ratio will mean that you lose efficiency as well. Why would you drop the compression ratio? Because the block will fail if you don't.



Trying to produce huge power from any engine, let alone a slow spinning diesel is an exercise in compromises, and if the goal is power, efficiency will be compromised. You can't get around the physics.



Cheers,



PH
Yes and no, high power diesels are fairly short duty cycle and yes you may loose some but I might have lost 2 or 3 mpg and I'm well over 130 hp. I do put my foot in it every time I drive it assuming it gets to temp, there are seldom 2 minute trips but I try to keep them to a minimum.

The meaning of my statement is to make more power you have to gain efficiency, what you do with it is your business but performance efficiency has to be figured in, if you drive a 150hp car fairly normal you'll get close to 50 mpg. When you get into the wild builds yeah you'll notice it big time but gasoline engines are very similar and maybe more sensitive to efficiency and how you drive them, had a SB400 with a big single plane intake and a .698 roller cam and it'd get close to 20 mpg in a gen 3 Camaro if I were just cruising but the second I opened the secondaries, I could almost watch the gas gauge go down.

When you squeeze more power out of the same package you are more efficient period. Yes fuel mileage can and most often does suffer under a lead foot but it can be minimal depending on driving habbits or it can be atrocious.

1.9 liters doesn't mean you have to live life with 90 hp forever. Your wallet has the most to do with the hp number.

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Rstowe34

Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Location
Georgia
TDI
2004 1.9 BEW
My LD is 3/4-1 Ton pickups. I've ran a Duramax, Powerstroke, and Cummins repair business for 12 years now and have slowed that down to part time mainly evenings and weekends. Just wanted to test the waters and play with this baby. Im totally loving the car at the moment. I got a great opportunity doing Wholesale parts at a dealership now which takes some commuting, so I was just getting a feel on how to maximize my fuel mileage. Thanks everyone for the replies
 

flee

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Location
Chatsworth, CA
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS wagon
...
When you squeeze more power out of the same package you are more efficient period. ...
This statement is incorrect.
Efficiency is the amount of work performed by using a given amount of energy.
Having an engine produce more power by allowing it to use more fuel could be either:
more efficient, equally efficient or less efficient depending on:
the amount of fuel used versus the amount of work performed.
 

sriracha

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2014
Location
805
TDI
2005 Jetta Wagon 5mt, 1982 Rabbit truck (gas)
A stage 1.5 Malone tune, with the additional Dynamic EGR tune, increased torque and fuel efficiency on my BEW wagon. I would recommend that setup as a conservative mod. However, this will overpower a stock clutch, so be prepared to upgrade the clutch as you add more powah’.
I even passed the CA smog test with the tune operating. It doesn’t roll coal, which I prefer.
 

Rstowe34

Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Location
Georgia
TDI
2004 1.9 BEW
The clutch is fairly new but was just a stock replacement. I definitely don't want to over power it just yet.
 
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