Longevity and Power

Being a prospective jetta owner, I have a few questions.
1- H.P. and Torque of the pre TDI, turbo diesel engines.
2- Longevity on the pre TDI engines assuming relevant maint., oil changes, and 90% highway milage.
3- Can the pre TDI engines power be boosted similar to the TDI engines via computer chip swaps, as well as exhaust alterations?
thanx
Baluga

The IDI engines in North American Golfs and Jetta's range from 52 to 68 horsepower, if memory serves.

The Rabbit diesel without a turbo had 52 hp and the turbocharged Jetta Ecodiesel had around 68.

They were a little shy on torque relative to the massive twist the TDI's produce. I don't know the exact numbers though.

Longevity is excellent. The Volkswagen diesels were legendary for it. Given proper maintainance I think 300,000 miles or more is a reasonable estimate.

The pre-TDI engines do not have to same performance build-up potential as the current TDI engines. One reason is that there is a lot less that is computer-controlled on these motors. about the only thing I have heard of anyone doing to one of the older diesels is a little work to boost the pressure of the turbocharger on the Ecodiesel Jetta.

Other gearheads here can give you more specific data I'm sure

I currently own a 85 chevy diesel non turbo model 1/2 ton truck. It seems to have more power than the golf tdi automatic I test drove today. I haven't tried a 5 sp yet, but am wondering if it is substantially better for power. I was a bit unenthused with the golf for power, but it only had 105 kilometers on it.

Adding an intercooler and playing with pomp timing adjustment you can obtain some 15hp extra.

The 5 speed is a lot more responsive than the automatic if you drive it right.

To answer the original questions:

As noted above, there were several different diesel engines which preceded the TDI, but I notice that you are from Canada. We got two that the USA did not, and they got one that we didn't.

Rather than the lame 1.6 Ecodiesel, we got the "real" 1.6 turbodiesel. The Ecodiesel was 58 hp, the "real" 1.6 TD was 70. This engine was available up until 1992.

From 1993 on, the 1.6 was replaced by the 1.9, again this is the "real" turbodiesel not the Ecodiesel. It has 75 hp and 107 lb.ft of torque, and was never available in the USA.

Those engine will go 600,000 - 1,000,000 km if properly maintained. There are a few things to keep an eye on (timing belt, NEVER run low on oil or the life of the turbo will be shortened, front crankshaft pulley vibration dampeners come apart once in a while, blown head gaskets have been known to happen occasionally).

To get a few more HP out of a pre-TDI, you just need some wrenches so that you can crank up the fuel delivery on the pump. But doing anything more than that is risky business. Playing with boost pressure or injection timing is not advisable (see above, regarding head gaskets). Computer chip swap is not possible, because there isn't one. Intake and exhaust mods are good for controlling smoke if you crank up the fuel pump, so they're good in conjunction with that, but on their own, they won't do much.

As for automatic versus manual in the TDI, I've driven both, and while some people swear by their auto trans TDI, I felt like my 5-speed Passat (which was bone stock at the time) would blow away the auto-trans Bug that I had as a loaner one time, even though the Bug weighs some 600 lbs less.

For the power hungry, changing the chip makes a huge difference on the TDI.

Brian P.
'96 Passat TDI mit UPsolute