Been thinking about an ALH Tiguan

Hey all,

My 2000 Golf is getting a bit tired, and the body is starting to rust...seems MN is a tough state for car bodies.

At any rate, My wife and I commute about 40 miles to work. We have talked about getting a vehicle that sits a little higher, and has all wheel or 4 wheel drive. I want to stay with a diesel for a couple reasons. One being a longer life.

The list of diesel powered 4 wheel drive vehicles that have a higher stance doesn’t seem to be very long.

My thought is that when the Golf goes down due to structural issues, that I pull the engine and rebuild it, and then potentially turn up the power a bit, and put it in a Tiguan.

The wife has one, and likes driving it, so it would be natural for her to be able to drive it.

Is this a crazy thought? The original engine is good for 200 hp, and 207 ft lbs of torque.

What are your thoughts?

First is state inspections. Does yours have them? Will a tdi swap pass? I traded an 86 landcruiser with a 1991 isuzu diesel swap that doubled the original fuel mileage but would not pass inspection. A lot of states dont like older engines in newer vehicles. Some dont like engines that didnt come in an equivalent vehicle. Truck vs car or so on.

Secondly cost of swap, what does it run to put the tdi in a vw suv?

Would it cost less to put it in a more common suv like a 4 runner? For a little over 1k you can get your choice of Toyota, ford or chevy transmission to tdi adapter. I'm impartial to the Toyota being a better stock form off road vehicle than most anything on the road in that price range. Over sized axles, ground clearance, overall quality and a Toyota already has a high resale value, adding a proper diesel conversion only increases the value.

But i look at things for their off road fun perspective. If you want comfort/luxury the tiguan is the way to go.

Personally i think a compound turbo vw swap in an fj80 with lockers would be the ultimate mall crawler.

The lexus version (lx450 i think) i dont think had the locker option but can be found cheaper than the land cruiser, has a nicer trim package but is the same vehicle.

I just love seeing diesel conversions. I really liked the xtera tdi swap and I'd alsp like to see some square body troopers and the SR monteros.

Heck, i think the fj cruiser is a bit boxy with too many blind spots to use as an off road rig but toss in a nice TDI and i think id love it.

Ive also been watching local auctions for an H3 hummer 5 speed needing an engine (4 to 5k range) the h2 i never was a fan of but the h3 would do well on trails and camping trips.

Others have put a common rail engine in one, but not an ALH:

See here: http://forums.tdiclub.com/search.php?searchid=18605509

Mating up electrical systems with an ALH will be a huge issue.

No emissions at this time at least.
The electrical side of things was one thing in my head that I figured would be tough...