New TDI mod questions

jkp1187

Veteran Member
Joined
May 8, 2008
Location
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TDI
none yet
Howdy there! First time poster here....so forgive me if some of these points have already been covered ad nauseum. (I didn't see anything immediately from a search.)

I am looking to buy a newJetta in the next few months. I was really interested in getting the GLI at first (I test-drove one and was really impressed with how sporty and fun to drive it was). But then I found out about the new 2009 TDI and I'm starting to be seduced to the diesel side.....the estimated MPG look incredible. I'm willing to sacrifice a little top end power (which I'd rarely use) for that awesome fuel economy.

If I get the TDI, though I'd definitely want it to have the sort of sport suspension that the GLI has -- does anyone know if this will be an option? (I'll install it myself if need be, but it's always nicer if it comes from the factory....)

I'm totally new to diesels -- how moddable is the engine? Are there aftermarket intakes available? Does anyone do ECU tuning (ala APR)? 138HP sounds kind of low, and I figure it should be possible to wring a few more HP without seriously impacting fuel economy, right? (Heck, if it goes from 60MPG to 45, who cares? I'm lucky if I get 27 on the highway now in the old Impala....)

Thanks in advance for the help!
 

MeOmYo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Location
Cooperstown, NY
TDI
2001 Golf GLS
Do some poking around on here. Know nothing about the '09s but I am sure they will be as moddable as others. Sky is the limit with mods. Sure it could be modded to blow a stock GLI out of the water. Question is, how much modding do you want to do.
 

Sootman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2003
Location
Maine Coast
TDI
2011 Golf TDI
You live in the same state as IMO the best tuner there is, Rocket Chip. I'd suggest that you email him (info@rocketchip.com) and see what Jeff thinks will be able to be done. He's often slow to respond due to the volume of emails and requests he gets. If you can catch him at a GTG (group gathering, check in the forums) that's a great way to get some information.

Good Luck
 

jkp1187

Veteran Member
Joined
May 8, 2008
Location
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TDI
none yet
Sootman said:
You live in the same state as IMO the best tuner there is, Rocket Chip. I'd suggest that you email him (info@rocketchip.com) and see what Jeff thinks will be able to be done. He's often slow to respond due to the volume of emails and requests he gets. If you can catch him at a GTG (group gathering, check in the forums) that's a great way to get some information.

Good Luck
Thanks for all of the suggestions.

Where is RocketChip located? I'm out near Pittsburgh, alas....which means he'll probably be located near Philadelphia. (Is he worth the drive?)
 

Sootman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2003
Location
Maine Coast
TDI
2011 Golf TDI
MeOmYo said:
Sootman said:
the best tuner there is, Rocket Chip

that's for you to decide but

Sootman said:
the best tuner there is, Rocket Chip

you can shoot him a line to see if he will be at any gtgs in your area

oh, wait! you need a car first!!!!!
jkp certainly doesn't need a car to talk to Jeff

P.S. If your gonna quote me don't leave the salient parts out please.
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
It will probably be like when I got mine. Not much available at first, but slowly it comes. There is now quite a good selection of things for the A5. Turbos, injectors, chip tuning/tuning boxes, skid plates, bypass filters, short shifters and more! Some of this will probably transfer to the new model. All will probably be even more expensive. It's only money right?
 

jkp1187

Veteran Member
Joined
May 8, 2008
Location
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TDI
none yet
Lightflyer1 said:
It will probably be like when I got mine. Not much available at first, but slowly it comes. There is now quite a good selection of things for the A5. Turbos, injectors, chip tuning/tuning boxes, skid plates, bypass filters, short shifters and more! Some of this will probably transfer to the new model. All will probably be even more expensive. It's only money right?
Heh. Something like that, sure. I'm focused on buying a house right now, so I probably won't be in the market for at least another 6 months....but my current car is starting to act up, though, so I don't know if I'll be able to squeeze much more than that out of the old girl without major repairs. (Which is just as well, since apparently the new TDI won't even be here until August/September.)

Two more questions:

I'm assuming that in terms of body and suspension that the 2009 TDI will be very similar to other Mk5 Jettas....and I'm also assuming that it won't be available with a sport suspension. How much should I expect to pay for sway bars and struts? Is it cheaper to just get, say, parts for the GLI from VW, or is aftermarket the way to go? And how much of a PITA is it to work on this myself? (I've done that kind of stuff myself in the past, but never on a VW.)

I figure that, maybe an ECU tuning and new intake (if available) would be what I'd start off with.
 

no-blue-screen

TDI Nut
Joined
Feb 9, 2006
Location
Maryland
TDI
TDI
jkp1187 said:
Heh. Something like that, sure. I'm focused on buying a house right now, so I probably won't be in the market for at least another 6 months....but my current car is starting to act up, though, so I don't know if I'll be able to squeeze much more than that out of the old girl without major repairs. (Which is just as well, since apparently the new TDI won't even be here until August/September.)

Two more questions:

I'm assuming that in terms of body and suspension that the 2009 TDI will be very similar to other Mk5 Jettas....and I'm also assuming that it won't be available with a sport suspension. How much should I expect to pay for sway bars and struts? Is it cheaper to just get, say, parts for the GLI from VW, or is aftermarket the way to go? And how much of a PITA is it to work on this myself? (I've done that kind of stuff myself in the past, but never on a VW.)

I figure that, maybe an ECU tuning and new intake (if available) would be what I'd start off with.
Well, I could be wrong, but I doubt those items will be available immediately, but hopefully they will become available shortly after the car is released.

Body wise, I beleive it is the same car pretty much....but it's a totally new engine. The current TDI usses a PD or unit injection system and is a 1.9L unit. The new TDI will have common-rail injection and be a 2.0L unit with the new emissions equipment. With the new motor and new emissions equipment, that may delay the release of such upgrades but I think eventually they will come.

BTW...don't pay the HP numbers any attention. My A5 only has 100 HP and it is great fun to drive. That's because these engines have gobs of torque which is what you feel and what throws you back in the seat. The new ones will have somewhere around 240 ft. lbs. of torque compared to 177 ft. lbs. of the current 1.9L PD unit. The new ones will probably be a blast with the extra torque.

Welcome aboard.
 
Last edited:

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
Mine is tuned currently with RC2 and is very fun to drive. If you get the new one it will already be where mine is now after tuning.
 

YellowBugGirl

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2007
Location
Las Vegas
TDI
2000 NB
Go slow on the MODS if you care about your factory warranty. Check carefully if the warranty is something you want to keep.

This is why many people start MODDING when the car hits 50K.
 

jkp1187

Veteran Member
Joined
May 8, 2008
Location
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TDI
none yet
YellowBugGirl said:
Go slow on the MODS if you care about your factory warranty. Check carefully if the warranty is something you want to keep.

This is why many people start MODDING when the car hits 50K.
Well, I'm not expecting much to be out at first, especially with engine mods. That's also why I'm inclined to go with VW GLI parts for the suspension.

Also, it looks like the warranty will be 3/36 for the 2009 VW models. (I think the new diesel will be a 2009....)

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/23/vw-announces-carefree-maintenance-program-for-2009-models/


Regarding the HP, you're probably right, although I like to be able to get to 60MPH as fast as possible (there are a few entrance ramps with heavy traffic where being able to get up to speed quickly is a good thing.)
 

DrFaustus

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2008
Location
Denver
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
After doing a bunch of reading on the new engine, I wouldn't expect any ECU mods to be available right away. The new ECU is significantly more sophisticated than the old unit. It will take a lot more work by the tuners to crack it than it did the old one. I imagine the learning curve on any engine mods will be pretty steep. I personally wouldn't want to be a first adopter.
 

chimaera

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
Location
Ireland
TDI
2012 Skoda Superb Combi CR170
Based on anecdotal evidence over here with regard to the 2.0l TDI, the 138bhp model should be fairly tunable. Talk to some of the European tuners - they've had this engine since at least 2007, so they should be up to speed on what's possible. Funnily enough the 170bhp model is not as easily tuned as the 138bhp one by all accounts.

With regard to suspension, try and test drive the different suspension options that are available currently, and see what one you prefer. Frequently, TDI models use slightly uprated components on the front end to cope with the extra weight, so you might find the sport suspension is not that much of an improvement. An easy option to improve handling is to upgrade to polyurethane or polypropylene bushings in the suspension. This should sharpen things up without significantly hurting comfort.

Like other posters have said, be wary of voiding your warranty. Usually any mods other than factory/dealer fitted ones will void the warranty. It's unlikely that you won't want to claim on your warranty within the first 3 years, so consider this.

The 138bhp TDI should be good for 0-60mph in around 10 seconds, which is more than adequate for getting onto a motorway quickly.
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
jkp1187 said:
Sounds reasonable -- although I'd heard in the pre-release buzz that the 2.0TDI would have a 0-60 time of ~ 8.5 seconds....
Every TDI sold in North America has been detuned from what the Europeans get. In most cases a simple reprogramming (remapping/chipping) will make the engine what it should have been from the beginning.

All the suspension mods you could want for the 2009 Jetta are already available -- it's like other Mk5 Jettas except under the hood. GLI and GTI parts will probably fit, plus lots of aftermarket parts.
 
Top