VW GOLF 2.0TDI 110 vs 140/170

[vwgolfmk6]

Hello Fellow VW fans, I'm new and have a question which I hope somebody can help me with.

I will soon be taking delivery of a MK6 VW golf 2.0TDI SE (110 BHP). Truth is, is that this was not my first choice. I don’t drive like a maniac but I like to know if I want to go some I can. I really wanted either a 140 or 170 BHP version - sadly the ones with decent mileage seemed to be about £1,500+ more (£15,000 approx) than the equivalent 110 BHP. In addition to this, the insurance on the 140 is about £200 per year more compared to the 110 version.

So I've made my bed and happy to sleep in it, 110 BHP style.

Anyways... I just want some engine info.... Please can somebody (who knows their stuff) be specific about the differences between these engines. All three of the engines I mention in this post are 2.0TDI 16v.

The VW salesman told me, between the 110 and the 140 it's simply a changed ECU. He went further to say that the difference between the 140 and 170 is, again a change in the ECU and a larger turbo. If you know salesman they will tell you that the sky is green and the grass is blue in order to complete a sale so I took is advice with a pinch of salt. Is this guy speaking the truth?

The reason I ask is of course I plan spend a few £££ to get it to maybe the 160-170 BHP mark, possible?

[Keithuk]

Welcome to the forum.

Well I can only speak about the 140 to 170 difference. I'm told that the ecu is chipped differently, it has a different turbo and injectors so the salesman was close.

As for upgrading the different model DTUK do plugin boxes.

110PS to 140PS and torque 250Nm to 320Nm
140PS to 175PS and torque 320Nm to 390Nm
170PS to 210PS and torque 350Nm to 443Nm

Seeing as this is your first post would you mind putting your basic car spec in your signature is save us asking, you will see that regular users do this?

[stevelewis_99]

Just to add, I recently purchased a DTUK box for my 1.6 TDI (105PS) as the newer ecu's are harder to flash (need to be removed from the car)

I was a little sceptical about how much difference it could make, but after seeing some positive reports in other sections of this forum I took the plunge.

I have to say, no regrets so far - extremely simple to fit, and noticeable improvement. At first I was unsure if there was much difference, or if it was the placebo effect that made me think it was more powerful.

Though as soon as I hit the roads I normally drive every day, I started smiling and needed to use the brakes a bit more - as I was not expecting the car to deliver as much power as it was.

Still waiting for a brim to brim fill up to know the effects on MPG but so far I'm a happy customer of DTUK! (And I no longer kick myself for going from the 110 2.0 to the 105 1.6, as there was a huge difference - to me - which was initially disappointing).
As you effectively have a de-tuned 140PS engine (in my rookie opinion, could be wrong) it would be interesting to see what results you may get, should you decide to take the plunge!

[vwgolfmk6]

Thanks guys...

Is a box and a remap the same thing? I friend of mine had his A3 2.0T remaped @ AMD essex for around £400 and took the thing up to about 230/40bhp. He was very happy so I might give them a look.

I guess my main fear is the long term. I plan to keep this car for a very long time and don't want to cut its life short.

I will get the profile sorted but plan to do that when I get my car, less than 22 days now!!!

I plan a few cosmetic things first if anybody is interested;
GTD/GTI honeycombe front grill
Springs (lower by 30mm)*
Exhaust (tip or cat-back)**

*I had aftermarket springs (just springs) fitted to my last mk4 golf, had it done proffesianally cost about £300, First couple of years they were awsome, great to look at with my 18" Audi A8 wheels, and the drive felt better. Recently however I have had to hand out £500+ to get bushings/dampers replaced as they were worn and had this load knocking noise whenever I turned right on the offside. By this time the car was 10 years old and had nearly 100k on the clock so Just put it down to old age but the garage sed it was due to the springs I had installed. With this in mind what do you guys think? Is it worth working a little harder and getting new shocks & springs or would you not bother and just get Lower springs added to the original shocks?

** has anybody seen the exhaust tip VW sell themselves? I've only seen it on their website in the 'owners area' and they charge £130 for it?!?! Seems allot for something I think you just clip on. Or maybe it does replace the tip?? Not sure.

[Keithuk]

The chipped/remapped ecu and the plugin boxes are similar the advantage of the boxes is it can be removed it the car has to go in for warranty jobs connected to engine faults else the warranty can be void depnding on what caused the fault.

Your talking about the chrome tail pipes this has been talked about before on here if you search.

Exhaust Trim

[Hughesynights]

A remap is changing the map in the stock ECU, e.g. Superchips, Revo.
This is slightly more challenging on the MK VI because VW tried to encrypt access to the maps. However, most tuners now offer remaps for them.
Upside, it is not visibly obvious. Most tuners claim it is not detectable by diagnostics (they reset a counter that could be used to tell if the map has been changed).
Downside is that VW probably can tell, so if the engine blows up during the warranty period they would not pay.

A box plugs between the ECU and the fuel pump and injectors.
Some cheap ebay boxes just change the signal from the fuel rail pressure sensor or temperature sensor to trick the ECU into pumping more fuel.
Quality boxes (like DTUK) modify the signal from the ECU to inject more fuel at different revs and throttle openings. The box contains its own map, which can be modified.
Upside is they are easy to fit (DIY) and can be removed, e.g. for servicing or warranty claim.
Downside is if you have not told your insurance company, they will spot it quickly just by opening the bonnet.

The only long term problem of upping the power is the stress on your DPF if you go made with the fueling. For the full effect, replace the whole exhaust and ditch the DPF!
Obviously if you thrash the engine a lot its life will be shortened and clutch life reduced, but these components are probably the same as the 140 / 170 anyway.

[percymon]

Congratulations on your purchase, although i'm a little perplexed if you paid £13.5k for a 110bhp car ?

Anyway, the 110bhp 2.0 is a better engine thatn the 105 1.6 that i have - the extra capacity and inmherent torque make it a little better to drive and slightly more power through the rev range. Of course it doesn't come with £35 road tax and some green marketting spin, but thats (lack of) progress for you.

As to the DTUK box, i ran one for over 10k miles - it made a noticeable difference to power, and the various maps that could be selected allowed for a little bit of user preference. Fuel economy was NO different in reality, irrespective of whether i drove efficiently or sprightly. The computer display said it was 10% more efficient but my tank to tank calcualtions said otherwise. The computer obviously takes its readings from what the ecu is outputing, not the modified fuel pump signal from the tuning box.
Not i said i RAN one - whether realted to the use of the box or not, i suffered a high pressure fuel pump failure whilst driving along on partial throttle. Left me stranded but at least i was able to remove the box before the AA arrived. Fuel pump was replaced under warranty £1200 + labour ! and VW were very unwilling to disclose the failure root cause. I've not refitted the box since - i occassionally miss the extra power, but not enough to risk another potential failure.

Note - there IS a known issue with the fuel pumps on the 140 and 170bhp versions - just google 'high pressure fuel pump failure'. Mainly US related but some european ones too. The pump on my 1.6engine is a different design and manufacturer (Siemens rather than Bosch from recollection, but may have that the wrong way round!), i don't knwo what design or who makes the 110bhp pump, but would guess its the same as the 140bhp engine.

It sounds like a tale of woe, but its my experience of the only tuning box/remap i've ever fitted - I did loads of research on various options, and chose what i thought to be a safe option. Perhaps the failure is just a bad pump, but i doubt i'll go near any enhanced performance upgrade for a long time to come.

[Keithuk]

Nicley said HN.

You can chip the 170 more than 210 but the clutch and transmission won't take it for long.

[percymon]

Congratulations on your purchase, although i'm a little perplexed if you paid £13.5k for a 110bhp car ?

Anyway, the 110bhp 2.0 is a better engine thatn the 105 1.6 that i have - the extra capacity and inherent torque make it a little better to drive and slightly more power through the rev range. Of course it doesn't come with £35 road tax and some green marketing spin, but thats (lack of) progress for you.

As to the DTUK box, i ran one for over 10k miles - it made a noticeable difference to power, and the various maps that could be selected allowed for a little bit of user preference. Fuel economy was NO different in reality, irrespective of whether i drove efficiently or sprightly. The computer display said it was 10% more efficient but my tank to tank calcualtions said otherwise. The computer obviously takes its readings from what the ecu is outputting, not the modified fuel pump signal from the tuning box.
Note i said i RAN one - whether realted to the use of the box or not, i suffered a high pressure fuel pump failure whilst driving along on partial throttle. Left me stranded but at least i was able to remove the box before the AA arrived. Fuel pump was replaced under warranty £1200 + labour ! and VW were very unwilling to disclose the failure root cause. I've not refitted the box since - i occassionally miss the extra power, but not enough to risk another potential failure.

Note - there IS a known issue with the fuel pumps on the 140 and 170bhp versions - just google 'high pressure fuel pump failure'. Mainly US related but some european ones too. The pump on my 1.6 engine is a different design and manufacturer (Siemens rather than Bosch from recollection, but may have that the wrong way round!), i don't know what design or who makes the 110bhp pump, but would guess its the same as the 140bhp engine.

It sounds like a tale of woe, but its my experience of the only tuning box/remap i've ever fitted - I did loads of research on various options, and chose what i thought to be a safe option. Perhaps the failure is just a bad pump, but i doubt i'll go near any enhanced performance upgrade for a long time to come.

To add to Hughesynights post above, the DTUK CRD2 box uses a single sensor connection - the voltage signal at the fuel rail. The voltage roughly relates to engine rpm (so 1.2V = ca 1200rpm, and the box modifies this value by an amount - dependent upon the map selected and measured voltage). The box has maps with mild/aggressive profiles at low and high revs to suit different needs. I ran with a relatively mild at low and high rpm map to reduce strain on the drivetrain !

Some tuning boxes use three sensor connections for more advanced tuning (DTUK CRD3 may be one of these), but on the 1.6 engine the turbo pressure sensor can only be accessed with the car on ramps and the undertray removed; hardly convenient for fitting/removal for servicing/warranty work and why lots of companies don't bother.

[Keithuk]

Whats the differences between the CR TDI2.0 110 & 140 engines