# Performance mods?



## cubedfreek (Apr 13, 2010)

I'm surprised to see so little in this subforum about this motor. I was hoping to come across the perfect thread that I need to help gain a little more power out of my slug. It's quite a large motor: 2.8L and 30 valves, I'd expect a helluva lot more performance from the factory out of this thing......wait, it IS from the factory, that explains the lack of power.

Anyway, I'm not looking to do anything crazy, just to get it moving a little quicker. I feel like it's highly restricted, and a good cost-efficient way to get some more power is to change the OE mufflers to an easier-breathing set. Obviously a tune helps. What else can be done?

Thanks in advance.


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## Driftneon (Feb 13, 2015)

Intake, exhaust, chip/ecu re-map, turbo, motor swap, headers, pistons, rods, pulleys, cams, you can do a lot man what you do is really dependent on what you want out of it. and how much you want to pay into it. 

In the next few months mine will be getting a Intake, Custom Cat-Back to dual exhaust, and possible ECU chip. maybe new cams but we'll see. as far as where to find info on all this stuff you might be better off looking at model specific forums, since this is a technical support thread, and aftermarket parts arent technically (Technical support). Good luck and godspeed.


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## TMakrop (Sep 18, 2015)

The parts are out there, you'll just have to do a lot of searching & piecing together. As far as huge gains...not gonna happen. But with the right combo & work you can expect about 20 +/- HP.


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## cubedfreek (Apr 13, 2010)

How little of a difference would the ECS lightweight pulleys make with this motor? I'm guessing minimal...but who knows?


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## gettajetta13 (Jun 22, 2008)

very minimal ^

only way to go is a supercharger man. i've seen a gain with a lil stage one chip but its hardly noticeable after a bit. really the only difference is peppier 2nd gear. 

best thing to do is short shift, intake, supercharge. 

once supercharged thats the gate way and with meth injection/smaller pulleys/forged internals you can hit 400hp. Hardest part is finding the charger and dropping $1800-2.5k on it. :beer:


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## noonecares (Oct 22, 2014)

Plenty of options, just Google it. Check out ecs to start your search and work your way from there. A turbo or sc kit are easy to find but not for under 3-5k its all about money, however you can easly achieve 250 with some pretty basic mods and some knowledge. 

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk


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## cubedfreek (Apr 13, 2010)

noonecares said:


> Plenty of options, just Google it. Check out ecs to start your search and work your way from there. A turbo or sc kit are easy to find but not for under 3-5k its all about money, however you can easly achieve 250 with some pretty basic mods and some knowledge.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk


I've been driving the car for over four years now, I feel like I've exhausted all the options that I've come across now, but still not sure what to do. "250 with some pretty basic mods and some knowledge"? What kind of knowledge am I missing here?


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## noonecares (Oct 22, 2014)

Well you never posted what has been completed, id get an ok head from the junk yard and rebuild it, cams, mild porting and polish what you can with the tools you have. Literally a drimmel tool would do 60% of it. A good header and exhaust, catless helps, thats ware the tune comes in... other than that pulleys ditch the ac and get a good intake. YouTube and a bently manual will help you. Oh yeah and weight reduction in that pig of a car will work wonders.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk


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## cubedfreek (Apr 13, 2010)

noonecares said:


> Well you never posted what has been completed, id get an ok head from the junk yard and rebuild it, cams, mild porting and polish what you can with the tools you have. Literally a drimmel tool would do 60% of it. A good header and exhaust, catless helps, thats ware the tune comes in... other than that pulleys ditch the ac and get a good intake. YouTube and a bently manual will help you. Oh yeah and weight reduction in that pig of a car will work wonders.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk


Honestly nothing has been done yet, other than a drop-in foam air filter and mufflerectomy. I just meant that I've scoured multiple sites and people's minds. Can't ditch A/C where I live, we would all die. :banghead:

Weight reduction is something that's been heavily on my mind. I even have a thread on PassatWorld about it. That I believe is the most important thing, especially considering mine is 4motion as well. I think dry weight on that pig is ~3700 lbs.....


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## noonecares (Oct 22, 2014)

I think if she lost some weight and start with intake exhaust and chip (a goog one), you would be surprised what even a 40hp increase would feel like. Just keep in mind all mods are ment to compliment another. An intake is only as good as the exhaust that allows the gasses you took in, to exit...

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk


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## ki4radio (Aug 22, 2016)

*going faster?*

 What, who, are you trying to run away from? The 2.8l is a good strong engine.


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## Wayne Kerr (Jun 25, 2016)

Few people bother with modding this engine because the best Banff for your buck comes straight from the factory: swapping in a 2.7T will trump anything else you can do.


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## Goldenfox (Dec 19, 2016)

Turbo or supercharge it, the stock internals are good for about 300/350 bhp. Need to change the clutch though as it's only good for about 250bhp. The plastic inlet manifold will usually crack at about 11psi but some people get away with running them higher. I'm about to start a project that might result in me making a cast inlet and if I'm making 1, I might as well make more and sell some.


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