engine differences...

[bfrey003]

okay, so is there a difference between an 8V and a V8???

[CalAltaDubber]

V8 is an eight cylinder engine where the cylinders are aligned in two rows. The two rows form a "V" . This is the common engine configuration in many North American cars.

An 8V is a four cylinder engine that has eight valves. Four intake and four exhaust. This is the standard type of engine in your car. The reason people mention this is that Volkswagen built 16 valve (16V) in the scirocco that can be transplanted into Mk I and Mk II cars. Of course the 16V has eight intake and eight exhaust valves.

[bfrey003]

ahh, okay. so my next question is when you put a 16v head on a 8v bottom, how does it match up? i do plan on eventually doing performance upgrades to get a more pick up and speed. just trying to figure things out

[Calimus]

The 16v head on 8v bottom end you are asking about, can't be done with the JH motor that comes in the cabriolet. I believe it requires the 2.0L ABA bottom end. It also requires a dowel pin on the block side to be machined off and some modifications made to the head gasket if I understand correctly. I haven't looked into this in many years so I could be remembering incorrectly.

However, the reason for doing that engine conversion is for Turbo applications. The 16v head on 8v block will create a lower compression ratio that is optimal for forced induction.

If you are just looking to get a little more power in your cabby but with out having to sink serious money in, just a 16v motor would be a nice upgrade. The 1.8l 16v motor with a fresh rebuild should net you 120hp with 123lbs of torque. Add a mild set of aftermarket cams and you can get close to 140hp. It doesn't sound like much, but that amount of power in a cabby is some seriously fun times.

I have a 1.8L 16v that I will put into my wifes cabby one of these days. The 8v motor that is currently in there does a find job since I added a mild cam to it. However, a tad more power would make cruising at 80mph on the highways a bit nicer and a change of transmission will lower the rpm's a tad. It should result is slightly better fuel mileage as well. There are several options to transplant another engine into the cabby's. Everything from fairly simple (as engine swaps go) to wild setups that cost far more than the car is worth. Some have even managed to jam the 2.8L VR6 motor into them. That requires some serious work, but also results in a nose heavy cabby that requires a lot of suspension work to make it handle right.

What are you looking to get out of the cabby? From there, I might be able to help guide you on a path that makes sense.

[bfrey003]

ok, thats interesting to hear. long term goals: more power (my cabby seems lag a bit at stop lights), better gas mileage (or at least the same throughout the upgrade), possibly a transmission upgrade as i'm not keen on the 3 spd, and would like a slightly more aggressive sound

[kamzcab86]

The 16v head on 8v bottom end you are asking about, can't be done with the JH motor that comes in the cabriolet.

And the Cabriolet in question is a 2H, I believe. Perfect opportunity to point out that everyone should list their Cabriolets in their signatures so we can give you advice directed towards your specific car... or take the time to type it out in every starting thread/topic post. Mentioning your Cabriolet's year and/or stock engine is especially important for this type of topic because the mods available for a 2H differ from a JH (for example, you can swap in a performance chip for a 2H but not a JH), and even more complicated, the JH was a solid and a hydro motor throughout its run. Not to mention the fuel injection system types we need to consider.

Helpful links:
http://www.cabby-info.com/engine.htm#Upgrades
http://www.cabby-info.com/Files/Engine_Swap_Guide.pdf

[bfrey003]

Was just about to add it. I thought it showed it automatically based on the questions in the profile settings. should be there now