Tuning potential.

[gramey lad]

Can anybody tell me what the tuning potential of the 1600i motor is and whats available chips etc.Although i am very pleased with the engine i think it needs a little more power.Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

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2003 mexibeetle (engine no ACD451023)

[phade]

Hiya gramey lad,

My one's powerful enough for me, but you can get a "tuning chip" from Manfred on his website http://1600i.de/.

How bad is the "lack of power"? If your beetle is suffering from poor acceleration or is cutting out then your beetle's ECU could have fault codes stored within it (eg. there could be something wrong with it).

To find out what those faults are (if that is the case), you will need a diagnostics kit. You can either get a standard VAG 1552 or equivalent from Ebay and make up an adapter lead or you could get a diagnostics kit from Manfred on his 1600i website.

I hope this helps,

Phil

[gramey lad]

Hi phil . Its nice to hear from someone with the same vehicle as so many people in the uk know nothing about them.Every time i ask a so called specialist they cant tell me anything about them.The car has all the power it is supposed to have but a bit more would be nice.I have already fitted a kn filter and have a new exhaust system to go on (i am getting rid of the cat).I have heard about manfreds tuning chips but dont know how good they are or how to fit them or what sort of power increase they can give or how much.I have had beetles in the past but nothing with fuel injection.So as you can see theres a lot to learn.Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks graeme.

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2003 mexibeetle (engine no ACD451023)

[phade]

Hiya Graeme,

One thing to note about removing the cat, it is illegal to do that here in the UK since it was built after December 1992. It will also fail the next MOT if a cat convertor is not fitted (the CO emissions must be 0.3% or lower).

I've heard that Manfred's tuning chip is pretty good, but you will need to be careful if you need to adjust the ignition timing otherwise you may cause the engine to knock.

There's lots of hints, tips, docs etc on Manfred's 1600i website http://1600i.de (I wrote a lot of the english documentation on the 1600i website).

Most of the mechanics are the same as a standard (non 1302/1303) european beetle. The green 1300/1500 (1965 - 1975) Haynes Manual is adequate for the following:-

- Front and rear axles. Note: The mexican beetle front discs and stub axles are different to the european beetles

- Gearbox (the gear ratios are however different and the VW documentation isn't correct either)

- Suspension

- Steering

- Running gear

- Brakes


The other bits and pieces are covered on the 1600i website (eg. ignition timing, fan belt deflection, fuel pump, parts cross reference list, etc.).

Happy beetling,

Phil