Hey guys!

[senorfancypants 0]

I'm new here! Just wanted to say that I've never been interested in vr6's until I bought one, and I've been in love ever since! I have a b4 passat sedan with the 12 valve vr6.

About 5 months after I bought it, the timing chain guide blew up. I jumped timing and bent three exhaust valves . But with 166,000 it was inevitable, so I got a new set of valves and a short block with 40,000 less miles. It has a stock crank and pistons. Also the valves are stock as well as the springs. (Because I'm broke and can only afford oem)

So I was wondering what would be the ideal set up to run boost on stock internals? I've read on different vr6 forums that the vr6 is almost bulletproof, So it should be able to handle like 10-20 lbs right? Also would I have to lower the compression in order to run 10-20 lbs?

Thank you for reading my post! It's really appreciated, and I would love to here your guys ideas!

[RBPE 198]

It's about knock. You can run low boost or even moderate with stock compression but you'd benefit from a custom map done incrementally so you don't grenade the engine. Spacer plates to lower comp will give you better protection against knock then for a relatively low price, no real need to go less than 9.0:1 really even at moderate to high boost.

 

Main thing is...... and you do get sick of telling people this, if you want durability on an engine, do the basics at least! With your engine did you check the basics or just stick it together? Is it now running new rod bolts, bearings, gaskets or are they still at least 40k old? What you get sick of telling people is that there's no point upgrading an engine until the basics are done at least, I've had many ignore this and they get stroppy when boost is added and their engine goes bang! It gets annoying when people buy second hand engines, do nothing with them and then wonder why it explodes when they add boost or more boost!

 

If it was me then, I'd;

Strip engine down, check for cracks, check alignments and generally measure and check everything isn't warped or on it's way out due to use.

Replace ALL general parts like bearings, bolts, gaskets etc - oem if need be.

Possibly stretch to upgrades like springs if you're going higher rev limit etc depending on money (it's about replacing/refreshing as many parts as possible on a worn engine)

Upgrade critical stress points is a good idea for boosting, rod bolts being main one and head studs are a good idea if adding a spacer and of course all new chains and tensioners etc.

 

9.0:1 spacer, upgraded rod bolts, head studs, decent GT30/GT35 size turbo, upgraded clutch, 16psi - double your stock power, possibly £500 or so for a half decent refreshed engine if you can do it yourself?

 

You can go higher boost, 20+psi I suppose but more pressure equals more strain, all depends on what you can afford but I would do the basics and refresh as much as possible before upgrading where necessary. You could also just refresh everything with oem that you can afford and run a low boost map, no spacer and stock clutch for 300hp+.........how much power are you looking for and how much can you afford?