Date:         Thu, 13 Jul 2006 08:55:27 -0700
Reply-To:     John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: [Syncro] Was there ever a 2.1WBX Turbo option?
In-Reply-To:  <e94lco+70on@eGroups.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

> Did VW or any aftermarket company make a turbo option for the 2.1WBX?
> If so, what specs did it boost the engine to? I have never seen
> anyone selling something like this so curious.

 Several times I've heard mention of a VW-produced WBX turbo sold briefly in
Germany, but if so, it must've been a limited distribution non-production
item because there's no reference at all to it in the Euro ETKA. It's
possible it might've been a limited run VW-commissioned mod by a third party
like Oettinger. If so it must have been in VERY small numbers because I've
seen TWO of the Oettinger WBX-6 engines sold on ebay.de, and never seen a
single WBX turbo.
 Like BenT says, John at Aircooled.net developed a low-boost (8psi or so)
turbo kit, but never produced any due to lack of market interest.
 Daryl Christensen did his syncro with a turbocharger off a 1.8 subaru,
making about 5psi and 20-30 extra horsepower by his seat-of-the-pants
estimate.
 Problem is, the WBX engine just doesn't have much room for easy
improvement. About all you can do with a turbo on a wasserboxer is bring its
performance up to about the same class as a stock subaru, without the
benefits of better gas mileage and reliability.

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"