Hi Peter:

Our SA engine has been in and running well for about 1500 miles.  22 mpg and it goes!  Ours you might recall also has the Weddle 5 speed attached to it.  What a spectacular combination.   We also have  a "sport" type exhaust on the engine.  This consists of a 55mm catalyst from a 16V Scirocco ( I think the largest VW has made), a 2.5" Walker MagnaFlo muffler (basically a 6" diam. welded glass-pack), and a 2.25" stainless tailpipe.  Great music and great power. Certainly louder than stock but not intrusive.  After living with this combo for a little while, I felt as though the engine was running a little lean (even after setup on the VAG 1552).  Knowing that this can happen with "open" exhausts that create a fuel need beyond the injection system's ability to compensate, I added an adjustable fuel pressure regulator with a gauge.  Stock regulator showed 28-30 PSI, which is about where it should be.  I bumped the adjustable regulator to 35PSI.  Wow.  Now more lean stumbles,  throttle response is instant, top end just keeps pulling.  Try it!   Finally, a critical change.  We replaced the "GL" badge on the hatch with an original "GTi" badge.    

 

A question.  I do get a pretty significant vibration/resonance coming through the body at about 4000 rpm when accelerating.  I know that this is a typical problem with inline 4 cyl engines, but I also know that it can be tuned out.  I have not been able to figure out if the vibration is coming from my non-stock exhaust (could be, it has broken 2 marginal welds made by me already) or if the motor mounts are bottoming out and sending vibes into the body.  I have tried various combos of adjustment on the exhaust mounts which do make some difference, but I don't think that's it.  To me it actually looks like the right motor mount bracket might be squeezing inward too much and making contact with the rubber on the mount itself under hard acceleration when the engine is trying to twist.  I'm thinking I might either pursuade it with an 8 lb. sledge, or remove the mount and slot the mount hole to move ita way from the bracket more. Have you had any experience with this?

 

Thanks for making this kit available!  Our Vanagon is a whole different animal!

 

Gary