VW Golfs and Jettas with 1.8T engines are known as some of the most reliable, well-designed and hi-performing cars on the market for the price. For that reason, it's fun to improve your 1.8T with parts and accessories designed by the top brands and manufacturers of performance parts. This article is designed to help you create your own sleeper street performance Volkswagen 1.8T with a simple step-by-step upgrade guide. You can do the modifications as you can afford them, or if money is no object, build your own monster street 1.8T and race it on the track.
1- Easy 1.8T Performance Combo - K&N Hi Flow Air Filter, Synthetic Oil Change, Computer Chip
2- Name Brand Cold Air Intake for 1.8T - K&N Typhoon, AEM, Neuspeed P-Flo, Injen are good brands.
3- Performance Cat-Back Exhaust System - recommend Magnaflow, Neuspeed, HKS, Borla, GReddy.
4- Add a 1.8T water/methanol injection. Snow Performance and Cooling Mist are good brands.
5- Upgrade your diverter valve, add a boost controller and more custom chipping.
6- Start digging into the 1.8T engine - camshafts, forged internals, ported and polished heads. After this you'll need to tune the engine further with a dyno or a standalone fuel management system.
7- Add nitrous, run race gas/ethanol, bigger turbos or twin turbo systems
As you add more horsepower to your 1.8T you'll need a beefier performance suspension and performance drivetrain to handle it all. Beef up your suspension or reinforce with strut bars, sway bar and roll cages. Upgrade your clutch and flywheel, and look into a high performance differential. Most of all, enjoy the drive. Your VW is designed for performance and skillfully engineered to be able to upgrade its components and parts. If you want to race your 1.8T professionally or simply build it right for the street, start a good relationship with a performance shop or tuner you trust, believe us you'll need it.
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