Turbo 98 Golf 2.0 Recommendations

Is it possible to install a turbo into a non turbo engine?

It is possible, and people do it all the time, with widely varying results.The easy way is generally to just replace the exhaust manifold (or manifolds, on V- engines) with one that will hold a turbo (or two) and then fabricate the minimum amount of intake and exhaust plumbing to get the engine running again.However this won’t give much additional power, and side-effects include broken engines. For better results you’ll want to do a bunch more. In no particular order:You’ll want to retune the engine control unit (ECU) to adjust the air-fuel mixture (AFR) and the ignition timing.You’ll want a way to control the amount of boost you get from the turbocharger. You might get 6–10psi from the turbocharger by default, but with a boost controller you can bring that up much higher. (Preferably, your boost controller includes a throttle position sensor. You can get by without one, but you’ll run into part-throttle-full-boost behavior, which is kind of annoying.)You’ll want an intercooler, because the air coming out of a turbocharger’s compressor gets hot, and hot air is less dense and more prone to detonation, so cooling gets more air into the combustion chamber and allows better ignition timing. But this requires finding a place for the intercooler (a place with lots of cool airflow) and running intake tubing from the air filter to the intercooler and from the intercooler to the intake manifold.You’ll want pistons that give you lower compression ratio. Naturally aspirated cars are often in the neighborhood of 9:1 or higher (possibly much higher), turbocharged engines are generally happier with 8:5:1 or perhaps lower.You’ll want pistons that can withstand the heat and pressure of your newfound horsepower. Cast pistons are typical on production cars (even production cars with turbochargers) but forged pistons are significantly stronger.You might also want connecting rods that can take more power.You’ll almost certainly want a clutch that can hold more power. The clutch that worked fine with your stock naturally-aspirated motor will start slipping when subjected to the torque from your new force-induction setup.You might end up wanting a stronger transmission and a stronger differential.If the car in question was available from the factory with a turbocharger, or with a larger naturally-aspirated motor, you’re almost certainly better off switching to the stronger car model before adding a turbocharger.

Do turbocharged cars require premium gas?

Generally, yes. They will likely be equipped with a knock sensor, which will allow the engine to run on lower octane fuel, but it will make less power, will get less mileage, and will shorten the lifespan of the sensor.A higher octane rating means a fuel has a higher resistance to pre-ignition. Pre-ignition is common on engines with high compression when using lower rated fuel. Turbochargers force air into engines. When air is forced into an engine, it doesn't change the engine’s STATIC compression ratio, but it does change it's DYNAMIC compression ratio.For instance, a turbo engine running 9.0:1 static compression and 7 psi of boost will have a dynamic compression above 13:1.Pre-ignition causes a rapid pressure front to be created on the crown of the piston, and particularly the ringlands, while the piston is still traveling towards top dead center. This creates a pinging noise, and a downward force on an upward traveling piston. As you can imagine, this is bad. In fact, it's so bad, it can destroy an engine in seconds.Have a great day!

What will actually happen when G12 coolant is mixed with regular types, including with those that claim to mix with "ANY type" of antifreeze?

Many companies like VW and Audi recommend using G12/G13 coolants on their system. And that's only because G12 has better lubricating capacities (which is why it is sometimes called "lifelong coolant"). This is given by the various phosphates in the mixture.The regular coolant (let's take Prestone as our reference), on the other hand does not contain phosphates. The reason for this is that water in Europe (that's where the manufacturers are) contains higher concentrations of minerals like phosphates than that found in the waters of, say, US. Other minerals that might be present in higher quantities may be metallic salts that are way less stable to stay in place for the radiation job.This gives us the answer to what happens when G12 and Prestone is mixed. The metallic ions from Prestone and the phosphate rich G12 produce jelly-like depositions that promote corrosion. I've come across cases where entire radiator hoses have blown off because of this mixing, and that's technically because of clogging, congestion, built water pressure and, of course, weakening of the hose.As I was reading this question I was wondering why you would ask this in the first place. Immediately I thought, "Maybe he's considering doing this." In that case, my suggestion is: DO NOT take this risk unless you're going to die if you won't.I understand, G12, G12++ or G13, for that matter, are all way too expensive. If you're looking to change your coolant, make sure you flush your radiator system a couple of times and then add Prestone (or any other regular coolant). Never run both of them together.A sidenote: if you're ever using water with any coolant of yours (yes, diluting coolants is no problem) and if you're using G12, please use distilled water only.

Can I put a V6 engine into a 4-cylinder car?

If the car was originally delivered with both types of engines, it might not even be very hard.There are some special considerations though. The first generation of Saab 9–5 was delivered with three choices of engine (I’m leaving out the diesel engines, they shouldn’t be in cars anyway), a 2.0t I4, a 2.3t I4, and a 3.0t V6. The 3.0t was only delivered with an automatic transmission, while the smaller engines were delivered with both types. Converting a 9–5 2.0 manual to a 3.0 automatic is probably going to be more work than converting a 2.0 automatic to 3.0 automatic.Then, on the other hand, you might achieve your goals in much easier ways than complete engine swaps, depending on what those goals are. As original, the 2.0t has 150 hp and 240 Nm, while the 3.0t has 200 hp and 310 Nm. If the goal is to increase power and torque, a simple software upgrade to the 2.0t will give you 210 hp and 320 Nm, meaning you get more power and torque than the 3.0t, while retaining the better fuel economy of the 2.0t. Of course, the 3.0t could also be software upgraded, but it is a very strange engine that is very hard to get much extra power from, so you’ll probably increase the power only from 200 to 220 hp. If you want more power than a simple software upgrade will give the 2.0t, changing to a bigger turbo and more open exhaust can make that little engine yield much more power than the weird 3.0t could ever hope for. Strangely, the 2.3t was sold completely original in a version with 260 hp and 350 Nm, noticeably more than the original 3.0t, so the Saab 9–5 was faster with the strongest type of original 4-cylinder engine than it was with the V6.However, if your goal is smoothness rather than outright power, the V6 would probably win every time.