Help! 2001 1.8LE vs 1992 1.6
 

I have a 1992 base model with 54,000 miles on it that was given to me a year ago. I use it as a daily driver (no autocross or racing in my future) and live in Albuquerque were altitudes can change quickly on an extended drive…I love driving it! Not mechanically inclined so I spent almost a year here researching FI, reading the books recommended. Decided upon a BEGI S4 system with a 2554 and a MS PNP management system. I am installing a 3.9 Torsen diff and ACT clutch this week (Got a friend who will help with this but I am having the Turbo installed by someone who knows what he is doing and can teach me tuning. lol). I was going to send the check to BEGI next week.

Thursday night late a neighbor stops by and offers me his 2001 LE (six speed, 3.9 torsen , 61,000 miles etc.) at a helluva price – I checked! If this was a 1.8 NA I wouldn’t flinch – I have followed all of your comments on 1.6 vs 1.8 for a year after all – but it is not. The Rap here on the NB’s with the VVT 1.8 are not as clear cut.

If I had even a week to search and read about this, you wouldn’t be seeing this post. I know how much this forum hates stupid posts and stupid questions. But I have to give him an answer by Sunday evening.

Bottom Line: I will own just one of these vehicles and within two months it will be Turbo Charged. Assuming they are both in excellent mechanical shape, please weigh in with your opinions on which one you would choose and give some reasons why so I can search on those reasons. I will use your reasons as my starting point for a two day fast track search and learning process.

Again I apologize for those of you who will find the post annoying but I hope a few of you will realize it’s not about being lazy but about a time crunch. Thanks in advance for any insights you can provide.

P.s – and I promise no questions about Supercharging vs turbocharging or 2554 vs 2560!

You fucking stupid ass noob. Just kidding, take that 2001. The VVT heads have proven to flow very well. You will have to spend more money on better engine management than MS and obviously more time tuning, but it yields great numbers. Also the drive-train in the 2001 is win IMHO, 6-speed and a torsen 3.9 final ration = :drool:

Also the 2560 is so last year, put a 2871 in that hoe.

This is a no brainier. That '01 would make a great daily driver.

Thanks for the insight buffoon01. There things about the NA that I love but since it is a dd there were comforts that I missed. Spent the winter scrounging cheap interior parts from wrecked NA’s. Installed a 93 wiring harness with all the bells and whistles so I could easily add PW windows, PW mirrors, PW antenna,(had to find a special “shorty” aftermarket antenna) cruise control and rear defogger. Refurbished and installed all of the hardware for these features. The began an interior swap with NB dash, door panels and Console. Donnelly mirror. LED visor lights, LED trunk light and Moss Trunk release, Nardia Classic Steering wheel and a lot of Chrome shit. Picked up a pair of badly worn 1999 leather seats and spent almost 2 months restoring them. Learning about creating the pigtails and wiring changes for the Nb/Na conversion was intimidating and I collected over 800 pages of posts from the various forums. And Plan to edit down to a couple hundred pages and post it as a “pay back” for all the information others have shared. Since I took my time I found all of this on the “cheap” and really do not have much into it except for all my elbow grease. If I go with the NB I will pull most of the expensive aftermarket stuff from the NA, re install the cloth seats and sell it – I actually will come out way ahead. The other stuff I will sell off on ebay. I had done no research on NB drive train reliability and Turbo’s so I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I had hoped for a few more responses, but you gave me have some things to start a fast track research project so I can make the call. Thanks. (2871 eh? Maybe 3.63 gearing too?)

Go with 2001 NB with 3.9 gearing. Turbo wise, get 2871r and have fun.