2.0TD into 1987 VW Quantum Syncro Wagon

[Nevadan]

Originally Posted by v8volvo

Congratulations! How does the gearing feel so far?

I ran it at 70mph for a few miles and it was very smooth but I have no idea what the rpm's are. These engines are so much smoother than the 4 cylinder 1.6's it's hard to tell by feel. There's still plenty of pedal left so I know it will go a lot faster. I can tell it's a little under-geared when shifting up to get to 5th, again, not terribly but definitely noticeable.

I'm also still purging and cleaning the cooling system and will do more of this tomorrow, I'll then take another run and see what it feels like at 80 mph.

The car feels real stable and solid traveling at 70mph, I'm happy so far.

It's been over 100F when I'm making my test runs and the cooling system seems adequate. These runs are all on flat ground out in farm country, away from any authorities (knock on wood) since I don't have it registered yet. Once registered I'll bring it back to Reno and climb some mountains.

What's interesting about these IDI engines, specifically my 1.6TD, is how they run so much cooler when the air temp is below 70F. The cooling system can handle full throttle, 9-10psi boost, runs well but if the air temp is at or near 100F they run hot, not overheating, just near 220F.

Since my intended use for this car is winter driving to local ski areas I think it will do just fine. There's absolutely no room for a A/C condenser, A/C compressor or intercooler but I pretty much knew this going in. I also did not install that supplementary radiator which was shown early on in this thread. That 70 amp Audi fan is doing the job.