funkymofo 0 Posted December 3, 2006 Hi, I have just purchased a 205 GTI with the intention of an Mi16 conversion. I am having trouble finding the 1.9 mi16 block, (xu9j4 is it?!?), but there seems to be an abundance of the cast 2 litre blocks floating around (cheaply too!) Basically I want the car for fast road/track day usage but dont intend to race it competetively. I understand the cast block is obviously heavier but how much heavier? Does it upset the handling alot, or just slightly? Are they similarly tuneable to the 1.9 version? Is it worth shelling out the extra £££'s for the alloy lump or not? Opinions welcome, apologies if this has been covered I have searched for a good 15 minutes and not really found what I was after. p.s. am I right in thinking the cast block has a darker coloured inlet manifold whereas the alloy has a more silver colour to it? Cheers guys, hope to be in the Mi club sooner rather than later! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faz85 0 Posted December 3, 2006 there is an abundance of info on the debate between the 2. im in the same boat as you because im considering the conversion myself... the cast iron block is about 15 or so kg's heavier, which doesnt sound like a big difference, and you wouldnt notice the extra weight much when pootling about. but the extra weight does make a big difference to the dynamics of the car, and once your slinging it about, that extra weight will become noticeable IMO. besides, the fact you cant find many alloy blocks these days says it all really! the alloy block fitted to the 405 and BX GTi, has 160BHP, where as the cast iron block, or S16 engine has 155BHP. p.s. your right, the inlet manifolds is the obvious way to determine which is which. HTH Faraz Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
funkymofo 0 Posted December 3, 2006 Cheers for the info! Sods law has just come into its full effect and I have now found a fair amount of info on this topic Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
