Diesel engine Upgrades

i used to do a 150 mile round trip on a friday and the same again 48 hours later on the sunday to have my daughter every other weekend and my old jx was fine pushing the bungalow along

got a tdi in it now but dont make the trips anymore

what do you mean by 'faster and smoother' ? an engine change wont make it drive like a modern golf  

SYNCHRO CANDY:I didn't think 80mph was too much to ask when I read about people having to upgrade their brakes and stuff. I can sit at  70mph on a recon golf engine with a missing turbo, it feels ok but the hum from the engine sends you a bit def after a while.

Thanks all for contributing I'll have to use the car, nothing like coming out the ocean in November and wriggling out of soaked wetsuit in a  crappy little hatchback.

as has been said you could turbo the engine you have

the biggest problem is not the van at all, its the fact you 'need' to do 80, no road law lecture from me but i am concerned that 70 is not enough. we all have busy lives , work, hobbies, families and the hours provided are sometimes not enough to fit everything in but to start planning trips that require you to be able to do 80 is not the best way to solve the problem

maybe fit interior sunscreens to the car or take out the passenger seat to aid changing ? 

The compulsion was all about the work life balance fitting in some time for myself around the needs of the family.

 

scimdieseal had it, the drive just leaves me feeling fatigued as it's not an easy drive, played with the idea of trading to a defender as I saw one scoot past me on the journey the other day.

 

But I'm just going to stick with it and accept I'm doing six to eight hours driving  to spend 3 to 4 doing what I want to do. I have been doing that for 3 months but was willing to throw 2k at something if it improves things, however I have a bit more learning to do it seems.

 

When you say tall tyres can you recommend some with exact sizes so I can try it out and when your talking about the lower end do you mean I'd have less time in the gears or just slower exceleration when pulling off etc.

 

thank you everyone

We cruise at a correct sat naff 62 mph on the motorway.   My everyday car would be indicating almost 70 at this speed.    Most cars are passing us but not all and not that fast either.    We do a Miltonkeynes to the end of cornwall 300 mile door to door, we do 2 holidays a year in cornwall and I would say 50% of the trip we're simply doing the speed of traffic or the car/ lorry in front..   We'd save maybe 30 minutes at most if we was in the car on the same trips.       On a busy motorway I prefer the Van to drive as i can see much more ahead than when i'm in the car.     I also think with the AAZ i'd be thinking about and being ready to change gear and not loose vital revs, planning overtakes, etc.  In the TDI i don't need to think about that stuff as its simply easier.  The van sitting position has in the past made my back ache or to ache across my shoulders.    I fitted Saab seats and cut a lot of the bases out and rewelded so they are the same height as standard seats.  These have improved comfort mostly!.   Cruise control i use a lot and I find relaxing and something to take my mind off driving.  I've put loads of the bitchumen sound proofing over the engine.   When internal panels have been removed i've added some to the outer panels and bit buy bit i'm convinced its smoother and quieter now.           

Doing our 62 mph means we get past the lorries quickly and most the time we don't get boxed in by other vehicles.  I would often get caught out with the AAZ and struggle to get out into faster trafic and be left stuck behind a lorry.. Even failed to get past a few on up hills ... I could feel my balls wither when that happened.   We also do close on 40mpg most the time.  For me and our family (the wide likes to go slow) needs the TDI has been really good.     I think if fuel was not an issue i'd consider a petrol Golf GTI engine as they'd be far quieter and no need to re-gear the box.    If fuel really was not an issue a Scobi doo engine would be awesome!...