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After having an NB for many years, I upgraded to an NC 12 months ago. A wonderful move, now I feel like I want more power.
I have looked at supercharging and turbo options but the 2.5 swap seems like the most suitable path for me.

I am looking at thoughts from those that have done it , had it done.

Please share

Proper standalones are now available for NC, including ABS and all of that, so your options for forced induction are probably better than you realise.

I havn't done a 2.5 for anyone yet but typical costs seem to end up around 8,000 to drive it in and out of a shop. For that sort of money you are 3/4 of the way to a really really fantastic properly done turbo setup. Add a set of rods and turn it up for some serious serious performance.

Now I know many people reply to the above by saying that they simply dont need serious serious performance, and that's ok, you can turn a turbo up and down, but that is besides the point. If you end up spending 10k on a 170hp 2.5L why not spend a similar amount and have any number you want?

Its all good that 170hp is nice to have and the extra capacity helps with torque but youll have way way way more useable torque from idle to redline with a nice turbo setup.

The blower is good also, but there is no upgrade path, so you make 200ish whp and you're done unless you build a new blower system for it.

Dann

NitroDann wrote:Proper standalones are now available for NC, including ABS and all of that, ...

Slightly off-topic, sorry everyone.
Dann, are you saying there are after-market standalone ECUs available for an NC which support ABS?
Which one(s) please?

The main reason I am leaning to the 2.5 is that it looks stock under the bonnet. Mine is a daily driver and I need reliability and simplicity.
Ultimate power is not my aim. I feel with an extra 20 or so KW the car would be in a very happy place.

If you are only after 20kw then surely a simple G28 on a log manifold low mount would be more than sufficient. Pop an Elite 1500 on it or similar and it will happily control the ABS etc, and the wideband will do closed loop for emissions and drivability.

Many very high end ecus can do it, the question is who can install it and calibrate it so that it genuinely works 100% like it should, security and all, the answer as far as I know is only the MS3 for NC by MS Labs. Its only just become available, fortunately it's my specialty and only a few new systems will need to be learned (by myself) to get 100% oem operation, the ABS and DBW stuff has all been sorted out in the basemap and a few other bits and pieces that are different to NB work out of the box, including (im 99% sure by memory) security.

The elite or late model motec or vipec or whatever can surely do it all but your tuner will have to get every last wire and calibration setting right himself which will not be close to cost effective paying for the dozens of man hours to get it OEM perfect. the MS3 available has a base map where all of these things only need fine tuning, not the creation of the entire map for every system on the car from scratch.

I understand your want for only 20% but it represents ridiculously poor value when it costs a similar amount to forced induction.

Dann

yea for 20 extra killer wasps....2.5 swaps seems exsessive

All options sound poor bang for your buck.
Sell it and buy an NA and go to town!

I wasnt suggesting extra 20kw is a bad thing .....just agreeing that a 2.5 swap to get that is an exy option
Not sure what a G28 refers to.

essentially he already has what all the N/A NA6 with a B6 guys want. 125 whp....with not a huge amount of exta weight

NitroDann wrote:Many very high end ecus can do it, the question is who can install it and calibrate it so that it genuinely works 100% like it should, security and all, the answer as far as I know is only the MS3 for NC by MS Labs.

I have submitted a query via your web page about the MS3 for NC.

If you only want 20kws and stock looking then a full exhaust and tune would get you almost there, without any of the hassles associated with 2.5 swaps or forced induction..

I already have a full exhaust and tune. Its a very sweet ride, just needs a little more.

Wasn't there an electric supercharger option for the NC from the US that was very cost effective and gave roughly the desired boost?

I am trying to avoid the add on look under the bonnet. the swap is the only way I have found that looks stock.
I know there have been quite a few done , really looking for opinions from those that have done it reguarding reliability and drivability as a daily

A 2.5 swap would be sweet!!

There are at least a couple of people on here that have 2.5 NCs, they haven't turned up here yet but a search should find some information. Everyone that that I have seen commenting on their 2.5 loves the power, but mostly the torque.

Where are you? Daniel Deckers has done them, for race and for road I think (Deckspeed, forum sponsor). He'd be worth talking to, even if you aren't local to him.

Don't let the big HP turbo brigade distract you, if you know what you want. It is a very stealth mod, and if you are so inclined a set of cams and extractors makes it an extremely quick car and monster fun.

If I didn't have the SE, this would be my go-to for a toy!