I'm about to spend some serious cash replacing the motor in my '06 JCW, and thinking hard about making some other changes too while the wallet's open. The car currently has 76k miles, and 55k on the clutch (was replaced under warranty in '08)

Previous gripes about the car have been not strong enough, a jarring ride, and my wife hates driving it because the clutch is too stiff.

I am likely going to replace the motor with a fresh big valve motor from Way or Jan, along with a header. While it's out, I'll have a new clutch put in since the factory clutch/FW has the Chewbacca howl.

Before I blew the motor, I had already planned on putting in Koni FSDs and a rear sway bar this summer.

So the beast I'm envisioning is sort of a GT makeover: Big Valve motor putting 230-250 HP to the wheels. Koni FSD for a smoother ride over the bumps, and a Valeo clutch to make the shifting more like a Honda and less like a MOPAR from the 70's.

I *think* this would make a really nice ride, but I'm looking for feedback positive or negative. I don't think the FSD's will make it too soft or squirmy, but i'm not sure if the Valeo will hold up to the additional power.

Has anybody else put together a beast like this, and if so how did you like it? Or does it sound like sacrilege and I need my head examined?

 

sorry to hear about you motor, I can only give you my opinion on the FSD's, I just had mine installed by a couple of NAM friends and myself, it took 2 weekends and 2 friends, rear were first and the fronts went on Saturday, I didn't have a sway bar but that's next.
My originals were shot at the rear and not so bad at the front. So far I'm very happy with them I have the optional Sport + factory suspension springs + Continental DSW and the ride is much much comfortable, you do loose a bit of the Go cart feel but not by much I think that a bigger Swaybar will fix that. I woun't say that the FSD's are night and day but they are far better than the stocks I'm very happy. I'm also thinking about the Valeo kit since my TOB is making all kinds of noises but I'm not going anywhere near the HP that you are getting. Good luck

 

just got the Valeo done. All I can say is go for it. For a daily driver it feels perfect.

 

to my original post and minibx's comment, I actually think the FSD are indeed night and day compared to the stock struts. my car now handles road imperfections gracefully instead of bone jarringly, and yes, combined with the rear sway bar, it has dramatically improved turn-in and stability through the curves.

my only misstep so far, from the GT goal, is the exhaust noise. the RMW shorty header is loud, even with the stock JCW catback. Other than pipe size and configuration (it's 4:1 equal length) the other main difference is a larger cat but no pre-cat. Not loud like an open pipe NASCAR, but loud and rumbly enough at idle to make heads turn, and it moans LOUDLY at WOT. It also feels very open, almost too much, like an exhaust leak. I'm sure a little more backpressure would not be a terrible thing.

I'm going to live with it for a few weeks to see if it grows on me, but I think about Michael Cooper's comments about exhaust sound, and think this is the one area where I stepped backwards. Doing some initial research on adding an additional resonator, and reading some interesting info on Porsche forums about tuned branch resonators, but not sure if there is room under the chassis for something like that here.

Wondering if this wheel has already been invented? Has anybody else added a performance header then found a solution to dialing the sound back some, short of going back to the stock header?