#shorts #humblemechanic More about the w8 engine W8 Passat Engine Teardown and Inspection ~ TINY V8 • W8 Passat Engine Teard... VWs w8 engine is 1/2 of the w16. It’s similar in design to the w12, and shares a lot with the famous VR6!
Can confirm. I had a 2003 W8 wagon (auto😢) and that shit was in the shop every 2 months. After 2 years of ownership, it cost me close to $5500 in shop work. HOWEVER, when that car ran, it was suuuuuper smooth. I miss that car dearly but you’d have to be a millionaire to keep it road worthy. Edit: I never had any engine issues other than a seeping output shaft seal. The electrical in the car is what got me. ABS module rebuild, it ate headlight bulbs, sensors galore….even the thermostat (and housing) cost $420 for the part which shipped direct from Germany. That was an expensive car to keep on the road.
What are you talking about? I've been working honest engines for over 23 years never had to take apart a w8 for any major repair I wouldn't want to own one or even service it especially for free but they were just as reliable as most other eight cylinders out there over-engineered and they suck to service but not bad engines
I used to own a Passat W8 Wagon 6-speed. Car was such a tank. Did everything well, even draining my wallet on repairs. One of my favorite cars I've ever owned, but I wish it had more HP.
Check the inlet manifold, they will be the opposite in length to compensate, the tune on intake is very important, the exhaust is the same. The manifolds equalize the compromise of design. The Bugatti w16 is the same. The tune for 1500 hp out of an 8 litre is very fine. All the pieces to the puzzle fit together, it is more than the average bear can understand. The w engines are quite rough in standard cars, but balancing is the key. Look closer and cc the runners - intake + head, then head + exhaust. The 8 intake will be within a cc or two, same with the exhaust side. That w8 could be put together (blue printed) well and surprise the v engine stalwarts.
In the interest of fairness, 1500hp out of a V8 of similar displacement is nowhere near unheard of. 454 large blocks & 426 Hemis have achieved similar numbers. It's still not *easy* to achieve that much power and make it run good, but it's also not new territory.
@@TheAttacker732 The thing is the Bugatti w16 has that 1500hp on tap for longer than a quarter mile. The difference in driving experience between a roided up big block and the w16 isn't really even comparable.
Intake manifold had different length runners to compensate, so in the end it was neutralized...exhaust was a different story, and that's where the sound of VR/W engines comes from.
@@shawnwimberly9294 In German if a word starts with the letter S and the second letter is a T or a P, then the S naturally makes a "sh" sound, so no need for the SCH spelling.
@@Back_door_bandit_98 It's a failed view that an uncommon design must be a failed design. One important fact for engines is that the world is very conservative which means a new design needs to be *significantly* better or cheaper for people to want to switch.
Ya want one, until ya have one! It was a doomed design from the start...just look up w8 timing failure The w8 was just a test bed for the w12 Bentley & w16 bugatti
They sound interesting, but are not that powerful. You’d be better off with an old Audi belt driven 4.2 v8 and put up with all its issues ( the engine is quite solid but all the ancillary systems can be iffy ) typical VW group stuff tbh - that’s why I gave up of euro cars and I’m sticking with certain Japanese . I don’t want to be repairing my car constantly regardless how cool it is 😆
I had one. You dont want it, trust me. If something breaks theres a couple workshops that will want to mess around with it and fix it, even where I live on ( europe ). Also, its not that cool, made only about 270-280hp stock and unless you live on US where you can basically do whatever u want with the car, you can't get a lot more power from it on here, despite CAI and few more little things. Switched to a C5 S6, has same fuel consumption, makes about 50hp more and you can find parts almost everywhere. TLDR; Having a W8 is like having one of those VR6 ( wich I also had on a Vento ). It's all throwing money constantly at the car, just to not getting anything fixed and having to tow it 2 times a month to a workshop, just to repeat again for the whole life of the car.
@@Ruby_OG nice information friend, thank you! I'm from Brazil and never had seen this engine here but we also have some problematic setups here, which I also had a car that made too much problems for too less use. The best option is selling for who wants to be a mechanic and buy something that actually works and doesn't become a money eating machine. Reading this made me remember my big beach buggy that had flames on the exhaust. Pretty beautiful, nice noise and kinda fun, but never worked properly and usually got broke 2 or 3 times a month. It was 2 moments of happiness: the day we bought and made our first memories on in and the day that someone wanted to buy it haha Best regards!
That's an easier and more accurate way of explaining the configuration. If you understand what the VR configuration you can easily understand the W configuration.
Hands down one of the coolest cars ever produced. The fact that you could get a small displacement 8cyl with more than 300HP, manual and AWD in an unassuming wagon was legendary. And the fact that 8cyl sounded like chewbacca on heroin was even more awesome
Got a w8 with 141k, blue spirit wagon, for $850 to have fun with till it dies (have 2 other B5.5s) got a spare GAK transmission I'm gonna swap in as the current one flares from 2-3. No CELs after 1k miles of driving aside from a vacuum leak. Gotta do valve covers and give it the ol' "shock treatment".
I'm a sophomore in high school and we have one of these in our auto shop that I'm in. It's really awkward, but also pretty cool. Though I find that the further I tear it apart, the more I realize why nobody likes these engines.
Originally VW named the origin of this engines the VR6, VR5, VR4, etc. Because of the V in-line design of the block, then soon they started to do the W family of engines by putting together two VR engines in a single crankshaft. Saludos!
Had a customer with the 6.0 W12 in a Phaeton. It only took him 2 years and countless thousands of dollars to realize that the car and the powertrain were complete junk. Like so many others he moved on to good cars instead of nice cars.....
Get a Benz if you want a nice car that'll last a while, they have their issues but the motors and transmissions are generally well built and make sense how they're put together if you're experienced with them (not an AMG)
@@tati-anaroseee4316 After 28 years working at an independent shop specializing in German cars with Certs from most of the German mfg's...... The only Euro Car built that's still worth buying (in my opinion) is Porsche. The rest of that junk is for lease only, since once it's out of Warranty you can't afford to keep it. Loved working on cars where every-other service ticket was accompanied by a repair ticket. Made semi retirement possible about 15 years early.
@@ron8975 idk I'm 18 and pretty broke and I can still afford both of the benzes I have without any problems 😂 it's actually the premium gas that eats my wallet more than anything. I daily drive both too. Granted they are a bit older but still modern technically
I had a black ‘03 W8 wagon. Only issue I ever had with it was the water cooled alternator failed around 98k. Other than that it was flawless for over 135k miles. It had Amsoil 5w30 full synth and man filters from the day I bought it with 6k miles on it. No one had ever sat in the back seat. I still regret letting my kid talk me into keeping our pos A4 convertible and trading it in for my wife’s 135i convertible.
seeing these makes me wish vw experimented even more and made a vr4 and even a w4, it would be so short and not very wide uber compact engine, maybe it doesnt make much practical sense but it sure would be unique
@@robemail2 per my previous comment it wasnt about being sensible, it was about uniqueness/coolness, a w4 would be shorter than a comparative inline 2 and would be narrower than a v4 , a vr4 would just be shorter than an inline 4 but also probably have some of that staggered/wookie sound like the vr/w engines , hell even a w6 would be interesting if i had the materials and the fabrication equipment i would make my own just for fun
Saw the head off a vr6 very long differences in intake and exhaust. Some pistons look clean, others covered in carbon depending on whether it has more exhaust or intake
I wonder how hot the runners get compared to one another. Exhaust side especially. I know the 1995 Civic D16Z6 or ZC from Japan. That motor runs HOT on the 4th cylinder. So much so that it caused piston failure on my motor 3 times after putting on a turbo. Was properly tuned and all the upgrades were done w fuel ignition coolant systems etc. But I pushed it and EVERY time the engine failed it was the 4th cylinder and when hit w a thermometer it was always WAY hotter. Even on the stock motor it ran hotter. Just didn't have the added stress of a turbo on it.
