I am restoring my 73' with a 1.7, the last time I drove it ( i only drove it twice) before pulling the motor to begin rust-o-ration it seemed fine power wise, but then again, I was just so happy to be driving it I was proabaly delusional. I don't care if the car is seriously fast, I just don't want a dog. Opinions? especially from current 1.7 owners? Thanks for the input.

Warren, it's all rleative. the 1.7 is faster than a 1300cc bug. and slower than a 5.7L corvette. yes it can be faster, just depends on the size of your wallet.

Robin

They are fine until you try to keep up with your friend in a 2.0

A well tuned 1.7 is fine.

I've got a 1.7. It's the first 914 I've owned and it was a long time working on it before it ran. In that time, I prepared myself for a complete slug, but I was pleasently suprised. It's got pretty decent torque and excelleration. However, it's still a 36 year old four banger. It starts to lose it's steam at speed where you start hitting some wind resistance. Still though, like Robin said, it's all reletive. It's not a rocket, but it'll jump out into traffic without any problem. Remember how light the thing is. My two cents.
Mark D.

Get it on the road first. Unless you already need to rebuild the motor, make it a driver, and decide for yourself. You can always upgrade later.
BTW, I have a 1.7 with hydraulic lifters in my 72, and it gets along well enough. There IS a 2.0 in my future tho.

I drove Derek Kim's 73 1.7L and thought it had pretty good power.

12 sec 0-60..

A toyota echo, honda hybrid.. ext are faster..

I think the new (2000+) minivans are quicker as well.

so... IMHO slower than dirt. but this is all in a straight line. It has a good powerband for tight autox courses, It'll give you speeding tickets if you so want it..

BUT.. drive it, take it on an autox.. and decide if its enough.. THEN get a ride in a hot 2L or 6 or subaru or v8 or rotary or turbo 1.7/2.0 or whatever you can get a ride it.. Find out what you like. Figure out a budget, and we'll help you decide what can fit your budget and what cant.


Andrew.
my 50rwhp 2.0 wasnt enough for me. look below for MY answer.

I like my 1.7. It's no dog, but its not real fast either. If you're up in the 4-5k rpm powerband, keeping the speed through turns, and not trying to drag race the 1.7 is plenty fun. I've been in several warmed up 2.0s at a local AX and then my 1.7 seemed wimpy. I guess you have to ask yourself if you are satisfied to be back on the road soon for fun driving or wanting to wait longer, spend more, and have an engine that is more "competitive". It really just depends on what you want.

Biggest difference I noticed when I got a 2.0 was the amount of available torque coming out of a turn. You can have a lot of fun with a 1.7, but if you drive or ride in a teener with more poop......you'll want more poop.

I have driven Joe's for a little bit on the street and I have had the chance to ride with him on track and out on the street. It is a hoot. My 1.7L is pretty fun though! It's quick and by no means a dog. I can accelerate well and weave in and out of traffic with no problem. I can for sure run well and keep it out of trouble. I had it up very high on the interstate and it ran well. I would suggest running it and see what you want.

it might be stupid, but I have an extra 1.7 which I will be building up with the engineer at work. I was convinced to go with a 2.0, but he was all into VW's back in the day and is sure we can get a reliable 130hp out of the engine. I looking into his suggestions to see how realistic this is. The one thing I will give him is that I know a few people who rode in his old VW bug with a 1.6 that he did the full works too and they said it easily had th 120-130hp he thought it had (no dyno results though). A 2.0 would be nice, but there is something about keeping the original size engine for my car that entices me...

I can get into plenty of trouble with my 1.7. A bigger motor would make trouble that much easier to get into too.

That said, I plan to get a bigger motor too BUT I upgraded the brake master, added braided brake lines, added a tarret front anti-roll bar and 140# rear springs. A 5 lug upgrade for the bigger front brakes is in the works too.

I would not just add speed without adding safety first.

excellent point Kapt. While building the engine, I too will be making upgrades to handle the power

The 1.7 came in two main versions in the USA, the early high compression, and later low compression. The high comnpression motor was in my original car, had no problem out drivng an origianl six 914 on a windy road, he'd pull ahead onthe straights, i cacth him in every corner. My 1.7 I ran aginast many friends 2.0 (4 banger) and found I was a bit better off the line. I ran stock FI.

if your motor runs good, spend the money on suspension upgrades, With the right up grades (fat front sway bar, no rear bar, 50 series sticky tires (AVS is good) 140 lbs springs, lowered spring, turbo tie rods, and adjust front torsion bars, then a four wheel alignment with tront tires balanced the car. I woudl blow away new corvettes onthe twisty roads. Ton of fun, and 30 mpg (better milage than my 2.0, which only got 25 mpg)

Have fun!!!!

PS if you upgrade to a stock 2.0 liter, you need the corect engine tin, and FI system, including intake runners, they are different, and not readily interchangable. Thus if you buy a 2.0, get the conplete thing. (that is if you want a stock system)

A good running stock motor is hard to beat. If your 1.7 runs really good, then use it. I daily drove mine in phoenix for 3/4 of a year. Not too many curvy roads around here. I agree don't try to keep up with a 2.0. That said, one part of my drive is a freeway to freeway ramp that is about 280 degrees (West hwy 60 to south 101 in AZ) which is about a 25mph corner. Sloww way down for the people who think they are fast, com in hard in 3rd gear and pull around about 70 mph, if you time it right you wont run up on other cars. Anyhow, suspension makes up for engine limits. If it runs good, fuck it- drivability is king.

Cool, thanks for all the input guys. my motor was running fine when I pulled it, so I will clean it up and just put it back in when I get that far along. I know everyone has their own tastes- and even though I am not a wine and cheeser, I want the car as original as is practical so the 1.7 will stay. I have owned much faster cars. I really am building this one just to enjoy driving around.

i ran my stock 1.7 in several races until i got my other motors. the 1.7 ran and ran, i didn't even have any gauges accept for a tach!

click on my car in the shed and a video from a race with the 1.7 will start. the car is still a lot of fun with 80hp.

http://www.synthesisdv.com/vg/

my car has had both versions of the 1.7 in there, it was worlds better and faster than my 2.0L engine with a dropped seat.

the 1.7 is rumored to be very tough, long lasting. I have had two 1.7 cars and they both put many smiles on my face. I got more out of suspension improvenets than a 2.0 motor swap

these two cars were 1.7. I enjoyed many events and country driving with the 1.7. I did spend some money on new Bilsteins each time. my new 914 has Konis and a 2.0

here is yeller 1.7 at Fontana AX aftre Bilstien install. when my car was still a dream on jack stands, club members inspired me to step away from teh keyboard with their pics of succsess. now i get to share mine partly to brag but mostly with the hopes that you too will feel inspired by the collective of 914 club. A WELL SORTED 1.7 IS A BLAST TO DRIVE!

...even with truck tires on it...