We have used GB 190-191 VW rods successfully in street applications with over 150 HP and in 200 HP race applications on 78mm stroke cranks without failures. Our tests on any stroke of 82mm or more increased failures to an unacceptable amount due to the increased rod angle and the extra 2mm of clearance required. These changes weakened and over-stressed the rods, causing an extremely high failure rate, often in as little as 10,000 street miles. That is the reason I do not offer any VW journal crankshaft over 78mm. For street applications I have run our properly clearanced rods with strokers through 78mm VW rod journals up to 7500 RPM regularly for over 180,000 miles with absolutely no problem. Race cars running 7500-9500 RPM using these rods should have the big end checked after 25 to 30 1/4 mile runs. What I did was to make about 25 runs and rebuild the rods. After another 25 runs replaced them with a fresh set. Naturally, with Carrillo rods available, I recommend them for all such extreme high performance engine applications. |