Volkswagen EOS Tuning

"EOS Mods and Upgrades as Easy as 123"

As a premium open top 2+2 coupe the EOS appeals to those wanting a sporty and rewarding ride. We look at EOS tuning and report on the best modifications.

The Golf and Passat share many components and design cues with the EOS and this ensures a good supply of performance mods and upgrades.

Starting at 113bhp, the range went up to 247bhp with a 3.2 V6. The 2.0 FSI, 2.0 TDI (regular or sport), and 2.0T-FSI (200bhp) were all offered in the middle (in sport trim only).

In addition to the 1.4-liter turbocharged engine, the new lineup includes the 160 horsepower version with a supercharger, the 2.0-liter turbodiesel with 140 horsepower, and an updated version of the 2.0-liter turbo engine (now simply referred to as the TSI) with 208 horsepower.

The 1.4-liter TSI engine in the Eos is just as polished as it's always been. When the twin-charger engine kicks in, it puts out 160 horsepower putting it on par with most hard-top competitors and doing it in style.

The best engines for the EOS in my opinion are the 3.2 V6 the 2.0 TDi and the 1.4 TSI twincharger. If you are planning to modify it then the 2.0TSi is probably the best of the range and offers quite a lot of upgrade potential.

Please watch our video introduction to VW Tuning.

Volkswagen EOS are popular cars and with a few sensible performance modifications you can greatly increase your driving enjoyment.

The EOS is a great project car if you want a track day car, and our members have some interesting projects underway in our forums.

Tuning tips and articles

Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

EOS Tuning modifications.

Please watch our video which covers the 5 principles of tuning your EOS. Be sure to keep up with our latest YouTube content and subscribe.

Best mods for your EOS

  1. Engine Tunes - EOS engine tuning/remapping provides the biggest gains compared to cost, aftermarket ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
  2. Fast road cams are generally the biggest mechanical mod upgrade, but they must be setup by someone who knows what they are doing and they are not always easy to source but you might find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft.
  3. Intake and Performance Exhausts - NB: on their own these mods won't ADD POWER in most cases, but they can help enhance power after other mods by removing the restriction.
  4. EOS Handling Mods (suspension) - Replacing worn bushings and shocks radically improves your EOS handling Adjustable coilovers and better bushings are what is needed here.
  5. Braking Mods - Improve your ability to stop should be high on your agenda.
  6. Forced induction upgrades - A New Turbo is the most efficient approach to increase air supply, allowing you to burn more fuel and make more power. Typically one of the most costly upgrades it does provide the largest gains.
  7. Flowing and porting the engine head - for larger gains, you will get better flow and make a more efficient engine if you do this to support your other mods.

EOS Tuning Stages

Typical stage 1 mods often include: Alloy wheels, Remap, Lighter flywheel, Panel air filter, Sports exhaust, Suspension upgrade (drop ).

Typical stage 2 mods often include: Power/Sport clutch, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injector, Ported and polished head, Fast road cam.

Typical stage 3 mods often include: Sports gearbox, Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Engine balancing.

EOS Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for lots of DIY modders is the first priority in an EOS tuning project.

Drop the car optimally somewhere in the region of 27 - 38 and fit modified stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.

Adjusting the handling is often the first step in using the EOS.Adjusting the EOS's handling is often the first step in modding it.

One of the most popular reasons for tweaking your EOS suspension is to better its handling. In spite of this, we repeatedly witness the same mistakes over and over again.

What considerations must you make when setting up and selecting your suspension if your EOS serves as a daily car as well?

Uprated Bushes

What factors should you consider when setting up and selecting your suspension if your EOS is also used as a daily driver?

Bushes, which are rubber mounts that connect the suspension to the chassis, and allow the EOS's suspension components to be connected and rotated as the road undulates beneath the car. The rubber ones will degrade with time and will need replacing.

New OEM rubber bushings may have a major impact on the performance of your vehicle especially if your old ones are shot. You could upgrade to poly bushes.

Because the polyurethane bushes are firmer, the ride may be a bit more harsh, but they will last longer and maintain the handling for a longer period compared to rubber ones.

They may also hasten the depreciation of other suspension components due to the increased vibration and play so there is a downside if you choose a hard poly bush.

With a new set of poly bushes, the excessive play associated with rubber bushes may be eliminated.

Unlike current model cars, which often come with a complete set of suspension bushes, rare and older models may only have polyurethane main bushes available for some suspension mounting points, usually the primary or larger points.

Often, custom EOS bushes may be manufactured to your requirements if you need a tailor made set.

A common misconception is that a non-adjustable suspension system that lowers the vehicle by 30mm from a franchised component shop is the best option.

Any and all EOS model years may be able to utilise the suspension kits sold by vendors.

To adequately support a diverse variety of vehicles, the "one-size-fits-all"approach is obviously a mistake as engine weights and equipment trim levels all affect the cars handling characteristics.

How low should you go on the EOS?

When it comes to road vehicles, the maximum suspension drop is 27 - 38 mm, but when it comes to versions that come with lowered suspension already, the maximum suspension drop is 22 mm, according to TorqueCars.

These tolerances may be drastically lowered if the wheel size is changed. Even with 16 or 17-inch wheels and conventional suspension, lowering the vehicle may create a slew of issues.

Because the EOS is lower, less air travels under it, which may aid in stability; nonetheless, the main goal should always be to enhance handling. It is critical to use the proper shocks when employing lower springs buying matched components as a kit.

Setting a small amount of negative camber at the front and around 1 to 1.7 degrees of toe (in for better stability or out to improve cornering), will usually improve your EOS in handling and cornering.

For radically improved braking fit better high performance brake pads and match this with larger brake discs.

Note that race brake pads can be noisier and will have to be hot before they bite.

On your regular commute to work the brakes are occasionally used and won't be all that effective so source friction pads which don't need to be really hot.

Lowering the car needs to be subtly done due to the terrible road surfaces we have to contend with - a lowering figure of around 30mm should suffice.

We shall now turn our focus to the EOS engine. If you want to get a little more power out of the top end we need to choose our mods carefully.

Spending a little money on the engine and handling will transform your EOS nto a very credible performer.

The biggest power gains usually come from larger engine sizes and turbocharged cars. It is a general rule that the more power you start with the greater the return on investment. Do an engine swap for a good value mod if you have a lower powered EOS - most VW group engines will pretty much drop in to the engine bay. The V5 and 2.0 TFSi engines are great options here and can both be massively tuned up. 

Volkswagen EOS Tuning modifications.

Bear in mind the mantra that you want to keep as much low end power as you can and aim for a wide power band rather than a narrow top end power spike. Don't get misled by performance part manufacturers claims of big peak power gains, they don't tell the whole story, it is the torque or power band you need to focus your attention on.

Engine swaps are quite popular mods for this model, here are engine guides to all the VAG engines we've covered.

On the Turbocharged EOS engines you should really look as a minimum at doing a remap which should yield gains in the order of 30-40%. Swapping to a bigger turbo or hybrid turbo can push the power gains to over 70%, although we would suggest stronger internals are fitted to cope with power at these higher levels.

Fast road cams can really transform an engine and in most engines you make pretty good power gains but don't go too mad with the cam profile or it will be undrivable in heavy traffic.

If your car is making more power then it will need more air and fuel so fuelling upgrades are important mods if you are serious about power. For fuelling upgrades you will generally need a set of uprated injectors and a higher capacity fuel pump.

Volkswagen EOS intake and exhaust modifications.

Before you begin engine modifications, you must first correct the breathing and eliminate any obstructions in the system that may be impeding air flow.

You need to open up the airflow into the engine as much as possible, and the air filter is usually the bottleneck on most engines, so installing a cotton panel air filter will help. When it comes to exhaust, the flow rate is everything.

Bigger exhausts do not usually flow better, so don't run out and purchase the largest pipe you can find!

See our article on performance exhausts for details of the issue around large bore exhausts and how to choose the right size for your engine.

Getting the head ported and polished will further help more air into each cylinder. This is definitely a job for a professional with a flow bench. When you start tuning your EOS you may well discover that your OEM clutch starts to complain so get a performance clutch.

NA (naturally aspirated) engines do not achieve big power gains if you tune/remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A tuned/remapped turbo will give phenomenal power gains and take full advantage of the strength of the block.

Adding forced induction will see big power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. Turbos are harder to add than supercharger. It is harder to map a turbo as the boost comes on exponentially with engine speed.

The nice steady boost to rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them easier to map. Adding forced induction will usually require a lower compression ratio or water injection.

Volkswagen EOS Wheel modifications.

Because alloy wheels are lighter they improve performance and they help to cool the brake discs. Large EOS alloy wheels can decrease performance.

If you get big alloy wheels you will be changing your final drive ratio. Aim to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the same as supplied from the factory. In all cases we do not recommend going above 17 or 18 inches.

If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your car please join us in our car forums where you can discuss EOS options in more detail with our EOS owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Volkswagen tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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