V70 Power Increase

[Viffer]

HI All,

ok I have a P reg V70 T5 and I am starting to think about an upgrade to get some more power. My old 850 T5 I suspect had been played with as it pulled very hard at all speeds so maybe its time to investigate.

So everyone please can you offer some advice?

Essentially I have been told that by "chipping" I would get better fuel economy (most excellent) and the grin induceing burst of power when I accelerate up to speed or when overtakeing which sounds good to me. I have done some searching on this site but think maybe its best for me to just ask like many others have done as I am getting a bit confused.

What is the best way to get more acceleration (not interested in top speed)? I have seen superchips and rica ing?? What do both involve? and what sort of costs?

Given the above whats the best recomendation to get the best simple day to day maximum power upgrade? (without going into new cams, exhaust systems etc)

Also being based in Hampshire if I have to go to a centre does anyone have a recomendation?

As for fuel is it essentail to use superunleaded? I dont as normal as apart from Optimax I don't notice any change in performance at all and with the slight increase with Optimax I cant honestly say I find it value for money, plus with the miles I do the fuel bill is huge as it is without adding a good chunk extra.

Lastly how much as a rule would you say the insurance premium should change in your experience?

Phew and deep breath.

Thanks for any assistance!

Viffer.

[Baj]

We were having the RICA fuel consuption debate on Sunday. Some say it does, some say no change. I wouldnt get it just for economy (besides any gained would be lost with booting it everywhere) :)

I dont put fancy petrol in either. It is expensive enough as it is. I have had no problems and it seems to pull fine. Others may argue mythical additives and sale hyperbole.

Insurance depends on who you are with and whatthe policy is. If it is a modded car policy you can often get quite large power mods before they start complaining. Call them first. If they have a hissy fit contact specialists such as Adrian Flux.

[adriancole]

There is that BSR-ppc thingy that lets you choose what settings to download into your car........you can store three different states of tune in the module, though there are more available to get online.....you could have one say for economy, one for sprinting and one for torque, just attach to the obd port, press go and it saves your current settings and inputs the new one. Great thing is you can do this as often as you like.....am thinking of this one myself at the moment after seeing a demo.....seems very flexible......

http://www.bsruk.co.uk/

adrian

[Baj]

That site gave me no answers, only questions

[Mrsmopp]

Remap is the way to go IMO - there isn't much in it between the the top/most recognised Tuners ie RICA TME etc. What I would suggest tho is to get the map installed by people who know what they are doing and thoroughly check your car over BEFORE and AFTER making any changes. If your car has a faulty BCS for instance it may not show up as an issue before the map - afterwards however it could mean the difference between bending a rod and keeping your car on the road. There are many factors that can affect the remap/chip so having the car in as good a condition as it can possibly be before hand is a must!

Fuel economy - you may not get better but it wont get any worse (as a general rule)

Its not essential to use super unleaded but I know for a fact that optimax delivers the extra performance that it says on the tin. My personal view is that I want the very best out of my cars and to get the very best out of them I have to put the best I can offer into them.

If you get a remap up to about 280bhp then your standard 95ron is fine tho.

x

[lance]

Ditto

Theres good gains to be had replacing the standard 850r-V70 16t with a later V70RAWD 19T and a custom tune if your turbos showing a bit of wear or you want even more power.
I can honestly say my car is doing 90 BHP more than stock and 120+NM of extrs Gs and returning 1 mpg more and thats mainly around city with 1 or 2 high speed A/B road trips,.
I havent done a sedate family 200+ mile trip for a while but I reckon I would easy see 35mpg + if I kept to 70-80ish.

The old 850is 15g do have a good low down kick compared to the 70s 16t but all things equal the 70s feels faster at the top end,but a remap will give good results to either car.

In terms of fuel, optimax gives a few more miles for the £3.60 per fll up so its worth it for the extra power, I recon it takes a little while to adjust but well worth it as almost
free budget performance mod in its own right.

Volvo does quote max performance on 98ron and I would say thats perhaps 5 mph less top speed and lower acceleation and economy on 95 Ron.!