Upgrading 850

[johntheace]

Simple questions really..i dont want to spend thousands on a car that isnt worth it, so in your opinion what is the best upgrade you have had done, how much was it, and was it worth it ?

[dannt5]

My best couple of upgrades ive got are a strut brace & big brakes,wilwood 4pot radial calipers with 330mm disks,worth every penny in my opinion.There are lots of other things ive done over time but these are the two id start with if you wanted to be able to use any power upgrades later on.

[Mrsmopp]

Strut brace (approx 75 quid) and a remap (approx 300 quid) Job done :D

x

[stephenevans99]

A simple service £100 and a remap £300ish.....I'm still smiling !!

[Ed.]

The best overall upgrade for me was my hids. They were actually a present to me so free, but i think they were bought through ebay for less than £50 delivered. They work really well and i definitely won't go back to halogen bulbs now. Plus everyone gets out of the way when you are barrelling down the outside lane of the motorway.

Ed

[Jod T5]

I totally agree with the strutt brace....£70 ish
Do you know if your car is chipped or remapped...
A manual boost controller and boost gauge is also a good cheap mod, tho be careful not to get too carried away.....A AFR meter would be cool too....£30, £30 and £however much
Poly top mount should add some cabin noise....£30 http://www.partsforvolvosonline.com/product_info.php?products_id=2311
You will not be able to increase your disc size from the stock 280's if you are running columba alloys ;) but installing a set of DS2500 pads should show an improvement....£75
Cheers
Jod

[abdul]

get a remap what a difference

[Shortbusdriver1969]

Why are re-maps so da, expensive ? I guess its all done on a PC or lap top,
so there is no spanner turning ?

[Jod T5]

Why are re-maps so da, expensive ? I guess its all done on a PC or lap top,
so there is no spanner turning ?
A MTE remap will cost less than £300 and is a great base for a custom remap following turbo, zorst and injector changes....
Cheers
Jod

[Mrsmopp]

Personally I think we're very lucky with remaps - 300 quid for about 50hp is pretty good value when you consider some of the other marques are paying 500 to get around 20 extra horses :)

x

[Major Frank Squiff]

I fitted a poly top engine mounting bush which not only made the engine stop moving around it makes the engine noise in the cabin sound more purposeful! The other thing I did was fit a strutbrace which has improved the ride and handling immensely. The cheapest thing was replacing the throttle housing gasket and a bit of silicone pipe which means not only is it idling correctly it now boosts properly and goes extremely fast!

[Jod T5]

With regard to the cabin noise PFV do provide 2 top mounts for the 850..., this one makes the cabin noise... http://www.partsforvolvosonline.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_546_385_387&products_id=2288 ..this one does not.... http://www.partsforvolvosonline.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_546_385_387&products_id=3806
Having tried both i would only ever recomend the first....
Cheers
Jod

[Shortbusdriver1969]

I fitted the poly top mount, but Oh Boy what a job it was, I tried to fit it by hand and damaged my wrist took a few weeks to get back to normall, I had to take it to a friends workshop where he used a machine press to get the polly in place.
but its well worth it as the top mount is a common MOTc fail on them

[Jod T5]

I fitted the poly top mount, but Oh Boy what a job it was, I tried to fit it by hand and damaged my wrist took a few weeks to get back to normall, I had to take it to a friends workshop where he used a machine press to get the polly in place.
but its well worth it as the top mount is a common MOTc fail on them

Sorry but i had to laugh :haha:.... the top mounts are renown for being "slipery little suckers" who i admit keep coming out of the mount frame when pressure is released....To any one contemplating this mod, i would recomend you have a G clamp handy....!!
Quite how you managed to hurt your wrist so badly i have no idea....
Cheers
Jod

[johntheace]

To tell the truth i am in 2 minds whether to just go and buy a 'R' model and spend some money on that.. i wouldnt mind just buying a car that has already been done..i look on hear regular and of course flee bay but holy moly there are some bags of poo for sale on ebay

[gtiteen]

as most people say:
strut brace
service
remap
ds2500

job done. Thatll total about £500 and you could have circa 280-300bhp and a better driving car. If you then decide to go further could do suspension, downpipe, turbo etc but starts getting more expensive. That list will give you alot of bang for bucks

[PNuT]

as most people say:
strut brace
service
remap
ds2500

job done. Thatll total about £500 and you could have circa 280-300bhp and a better driving car. If you then decide to go further could do suspension, downpipe, turbo etc but starts getting more expensive. That list will give you alot of bang for bucks

to be honest a service is really only the start of it.... leads/plugs/cap/arm/fuel filter/vacuum hoses ect are all ideally done before banging a remap on...... it certainly starts to add up!!

[Jod T5]

you could have circa 280-300bhp
Just a point of note with regard to possable bhp expectations on the last rolling road session i went on two of the rica'd 850's made just shy and just over the 260 mark, a MTE 850 259 and a Rica'd 850r with refurbished (stock) turbo 270....
Whilst i have no doubt these engines are caperble of handling over 300 bhp a stage 1 remap, (Mte in particular is a good starting block)...will not get you any more than the figures i have indicated.....
Cheers
Jod

[Jod T5]

to be honest a service is really only the start of it.... leads/plugs/cap/arm/fuel filter/vacuum hoses ect are all ideally done before banging a remap on...... it certainly starts to add up!!
Details on a Stage 0 tune up....
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=46787
As you can see there is a lot of work involved....
Cheers
jod