High Mileage!

[Ivan]

Hi Guys,

I'm a new addition to the site! I've had a 850 T5 Saloon for about 5 years now and love it.

It's completely standard but I've always wondered about making a few changes :sinner:

Problem is...I've got 176K+ on the clock. I think the car is in good condition though, it's been well serviced, FVSH until this last year when I started taking it to an Independant Volvo specialist.

Has anyone else got a well travelled motor? and how far?
More importantly is it worth getting some modifications done at this mileage?
...I'm very very tempted!

[Pedro Fandango]

welcome to the forum, thats not considered a high mileage for these cars (there is a list somewhere with comparing peoples mileage)

[lance]

:welcome:
Take her into Volvotuning they will give your car a good going over to check everything is in good enough nick to give upgrade.
+ they have some great offers for us members on here!
176k is a walk if they are looked after!

[Justin]

Hi mate, mine has 177500 and running 300bhp through a rica remap and ITG filter.

No probelms at all, there are some easy ways to check how worn the engine is but the biggest issue will be the turbo charger, life expectancy for one is 150k max, so you will be down on power through that alone, i had mine changed by volvotuning last year.

When starting from cold does the car send blue smoke out the back? does the oil light go out instantly ?

If the answer to either of these is yes then your engine is worn, well worn, but to be honest there is no real way of telling, except plugging a rica ecu in for instance and seeing how the car performs, ie, holds 1.2 bar in my car but yours will only pull 1 bar, you are down on power.....see easy really :)

What year is your car and where are you ?

;)

[Ivan]

Hi, thanks for the responses,

there's no blue smoke, just white wisps when it's cold. Oil light takes it time to go out too. The car is 1995, and I'm down in Southampton.

Are Volvotuning somewhere near Birmingham? That's a long way to travel. Are there any places that would upgrade nearer to Southampton? - or are they worth the travel?!

Just a couple of random questions...what's front tyre wear like after an upgrade!? I seem to eat tyres as it is!

...and reading some of the threads I keep hearing "water-injection" or "aqua-mist" - how the heck does shoving water in the engine make it go quicker!? Unless I'm misunderstanding it seems rather novel! (and no I'm not particulary technical, I just know the basics).

cheers.

[Justin]

Tyre wear is about the same depending how you drive it....if your oil light doesnt go out immediately then there is a sure sign of bore wear etc, be careful.

VT are in Bromsgrove near brum yes, but they are worth the visit, i jest you not!

As for the aqua mist, its not fed into the engine it sprays a fine mist of water over the front of the intercooler to keep intake temps down.

Cheers

[Pedro Fandango]

As for the aqua mist, its not fed into the engine it sprays a fine mist of water over the front of the intercooler to keep intake temps down.
the genuine Aquamist WI does actually spray water into the air intake mate

[Ivan]

Ah, that clears up the aqua-mist then, cheers. I re-checked with the oil light, it's actually the ABS light that stays on a little longer on ignition - I hope that's normal?

I also had a look at Volvotuning website, the things I would have done if I could afford them!! :0)
I notice they were offering a performance package, chip, filter and cat-back exhaust, has anyone had this done? is it worth the re-mortgage :-)) :-)) !!

and how badly can this sort of thing affect insurance?

[Justin]

The package is fantastic value for money mate, in my opinion, the products are all tried and tested, your insurance dont know if you dont tell them, the exhaust cant be called a mod if you had it due to the old one being replaced, and the stainless steel was cheaper than a new one from volvo.

Rica is totally undetectable, even by volvo themselves, that has been proven ;)

[Adge]

Welcome! It's good to have another member in the vicinity!

[Murphy]

Hello and welcome.

The other advantage of traveling to get to VT is you can stay at Nat's parents B&B - which is stunning!!!!!!!

[T-5ones]

Hi and welcome!

[Redbrick]

Holy thread resurection, Batman...

Thought Pedro had returned for a minute!

[abdul]

welcome to the forum

[T5SLAVE]

Welcome along Ivan.

Best o luck with the mods:B_steerin

Mark.

[jimka]

Hi Ivan, i'm currently jumping to and from the Isle of Wight and Southampton. I recently puchased a t5 with 171k on the clock and it seems great on power, although when cold she does smoke blue!

A "southern fairy" visit from us lot down south to brum may be on the cards if we all decided on a Rica - i'm saving already!

Hope to see you around Soton, and welcome to the site.

[petrolhead]

Hi Ivan,
Welcome to the club. Just had RICA304 on mine at 172K FVSH....I cchange my oil and filter every 4-5K fully synth. It is a completely different engine after the RICA tune. Bags of torque from 2500 rpm....mines an auto and it now performs better in econ mode than it previous did in sport....It just doesn't need to kick down anymore to find power......just need to be much more careful with throttle e.g. straight wet road, 60mph gave it about half throttle and.....lots of wheelspin.....loads of fun however and very controlable, fuel economy has also gone up!! averaged 35mpg coming back from VT (On motorway, but lots of traffic and stop-start). Johnny d 850r had his done at same time as me and his has over 200K on clock....Adam at VT couldn't believe how well his pulled....just kept going.....bottom line is mileage alone is not a problem.
regards
roger

[jimka]

A question i've been wondering about RICA is the 0-60mph aspect - i hear lots of people say its hard to throw all that power down; so what kind of times do people get? auto and manual?

[arbee]

how old is this thread!

[petrolhead]

Its not a problem with RICA.....its just big power/torque (particlarly low-down in the rev range couple with front wheel drive....accelerate hard...weight transfer to rear wheels....front end pops up...ooops too much torque coming in too quickly...spinning wheels. Lower suspension and uprated springs would help...along with a LSD....from my chats with other T5 owners i think the autos are probably more difficult to control the wheelspin on. I would still have thought I could manage around 6 seconds on a dry road.

Regards
Roger