Sluggish S60R?!

[Nick0]

Hello All,

I haven't been on here for ages, thankfully the car has been reliable!

One reservation I have had since getting the S60R was how quick it was off the mark (particularly compared to my old Saab 9-5 Aero). I read Clarkson's review and he said it didn't feel that quick so didn't worry about it.
However, during a recent drive to the south coast I had some fun with a diesel C350Cdi Merc and I could not quite shake it off in a straight line! I knew something was amiss and did a couple of 0-60 timed runs and it seems to be around 7 seconds, nowhere near the 5.5 book time!

The car is a factory standard S60R manual MY2006, has 51K on the clock, is serviced by Volvo every year (it hasn't had it's plugs changed in a while), has no messages and I only very rarely drive it hard, usually it's pootling around town trying to get the best mpg I can or cruising high speeds on motorways . Also, it uses a bit of oil between services, there is none on my drive (and no sign of leaks, it never smokes and there is no mayo in the water. It feels like the power is there, although my gear change is not the quickest and I am not that adept at it (I only tried the test twice!) so this could be the culprit.

So, my questions are; what basic things to check? what should I be suspicious of, or checking to make sure it should be giving me better performance? also could the ECU be conditioned to my laid back/economical driving so would a battery disconnect reset it?

Yours gratefully as always!
Nick0

[T5RatherAmusin]

Do a good stg0, new tcv and remap!

[T5frankie]

7 seconds sounds right to me to get 5.5 launch it at 5500rpms and those diesels are very quick

[stribo]

Yes the ECU will learn your driving style, my wife says our S60R always feels more eager after I've been driving it( usually because I give it a good ragging ). As above though, change the TCV, less than £50 from Volvo, and vac hoses. Might also be an idea to get the codes read, just to see if there are any other issues.

[Nick0]

thank you - how do I do stg0 and remap and how much / where do I find the tcv (that's a throttle control valve isn't it?). As you can tell I'm a bit of a dunce with all this... :P

[stribo]

7 seconds sounds right to me to get 5.5 launch it at 5500rpms and those diesels are very quick

7 seconds sounds anything but right, I could do better than that in my Cougar. He should get low 6's without a full bore start.

[M-R-P]

The ecu can indeed learn to "granny drive" over time so unplugging the battery negative for an hour or so should reset it, then drive it normally for 100 odd miles, then drive like a wally for about 50 or so. it learns to expect sudden foot-on-the-floor situations and will pick up faster.

As suggested, stage - 0 (plugs, filters, fluids, injectors etc) should show some improvement. Oil usage is normal, it shows the PCV system is ok (usually).

A knackered angle gear can cause a loss of power but you say there's no puddles on the driveway so it's probably ok.

[M-R-P]

thank you - how do I do stg0 and remap and how much / where do I find the tcv (that's a throttle control valve isn't it?). As you can tell I'm a bit of a dunce with all this... :P

Remap is £300+, TCV - turbo control valve - stuck to the side of the air box with 3 small pipes coming off it.

[stribo]

thank you - how do I do stg0 and remap and how much / where do I find the tcv (that's a throttle control valve isn't it?). As you can tell I'm a bit of a dunce with all this... :P

The TCV (turbo control valve) is under the cover to the left of the airbox. Stage 0 is basically vac hoses, and plugs.

[Nick0]

thanks Frankie. Not sure if I want to launch it at 5,500 rpm wouldn't it murder the clutch or just spin the wheels?
Must admit it's years since I've hammered a car like that so have lost the knack I think. I did wonder if my crap take off was to blame I think this sounds right cos it's brutally quick once it's going, just never felt that quick off the mark.

[V70 Graham]

I had to unplug my battery so the car WOULD learn to be driven as if by a granny !

[Nick0]

Thank you Stribo. Is it best to get the TCV and vacuum hoses from Volvo?

[Nick0]

The TCV (turbo control valve) is under the cover to the left of the airbox. Stage 0 is basically vac hoses, and plugs.

thanks again

[Nick0]

Remap is £300+, TCV - turbo control valve - stuck to the side of the air box with 3 small pipes coming off it.

many thanks MRP

[Nick0]

The ecu can indeed learn to "granny drive" over time so unplugging the battery negative for an hour or so should reset it, then drive it normally for 100 odd miles, then drive like a wally for about 50 or so. it learns to expect sudden foot-on-the-floor situations and will pick up faster.

As suggested, stage - 0 (plugs, filters, fluids, injectors etc) should show some improvement. Oil usage is normal, it shows the PCV system is ok (usually).

A knackered angle gear can cause a loss of power but you say there's no puddles on the driveway so it's probably ok.

Thank you again - I will try the battery disconnect - I am going to convert the car's TV to digital so this would be a chance to kill two birds with one stone.
I'll research the stage 0 - might be best for me to ask Volvo to do it or is this stupid of me?!
My car has the later angle gear and there is no sign of oil leakage around the housing so I am not suspicious of that having been paranoid when I first got it! It does have a very slight clonk in the drivetrain but Lee said that's normal play in the propshaft that they all have from new.

[T5RatherAmusin]

Thank you again - I will try the battery disconnect - I am going to convert the car's TV to digital so this would be a chance to kill two birds with one stone.
I'll research the stage 0 - might be best for me to ask Volvo to do it or is this stupid of me?!
My car has the later angle gear and there is no sign of oil leakage around the housing so I am not suspicious of that having been paranoid when I first got it! It does have a very slight clonk in the drivetrain but Lee said that's normal play in the propshaft that they all have from new.

could go to shark for the service and remap in 1 go#theyd make sure everthings as it should be....

[Nick0]

could go to shark for the service and remap in 1 go#theyd make sure everthings as it should be....

Many thanks for the reply - and sorry for the stupidity of my response...who/what/where is/are shark?

[T5frankie]

thanks Frankie. Not sure if I want to launch it at 5,500 rpm wouldn't it murder the clutch or just spin the wheels?
Must admit it's years since I've hammered a car like that so have lost the knack I think. I did wonder if my crap take off was to blame I think this sounds right cos it's brutally quick once it's going, just never felt that quick off the mark.

no problem mate, those official figures are usually magazines with expert pros at the wheel ragging the crap out of the car

[T5RatherAmusin]

dont worry bud...
https://www.facebook.com/sharkperformance?hc_location=stream

[M-R-P]

Anybody know Santa's 0-60 time? 6K rpm starts are his specialty lol

[Nick0]

many thanks chaps :)

[Wobbly Dave]

Bring it to Santa Pod on the 6th and work on your full bore starts LOL

[stribo]

Just don't expect Dave to acknowledge you, or say hello.;)

[Santa]

When doing 0-60 tests were you in Sport/Advanced with the Traction Control off?

[Nick0]

When doing 0-60 tests were you in Sport/Advanced with the Traction Control off?

it was set to advanced mode, with the traction control on. I confess that my timing consisted of holding my phone stopwatch in my left hand so all very unscientific... I'm now thinking that there's nowt wrong with the car apart from the pilot being a numpty.

[silverhorse]

NEVER EVER try to replicate 'book' 0-60 times. You WILL knacker your car. Our cars are all about in gear ooomph. 0-60 is for the drag strip or 17 year old Saxo drivers.
We would all struggle to outrun a modern high power German diesel, even if some of us would rather not admit it!

[Santa]

it was set to advanced mode, with the traction control on. I confess that my timing consisted of holding my phone stopwatch in my left hand so all very unscientific... I'm now thinking that there's nowt wrong with the car apart from the pilot being a numpty.

The traction control really does hold it back. Just turn it all the way off. (It's dry and its AWD anyway).

[Harvey]

The traction control really does hold it back. Just turn it all the way off. (It's dry and its AWD anyway).

Unless you're in a field with long grass of course.

[T5frankie]

21813
not as quick as me even hard launching lol

[Santa]

21813
not as quick as me even hard launching lol

Yeah you beat me..........car couldn't even beat its own time that day

[Santa]

Unless you're in a field with long grass of course.

Not sure it would have moved even with TC on lol

[T5frankie]

Yeah you beat me..........car couldn't even beat its own time that day
that 13.3 was a one off mate

[Nick0]

NEVER EVER try to replicate 'book' 0-60 times. You WILL knacker your car. Our cars are all about in gear ooomph. 0-60 is for the drag strip or 17 year old Saxo drivers.
We would all struggle to outrun a modern high power German diesel, even if some of us would rather not admit it!

my thinking entirely! nonetheless I don't like the thought of any modern diezlz being able to keep up, it offends me!

[Santa]

that 13.3 was a one off mate

With a broken clutch

[T5frankie]

With a broken clutch

so was my 13.5

[LiamT4]

my thinking entirely! nonetheless I don't like the thought of any modern diezlz being able to keep up, it offends me!

You'll just have to get used to it, as they're only gonna get quicker.

[Santa]

so was my 13.5

Exactly, all things being equal.

Now you need to do a run with a working clutch but with the doing weird things with boost to see if you can beat my times that day :P