C70 Mk1 Rear Anti sway bar kit

[John Pritchard]

Hi

I'm new to the forum but have had a lot of Volvos in my time - ranging from a p1800ES to the S80 V8.

I currently have the new V40 D4 and a 2000 vintage C70 T5 in great condition and running c.310 bhp. I'm looking to keep this car under bit more control - front Strut brace is already in place. Is the rear bar worth doing, should I drop it a little or what? I do not want a teeth chatterer but I do need for it to be capable of taking a sharp corner without making me feel it's goodbye Vienna!
This is a superb car - a real sleeper and the opulence of the interior is a sight to behold all for pin money . Ridiculous really and some of the write-ups regarding the throttle body etc are far too alarmist.
Anyway - if anybody has some thoughts and a reliable/ cost effective supplier of these products then that would be welcome.

thanks

JP

[Wobbly Dave]

I've run the IPD rear one for quite sometime on my C70 and it has been so long now - I really don't know. It is after all the sum of all the parts.

[John Pritchard]

Ok well put it another way then - would it bother you to take it off the car??
Have you done anything else to it given you refer to the sum of all the parts?
Where did you source the IPD part?

Thanks
JP

[Wobbly Dave]

No I think it was a good upgrade at the time, though there were clearance issues with the rear hard brake lines. Please open the link to my garage to see the full spec. IPD is a Volvo parts/performance site based in the USA, I have imported a few bits from the in the past.

http://www.ipdusa.com/

you can also get the same ARBs from Don Norchi on Kalmar-Union

http://kalmar-union.com/parts/volvo-850_s70_v70_c70-suspension/ (http://kalmar-union.com/parts/volvo-850_s70_v70_c70-suspension/)

[John Pritchard]

Thanks for that Dave

Your car looks a bit of a beast!
I will not want to take mine to that level but it will be sufficient to cause worry to just about anything south of a Porsche turbo!

Looks like it will be a process of iteration - I might start with the rear bar and work from there.

Cheers

JP

[Wobbly Dave]

It's my 10 year ongoing project. Volvo's never die - they just live of old ones.

I had a 19T for 7 years - from box to bin. Only in the last 3 years have I been trying to really push the envelope. When it works there is nothing quite like it. When it works.

Few shots from over the years...

[Wobbly Dave]

And a few more 'ere

[John Pritchard]

And a few more 'ere

Done one or two things with the car - I'm happy with the front strut brace for handling purposes - since I last posted however one thing I have noticed with it is that the throttle response is somewhat slow. I've been trying to see whether there is a widget you can attach to improve this but the one source where I could get something has offered no replies to my request (which suggests that it might no apply anyway). It's had a new throttle body so I don't think it's that and in any case it is I believe a common complaint on the 70 series. My question is therefore is there any way of improving on the throttle response noting that it's already re-mapped?

[kmb]

I was quite impressed with the difference the standard Volvo front strut brace had made on my 850 T5, you obviously found the same on the C70, how do you rate the difference?

[Wobbly Dave]

It was almost the first thing I added. after the ITG panel filter. Well worth the money.

[stribo]

Done one or two things with the car - I'm happy with the front strut brace for handling purposes - since I last posted however one thing I have noticed with it is that the throttle response is somewhat slow. I've been trying to see whether there is a widget you can attach to improve this but the one source where I could get something has offered no replies to my request (which suggests that it might no apply anyway). It's had a new throttle body so I don't think it's that and in any case it is I believe a common complaint on the 70 series. My question is therefore is there any way of improving on the throttle response noting that it's already re-mapped?

The only way of improving the throttle response is to have the throttle pedal remapped, if you know who mapped it in the first place, they should be able to alter the pedal map, just get it mapped 1:1.

[John Pritchard]

The only way of improving the throttle response is to have the throttle pedal remapped, if you know who mapped it in the first place, they should be able to alter the pedal map, just get it mapped 1:1.


I have now addressed the throttle response but not through a remap. i came across a product called pedalbox which had very good reviews etc but unfortunately it did not fit a pre-06 C70. I chased this down with them and a product called Sprint Booster came up. Did some searches and the write ups were good and it would appear that they had one that fitted the Mk1. So I bought it (£170) - not cheap but if it worked then worth the investment. So fitted it - fairly simple job in that it fits between the throttle connector and the module. However I noticed that this sat slightly under the brake pedal and sure enough when I went for a test drive this widget fouled the brake - very dangerous. I went back to the seller and sent pictures etc highlighting that this wasn't fit for purpose / dangerous. Nothing happened until I said I would give them a really cr*p feedback on ebay (I had to ring Greece for this!!). The solution was simple - a 90 degree elbow or a wire connection (instead of a fixed). Apparently the factory that produces these was just down the road from the supplier and they begged me to wait. Sure enough 5 days later I received a totally new customised module which I have now fitted to the C70. It has 3 settings - off, moderate and aggressive. There is little point using the moderate but the aggressive setting is pretty awesome. On this setting every sinew on the car is maxxed under strong acceleration and boy does it shift - until you fit something like this then you really don't get a feeling that there is 300+ BHP under the bonnet because the electronic communication is lagged.. However this brings its own problems - there is now excessive lift on the car under hard acceleration. Any thoughts on how to address this without making it a filling chattering basket case?
I have a spare Sprint Booster if there is interest (it would require wire connection - not difficult but necessary) - happy to discuss.

[Harvey]

http://www.europeantuningshop.nl/index.php?route=product/product&path=1663_1675_1792&product_id=5312

[M-R-P]

I think that throttle mod cost more than my map!

[martin_r_smith]

Just out of interest, what has been done to get your car over 300bhp?

[John Pritchard]

Just out of interest, what has been done to get your car over 300bhp?

Try these guys:

https://www.celtictuning.co.uk/

They do the job properly (ECU out, take the baseline mapping out and install a specific remap for the T5 engine).

This is supposed to yield c. 305 bhp and costs £325)

To which I've added :

- a custom SS exhaust 2.5 inches from the cat (£300)
- K&N filter (£50)
- front brace (£80)
plus the Sprint Booster and this C70 is now very seriously fast. (£170)

All of which comes under £1k in total cost. The car itself cost me £1500 - 75k with FSH and top class condition (dark blue with fawn interior). What a superb value for money car it is!

[John Pritchard]

yes - but without it you will not get the response from the extra power. Trust me this makes a real difference - and somewhat removes the turbo lag issue associated with the big turbo on the 2.3 engine.

[M-R-P]

Not being flippant but... You won't get 300+ bhp from that engine without changing injectors, turbo, downpipe..
Is there a dyno printout to back up these claims?
My car has an almost identical engine and I know exactly what it takes to get 310bhp from it.

[John Pritchard]

Go on their website and have a look . I know what the standard T5 car does - I've had plenty of them (had an 850 T5 for 5 years) - and there is nothing close to what this is doing at the moment. So whilst I don't have a dyno print out I know what a T5 looks like and this aint it. So be as flippant as you like, but proof of the pudding as they say .....

[M-R-P]

All remap websites claim 300+bhp, with my old 16t running 22psi, I only made 279bhp.

[martin_r_smith]

must admit i thought 300+ required turbo and injectors at the very least too, every day is a school day!

[don kalmar union]

I can be very specific here:

The earlier C70s '97/'98 with Motronic 4.4 ECUs will give 270bhp with 405nm with a stage 1 ECU upgrade and 300bhp with 430nm with a full replacement exhaust system and stage 2 calibrations.

The later cars with ME7 ECUs, post '98 give very slighly more : 275bhp with 420nm with stage 1 but the same outputs of 300bhp/430nm with stage 2 and full exhausts.

I have to say that quite some years ago some of my customers did see higher outputs on the later cars with stage 2 and full exhaust.... with MTE calibrations... you might still find some old dyno plots either here or at t5d5.

Don

[Doingitsideways]

Hmm...

My S70, although M4.4, has had much more work.
Exhaust, cat and DP, ported head, N/A cams, injectors and a VPC sticker in the window worth 5 horses.
Not had it on a dyno as it's an auto, but my bum cheeks tell me that it's just shy of 300bhp.
Standard 16t well and truly maxed out at this level.

My TDi on the other hand is well over 650bhp with 960nm.

[John Pritchard]

All remap websites claim 300+bhp, with my old 16t running 22psi, I only made 279bhp.

what would you have me say?! I did a bit of homework before commissioning Celtic Tuning and I think they are a bit different. This is not a stock off the shelf re-map which overwrites the baseline mapping on the ECU.
What I can say is that the C70 is very quick and more frugal and they would welcome me down to go on their rolling road for free to confirm the figures. I'm not bothered to be honest......

[M-R-P]

I'm not looking for an argument, just pointing out that a map and a catback (filters do diddly-squat in reality) won't make 300bhp on that engine. The 16t will be way over its limits well before then and the injectors won't be far off too. Without free flowing inlet and outlet, the turbo will struggle more. One of the first things that's changed in mainstream performance mapping is throttle response (on the fly-by-wire ME7 engines), I'm still surprised that you had to spend all that money to sharpen the throttle (which still won't physically increase power or torque, just make it feel more responsive), I'd have asked why this wasn't mapped - in to start with.

If your happy with the way the car drives then that's great but firing - off bhp figures with no physical evidence isn't best practice - those of us who have reached and breached the "magic 300" have worked hard to do so and know it takes more than a map to get you there.

[John Pritchard]

nice that - very pleasant.