My 2004 S60R.

[volvokid]

I'm liking this R alot, the silver mirrors show it off. I could eat my dinner off that engine bay

[Al115]

I liked the silver mirrors too (though a bit Audi) - think they are back to red now though!

Car looks lovely.

[Leeds_finest]

I'm liking this R alot, the silver mirrors show it off. I could eat my dinner off that engine bay

I liked the silver mirrors too (though a bit Audi) - think they are back to red now though!

Car looks lovely.

Thanks a lot guys.

Tbh when I first saw the wing mirrors on the advert they looked ok, but in the flesh they left a bit to be desired and when I saw an original red one with red wing mirrors, mine looked a bit odd my mate repainted them for me with a rattle can tbf, but he's a pro, so you can't really tell apart from my accidental finger marks in the lacquer

I must admit, if there's one thing I can't stand about the 'S' line Audi's... it's the silver wing mirrors LOL!

[Leeds_finest]

By the way Al, Saxo Turbo?

Sounds like you are similar to me, I love my big Volvo cruiser, but my REAL project is my bike carb'd VW Polo build.. i'll try post some pictures soon.

[martybelfastt5]

the mirrors will look better in red,but contrasted will all the R silver spec grill headlights ect they didnt look too out of place

[Leeds_finest]

the mirrors will look better in red,but contrasted will all the R silver spec grill headlights ect they didnt look too out of place

Yes did match headlights and grille to be fair, just looked a bit odd once i'd seen a normal one with red mirrors.

[Al115]

By the way Al, Saxo Turbo?

Sounds like you are similar to me, I love my big Volvo cruiser, but my REAL project is my bike carb'd VW Polo build.. i'll try post some pictures soon.

Yep... the Saxo is the track car... so lightweight, it's pretty hilarious.

Sounds like the Polo is a laugh too!

[Leeds_finest]

Yep... the Saxo is the track car... so lightweight, it's pretty hilarious.

Sounds like the Polo is a laugh too!

They're the most under-rated car around - simple.

My mates probably got the quickest 106 GTi round here to be honest. It's got a pug sport exhaust, 4 branch mani, carbon induction kit, group N cams (i think), possibly head work too? They're super light as standard but his has rear bits removed etc and it's really funny when he comes up against Focus ST's etc off the line, they must be thinking what on earth is this stupid 106 driver doing?

...shortly after they think, why have I not left that 106 driver yet?

The Polo's a hoot. Not very quick though They make 75bhp standard, it's a 1600 8v, after fitting bike carbs with dyno jet kit, custom inlet manifold, 4 branch exhaust manifold, full custom stainless system with no cat, reconditioned head with port/flow, rebuilt bottom end, high lift cam, adjustable timing gear and a few minor bits such as an oil cooler etc... It makes 138bhp and approx 120lb/ft.

It sounds good in writing, but don't hit peak power until very high revs, so it sounds a lot better than it is. New cam next year, this one's too lairy for a car that was only meant to rev to 5,500 in standard form.

By the way, my other mates got a 106 GTi turbo, not sure if he's on any of the forums? Silver one, red decals, poly windows etc? I don't class his as the quickest though, never even seen it go, doesn't ever bring it out to play, boring if you ask me lol.

[Leeds_finest]

Next came engine oil + filter change and gearbox oil change. No pictures of this i'm afraid, but one thing that's worth noting for you guys is when you come to change the M66 fluid, make sure the car is jacked up at the rear too, as well as the front.

That fill plug really is a 'level' and it means the whole car has to be level. Originally, I had only jacked the front of the car up and upon cracking and removing the fill plug it started to release substantial amounts of oil. I then replaced the fill plug, jacked the rear end up level with the front, and took the fill plug out again and all was fine.

[Leeds_finest]

Next up was a front end suspension/steering rebuild. My friend managed to completely pop the drivers side shock whilst accidently clipping a pot hole on the move. This left oil over the inner arch and a rather 'clattery' ride.

I felt it necessary to change the majority of front end components as well as the shocks due to the mileage of the car, the list so far is:

Full Powerflex front poly bush kit including upper large and small stabiliser bushes, lower large and small stabiliser bushes, strut brace inserts, wishbone front bushes.

OE front anti roll bar drop links.

OE wishbone rear bushes.

OE wishbone ball joints.

OE steering stops.

Genuine XC90 'anti ping' drive shaft bolts.

OE track rod ends.

Monroe 4C front shocks.

Eibach pro kit lowering springs (now removed for sale).









I later found out why my LCA (front) bushes look odd - the centre bar that I re-used from the OE bush was too big forcing the bush out of the arm. However, it fits the car fine and also shows no discrepency on laser alignment so will stay as it is, for now.







After a month or two of driving round on the Eibachs, I got fed up and took them off. As most of you will be aware, these cars have the 'comfort', 'sport' and 'advanced' modes. The firmer springs meant I no longer had a softer option and the buttons on the dash essentially made the car feel firm OR rock hard.

[volvokid]

Do you notice a difference with the strut brace inserts?

[Leeds_finest]

Do you notice a difference with the strut brace inserts?

I often get asked the 'did you notice much difference' question about some things but the only problem is, my car went from feeling like it had done 105k to feeling like it had done low miles almost in one go because I replaced all the parts together, so it really is hard to say.

One thing I can say though, is that before I fitted these inserts, you could grab the strut brace and move it back and forth towards the bulkhead more than I would imagine is healthy. I mean, it needs some 'give' as the engine stabiliser is attached to it, and the engine obviously needs to move, but after fitting the brace inserts, the movement is significantly less...

...surely this has to equate to firmer/better handling? Also, reducing the amount of movement soaked up by the standard setup of rubber bushes etc, in effect you are putting more torque to the floor.. I suppose, so could be classed as a good move from that perspective too.

My dilemma was, I had to replace all the stabiliser bushes and replacing with OE style rubber bushes or buying a complete front set of Powerflex polys (including wishbone bushes and the strut brace inserts) would probably have worked out the same. So, I bought the kit really for the other bushings, not the strut inserts, but they were a nice extra.

My advice would be, don't bother with the strut inserts by themselves unless you have serious cash to burn. However, if a few other bits need changing too then just buy the complete front kit.

The benefit is a slight increase in handling I think and I would say it seems fractionally more torquey because less gets lost through the engine rocking on maximum attack. The drawback is that with the poly bushes fitted, you do notice more cabin vibration when engine inertia is low i.e. as you pull away from standstill with a manual gearbox and the revs dip below say 1000rpm before they pick back up again, this is the point at which it will feel like your clutch is broken no but seriously, slightly more vibration than before, but nothing too upsetting.

Hope this helps, if you want help with fitting, drop me a PM, they're dead easy to fit but as Powerflex give NO instructions with 99% of their parts, it's often left open to interpretation and there are 1-2 ways that these bushes COULD fit, but only one way is correct.

Ed

[t5_monkey]

Polybushes are the way to go... long as you're not running big wheels - you will lose refinement you get used to it though.

Well worth it for insane levels of grip and handling.

Mines fully polybushed and perfectly acceptable for 4 hr drive to England.

[Leeds_finest]

Polybushes are the way to go... long as you're not running big wheels - you will lose refinement you get used to it though.

Well worth it for insane levels of grip and handling.

Mines fully polybushed and perfectly acceptable for 4 hr drive to England.

You know what, I was told by my mate that poly bushes would be 100% the best modification I would make to my project car (VW Polo) so I bushed the lower arms and the rear beam. I haven't had the tracking etc set up yet, so haven't got the full effect, but haven't noticed that much difference if i'm honest.

As for the Volvo, it was designed to handle fairly well I suppose anyway, so again, not noticed much, plus Powerflex don't make both arm bushes for the S60, only the lower arm (front) bush... but the rear one I had to replace with a rubber one.

Superflex make the rear bush in poly, a pair is approx £90 I believe, to which they can go and swivel my rubber ones were £8 a side.

[martybelfastt5]

looking good ed the private plate off the beemer going on it?

[Leeds_finest]

looking good ed the private plate off the beemer going on it?

Thanks mate, still not upto date with the pictures so i'll try and get some more up soon.

I like the private plate off the BM but I really like the N.I. reg too and you don't see that many here so I was going to kee[ the N.I. reg for the time being.