2009 Volvo S40 T5

[Moonpiemagic]

Hi guys, car is in th garage getting more bits done but opening up a question to anyone with track experience or experience with setting up a track car?

I have no idea on this but general what is best for handling when setting up a car for a track for grip? im looking at adjustable camber arms and want to be able to set the car up just for track but have no idea where to start really. The rear of the car lets loose quite easily, but I think that might be more me with letting off the accelerator, but the rear antiroll is set to the firmest setting which maybe I should reduce?

What tires should I be running for track days as well, im currently on PS4's but looking to get a set of wheels just for track.

Open to any recommendations etc as well.

Thanks

[Moonpiemagic]

8 Pot Ksports are now finally on the car, they should defenitly help with being able to stop it now.

20210806_155326 by Dom Hartland, on Flickr

20210806_155306 by Dom Hartland, on Flickr

20210806_155318 by Dom Hartland, on Flickr

[Moonpiemagic]

Right so had the hybrid has been refurbished by AET up north which is getting fitted on the car at the moment. Car will then get mapped after thats on, so it will be good to see what its really running.



So turns out the Airtec stage 4 kit (Intercooler and boost pipe) doesnt fit the car, and also struggling with space to fit the external setrab oil cooler. cannot find a place at the front for it really, so going to need to rethink where this is going to go, as I do want it on the car.

The current bell intercooler is the biggest off the shelf unit you can buy for these cars, which is still quite small for the power its running. Going to have to start looking at water meth I think.

Also just having a new TCV popped on at he current one was failing.

[Moonpiemagic]

Right so turbo went on and got a question for anyone that might be able to help as I have run into a few problems.


On the standard K16 the car was running fine on 405bhp, as soon as the K16 hybrid went on the power output was 320bhp


The mapper said the wastegate pressure wont increase about 30%, it just flats out.


Couple other guys, helping me with the build mentioned: Crack in the manifold where the wastegate flap sits as a crack around it wouldnt let it build boost.. also be worth checking the wastegate is setup properly as it maybe too loose to hold and boost.. sure psl would know what preload it needs.. just wants a vac pump to set it up.


Just wondering if anyone else has experience or knows anything on the above. Boost solenoid has been changed as well, this didnt fix the issue.

[MoleT-5R]

That's a big drop in power for what should be an upgrade that should develope more power, does sound like the wastegate isn't shut properly, as you said It is probably best to check it and set it up with a vac pump, rule of thumb is the hole in the actuator rod should sit half way across the wastegate peg so the actuator needs to be compressed to slip the rod onto the peg, then you can check it with a vac pump. Also you can then add a half turn or more if required to the rod to get exactly the target pressure you require. Hope that helps and good luck.

[Moonpiemagic]

right so .... mostly bad news and maybe some good news? I have no idea really.

Managed to find the leak from the turbo with a smoke test and seal that, but there were still some major issues. The turbo is just spitting out oil really, just putting it down to a poor refurb job by AET. So anyway the K16 hybrid has been pulled from the car and the standard K16 has been popped back on again. I think this is the end of the road for power wise, maybe in the future I might try another route ... be thats it for now really.

Anyway swapping the oem boost solenoid with an electrical one as well which should be nice.

Car should be done this week finally ready to visit the tracks again.

[Moonpiemagic]

As projects go they always need work.

Anyway the car map was finished on the standard K16 and ran a healthy 407bhp, the turbo still has room but the heat in the engine bay is a massive problem.

So the only route is water meth as I currently have the biggest intercooler you can fit off the shelf before having to go custom.

Also now correcting the airflow from the intake to the turbo as there is a size difference from the intake cone to the maf, and then a different size from the maf to the intake pipe which will be reducing air intake.


Also found that my custom exhaust from flux fabrications that I have had about 1 year and a half now or nearly 2 of not much use has completly split the center box. Pretty unimpressed by it really, looked good but defenitly did not last long at all.

Driveshafts at the moment look a bit worn, but they are still the oem driveshafts on the car and the mileage is 157k now which is pretty good.

getting some bonnett vents on there to let some hot air escape as well as replacing the fogs with some piping to channel air flow to where it needs to go.

So still a bit of a list to get on with at the moment.

[MoleT-5R]

As projects go they always need work.

Anyway the car map was finished on the standard K16 and ran a healthy 407bhp, the turbo still has room but the heat in the engine bay is a massive problem.

So the only route is water meth as I currently have the biggest intercooler you can fit off the shelf before having to go custom.

Also now correcting the airflow from the intake to the turbo as there is a size difference from the intake cone to the maf, and then a different size from the maf to the intake pipe which will be reducing air intake.


Also found that my custom exhaust from flux fabrications that I have had about 1 year and a half now or nearly 2 of not much use has completly split the center box. Pretty unimpressed by it really, looked good but defenitly did not last long at all.

Driveshafts at the moment look a bit worn, but they are still the oem driveshafts on the car and the mileage is 157k now which is pretty good.

getting some bonnett vents on there to let some hot air escape as well as replacing the fogs with some piping to channel air flow to where it needs to go.

So still a bit of a list to get on with at the moment.

Usual ups and downs of car tuning, make a few improvements and then find the next weak point or hiccup, I used an AEM water/meth kit and never looked back sorted a load of issues in one go....well chuffed with it.

[Moonpiemagic]

Gave the car a bit of a shake down with a run up to Santapod for a day on the 1/4 mile to see if I can better my time. Car ran faultless so smooth all day, was brilliant. And did it all on a single tank of fuel! around 260 miles there and back and a day on the 1/4 and didnt fillup till I got back home (wasnt even on reserve) defenitly wasnt pottering around going there or coming back.

So previous PB was 13.6 with most of the day struggling to get any traction and getting more times in the 14's

With the addition of a smoother map and and an LSD, my new PB was 13.3

a bit of improvement and more consistant times than the last visit, but the tires are defenitly letting me down (They are 3 - 4 month old PS4's) So I think next year im going to ditch the PS4's and change to some semi slicks.

Grabbed a second set of Midir alloys (Again) and fitting some winter boots on those for winter driving.


Couple of other things coming up that will need doing, the oil cooler pipes are looking a bit worn. Ordered some airtec replacement silicon ones, link below if anyone else is looking for a replacement:
https://www.airtecmotorsport.com/pro...y-coolant-kit/

Also going to replace the driveshafts soon before they fail. I am still on the original driveshafts for the car on 160k now. Car has been doing tonnes of hard work, they should of gone years ago.

[MoleT-5R]

Gave the car a bit of a shake down with a run up to Santapod for a day on the 1/4 mile to see if I can better my time. Car ran faultless so smooth all day, was brilliant. And did it all on a single tank of fuel! around 260 miles there and back and a day on the 1/4 and didnt fillup till I got back home (wasnt even on reserve) defenitly wasnt pottering around going there or coming back.

So previous PB was 13.6 with most of the day struggling to get any traction and getting more times in the 14's

With the addition of a smoother map and and an LSD, my new PB was 13.3

a bit of improvement and more consistant times than the last visit, but the tires are defenitly letting me down (They are 3 - 4 month old PS4's) So I think next year im going to ditch the PS4's and change to some semi slicks.

Grabbed a second set of Midir alloys (Again) and fitting some winter boots on those for winter driving.


Couple of other things coming up that will need doing, the oil cooler pipes are looking a bit worn. Ordered some airtec replacement silicon ones, link below if anyone else is looking for a replacement:
https://www.airtecmotorsport.com/pro...y-coolant-kit/

Also going to replace the driveshafts soon before they fail. I am still on the original driveshafts for the car on 160k now. Car has been doing tonnes of hard work, they should of gone years ago.

13.3 is a good time, my PB is 13.4 and ran consistant 13.6's and as you mentioned tyre's are the key, I was on full slicks for a lot of the 13.6's but I did feel these were too hard and difficult to get some good heat into before a run, I would like to try R888's again next time.

[Moonpiemagic]

13.3 is a good time, my PB is 13.4 and ran consistant 13.6's and as you mentioned tyre's are the key, I was on full slicks for a lot of the 13.6's but I did feel these were too hard and difficult to get some good heat into before a run, I would like to try R888's again next time.

Yeh was mega happy with that time, did it on the 2nd run of the day and then managed it again towards the end of the day. But then spent the rest of the day in high 13s and in the 14s.

Nice, 13.4 is really good! what tires were you running? and do you do that burnout at the start? I dont really understand this part, and not sure how long I should be there doing it for.

was thinking along the similar lines there and getting some R888's on for next year. They should defenitly do the job there and on track im hoping. Will start gutting the car out as well this winter.

[MoleT-5R]

Yeh was mega happy with that time, did it on the 2nd run of the day and then managed it again towards the end of the day. But then spent the rest of the day in high 13s and in the 14s.

Nice, 13.4 is really good! what tires were you running? and do you do that burnout at the start? I dont really understand this part, and not sure how long I should be there doing it for.

was thinking along the similar lines there and getting some R888's on for next year. They should defenitly do the job there and on track im hoping. Will start gutting the car out as well this winter.

Set my 13.4 on old worn out r888's with a good burnout, I have since changed to bigger maf and injectors but need to get some road time to get some data on how this is working. P.S. if your going to do a burnout at the start of your run, drop the tyre pressures to compensate for it .

[Moonpiemagic]

Not much change at the moment, recently got the standard winter wheels back on with some winter tires.





Car just passed its MOT so all good for another year, but the mapper at the garage found a new setting on the ME9 ECU on a Focus ST225 which shares the same ECU as mine. They recon they would like another try at mapping the K16 Hybrid again on the car to see if we can control the boost. I havent sold the turbo yet, so thinking of revisiting this, but will need to get some water meth in as the car with the current power is already running very hot.

Have also started returning the car back to a nice clean oem look again after all the mods. So it has a new front bumper and will be spraying all the calipers back to an oem silver colour. Next thing this winter will be to strip the rear of the car and get some bucket seats.

I have seen some roll cages as well and spotted some lower cost adjustable roll cages, are these worth looking into? or just not bother with these?

[Moonpiemagic]

Popped on the V50 front bumper now to replace the worn out old S40 one that had quite a few cracks in it.

The hunt for more power has 100% stopped for now. Sold the K16 hybrid which was sad to let that go, have also sold the black alloys, seems that the car has destroyed a front set of PS4s which I bought 3 months ago brand new. But looking to replace and going towards semi slicks, Im really not sure what semi slicks are good for track but still road legal? but leaning towards R888's? If some can last a bit longer, I might lean towards a longer lasting tire.

Also struggling to find out what kind of mounts I need if I wanted to pop in some bucket seats.

Im also looking for some roll cage advise if anyone can help? I have had people telling me half cages are pointless and to just get a bar if I want a harness, but if I do want a roll cage I need to go straight for a full roll cage. I feel like a full roll cage is more on the extreme side, for an every now and then track day car? but I guess I will need something secure for the harness belts to hold me in.

[Moonpiemagic]

Bit of an update.

prepped the car up to drive up toward the Volvo charity gathering RAF Cosford with VOCNW, was going to be about a 4 hour drive up. Gave the car a check the day before and a nice cleanup.

The next day I pottered along the motorway and after about 40mins I got an oil level alert sign pop up on the dash which was alarming, so I pulled over and to my amazement, it was now way bellow the min level which really confused me (Coolant reservoir was very low as well). Everything else seemed ok in the engine bay but luckily I always bring a can of oil, so managed to top up. I continued driving to a service station which was another 30mins away where I could then pull in an asses a bit more with some light. I pulled in and checked the oil level which seemed fine as it had not dropped, but I then looked at the coolant level which the reservoir had pretty much emptied itself out?!

I topped the coolant level back up and then trundled along again for another 40 mins where I pulled into another service station to fill up with fuel.
- Oil level was still ok here which was good
- Coolant in the reservior had pretty much emptied again

so I filled up the coolant again and drove for another 20mins to a friends house on the way and ended my drive up north to check this car out. After the drive, again the coolant level had dropped a bit so I topped it up again to the max line.

After numerous checks and cups of tea, I decided to make the 2 hour drive home as the car seemed okish to head back as the oil level atleast held.

After a 2 hour drive back, the coolant level didnt drop, I havent checked the oil level yet but the oil level alert didnt appear so im pretty sure thats fine as that oil level alert on the car is quite reliable.

So sorry for all the rambling, but that brings me to today now where im a bit unsure what has happened to the car now or what to do or where to start with it. If anyone has any ideas im all ears.

I dont know if the car doesnt like sitting around or the cold as it was 1c when I left and about 8c when I came home.

A bit worried about the head gasket as I noticed a small amount of white stuff in the oil cap when I checked, but have been told that this is a normal thing to happen when running a breather kit.

[Moonpiemagic]

Been a while since the last update, car hasnt been used much but need to get it prepaired for this years track days as it has been a bit unloved at the moment with house priorities.

Took it out for a spin and unfortunetly came into some real brake issues, the front ksports seemed to be stuck on rubbing against the disc which was not great. The pads then came loose after a moment, but then came back on again and stayed there but I managed to crawl the car back home.

So I will be doing a complete brake refresh on these for this year.

Parts being sorced here:
https://www.focusrsparts.co.uk/ford/...t/cat_237.html

Disc's seem quite expensive, so im going to see how much life they actually have on them and see if I can get away with re skimming them for now. Pads wise, im not sure what to run with at the moment, but learning more towards the red or yellow stuff pads. I have ferodo pads on at the moment but because they are more extreme, they really do squeal! so I would rather not have those again, but they are great.

I have winter tires on at the moment as well and still hunting around for a good set of semi slicks to use, so if anyone has any experience on what to go for here, let me know! Want a longer lasting semi slick then something just about performance but will wear quick.


Appart from that, car is healthy and will have to undergo another oil change with 5W30 if I remember rightly.

[Moonpiemagic]

decided to go for some semi slicks and managed to pick up quite a good deal with the below site, they had 60 to 80% of their tires so managed to grab 4 of the below for about £270!!!

https://tirestreets.co.uk/products/a...SAAEgL_l_D_BwE


Also got some yellow stuff pads on to replace the ferrodo's as I thought they were too squeely, turns out the yellows were just as squeely. Going to remove all the seats next and get some bucket seats in there as the current rdesign ones are hurrendous (but comfortable)

[MoleT-5R]

decided to go for some semi slicks and managed to pick up quite a good deal with the below site, they had 60 to 80% of their tires so managed to grab 4 of the below for about £270!!!

https://tirestreets.co.uk/products/a...SAAEgL_l_D_BwE


Also got some yellow stuff pads on to replace the ferrodo's as I thought they were too squeely, turns out the yellows were just as squeely. Going to remove all the seats next and get some bucket seats in there as the current rdesign ones are hurrendous (but comfortable)

Interesting choice as I have been looking at these for a while now and are considering some for my Abarth and possibly the 651 extra for my T-5R as the mileage will be low when she gets back on the tarmac

[Moonpiemagic]

Interesting choice as I have been looking at these for a while now and are considering some for my Abarth and possibly the 651 extra for my T-5R as the mileage will be low when she gets back on the tarmac

yes well I will update after a thorough test, have a trackday booked at Goodwood next week so am excited to see how these hold.

But as a first off, acceleration from a roundabout is completly cured. I have 0 wheel spin now where I did with the PS4's.

I have gone with the medium wear tires so will be interesting to see how long these last.

Will be good to get back and Santapod to see if this helps improve the 1/4 times as im hoping these would hook up right away.

[MoleT-5R]

yes well I will update after a thorough test, have a trackday booked at Goodwood next week so am excited to see how these hold.

But as a first off, acceleration from a roundabout is completly cured. I have 0 wheel spin now where I did with the PS4's.

I have gone with the medium wear tires so will be interesting to see how long these last.

Will be good to get back and Santapod to see if this helps improve the 1/4 times as im hoping these would hook up right away.

That's good to here it's stopped the wheelspin off roundabouts, I look forward to the review, I've used Accelera's before and found a great difference in compounds and handling, for example the old 600's were ££££ and the p308's when I could get them were amazing, their winters I had were great too and didn't break the bank either, really looking forward to trying these 651's