At one with my Volvo

Post 522188 by vaderboyo on 2012-07-09 21:36:36

I've been quite reserved when it comes to driving me awd. I had forgotten how different a turbo car is to drive compared to a non turbo and of course I've been weary of placing strain on that auto gearbox..but not today lol on me way home from work tonight some a*se hole dude in a rep mobile §§§§d me off so much I thought right you §§§§ Im not having that lol anyway have to say I was at one with me awd, power delivery was much better than what I've experienced to date, not sure why, power seems to be hit and miss, Im convinced there's a boost leak somewhere...but it all came together today. the awd worked a treat coming off those stupid roundabouts on the a55, traction is awesome, its so good you have to be careful on the outside lane of roundabouts as others dont expect you to be there! steering is very precise, cant help feel that lower profiles and harder springs will sharpen her up more. Now that Im starting to get a proper feel for her, and understanding that auto box and power delivery of the engine, I'm going to take her up to Snowdonias a roads this week and try her out in the twisty bits....will take some shots to share.

Post 522196 by Volvostorm on 2012-07-09 21:50:14

Have fun mate Watch out for the car hating welsh police too! ;)

Post 522224 by theflyingbrick on 2012-07-09 22:16:18

its always a good feeling when youve bagged your first victory in a new car,well done sir ;)

Post 522231 by vaderboyo on 2012-07-09 22:24:58

Cheers....yep the cops dont mess about in N Wales....they have all turned a bit snobish up here though as they have ditched the V70s in favour of yuppie beemers....although I've noticed the cops who just pull HGVs still use V70s.

Post 522234 by MattM on 2012-07-09 22:27:42

You've probably just experienced the car on full boost all the time. Normally you probably wouldn't be right in the power band for max attack. The car transforms when you push it hard.

Post 522236 by Wally Dog on 2012-07-09 22:38:04

Mate - I dunno about 4 wheel drives but I've just got 17" inch instead of 16" wheels with lower profile tyres, fitted a strut brace and got lowering springs all round - feels like a totally different car! Would HIGHLY recommend the strut brace, HUGE difference all round for such a relatively simple thing.

Post 522244 by oblark on 2012-07-09 22:48:12

Wait to you ploy bush the front suspension it will feel like it`s on rails

Post 522312 by M-R-P on 2012-07-10 00:40:05

I remember the first time I REALLY drove the V70, I had just done the brakes, shocks, top mounts, polybushes on the wishbones and engine and put Avon ZV5s on her and by 'ek did I drive it. the A338 is a fantastic road (between Swindon and Salisbury) and for anybody looking for 60 miles of fun in the south - go find it ;) I enjoy driving, I enjoy driving the T5, when you find a brilliant road and some Audis to humiliate, well, :D:D:D:D:D:D

Post 522326 by Dangerous Dave on 2012-07-10 01:17:36

Wait until you get it remapped. You think its quick now, when I fitted an MBC to mine it was a different animal, especially as the LPT is so limited. Once opened up its awesome. But then its not enough, you find yourself wanting more and more power, its a curse LOL

Post 522575 by vaderboyo on 2012-07-10 21:11:24

[quote=bomb192uk;522326]Wait until you get it remapped. You think its quick now, when I fitted an MBC to mine it was a different animal, especially as the LPT is so limited. Once opened up its awesome. But then its not enough, you find yourself wanting more and more power, its a curse LOL[/quote] Ive been doing some research on mbc, thought id try this before a remap....just cos its cheaper to start with lol. Is there a how to thread on fitting a boost gauge for the 2.4t cant find one on search...

Post 522579 by Dangerous Dave on 2012-07-10 21:19:55

It will be the same fitting procedure as the 2.3's. I ran one for a while on my AWD. A word of warning though, be careful not to boot it below 3000rpm as too much boost low down can cause no end of problems. Obviously pushing the various components more than they are designed to will eventually affect the service life.

Post 522582 by LiamT4 on 2012-07-10 21:24:49

Be carefull when fitting an mbc to an auto, the way an auto changes gear can kill an engine pretty quick if running too much boost low down. I enjoyed how quick the boost would come in on my s70r when i had an mbc fitted (was remapped as well), but it was so aggressive that i decided it would best for the car to take it off.

Post 522585 by vaderboyo on 2012-07-10 21:30:21

Post 522590 by vaderboyo on 2012-07-10 21:35:26

[quote=LiamT4;522582]Be carefull when fitting an mbc to an auto, the way an auto changes gear can kill an engine pretty quick if running too much boost low down. I enjoyed how quick the boost would come in on my s70r when i had an mbc fitted (was remapped as well), but it was so aggressive that i decided it would best for the car to take it off.[/quote] cheers, can you remember what psi you were running? I was thinking....nah hoping....that the auto box could handle 9 or 10 psi?

Post 522602 by vaderboyo on 2012-07-10 21:45:50

[quote=bomb192uk;522579]It will be the same fitting procedure as the 2.3's. I ran one for a while on my AWD. A word of warning though, be careful not to boot it below 3000rpm as too much boost low down can cause no end of problems. Obviously pushing the various components more than they are designed to will eventually affect the service life.[/quote] Is there such a thing as a digital mbc that could limit boost levels under 3000 revs?

Post 522607 by LiamT4 on 2012-07-10 21:56:23

[quote=vaderboyo;522590]cheers, can you remember what psi you were running? I was thinking....nah hoping....that the auto box could handle 9 or 10 psi?[/quote] [quote=vaderboyo;522602]Is there such a thing as a digital mbc that could limit boost levels under 3000 revs?[/quote] I was running 14psi and on a 2wd those boost levels are perfectly fine for an auto, but i'm not sure when it comes to awds, bomb192 is the man who will be able to help. You can get ebcs (electronic boost controllers) and some of these are very good and will let you do many things with boost levels, including different boost at different revs and in different gears. But these can be very expensive and a remap would probably be a better choice for low level modding.

Post 522617 by vaderboyo on 2012-07-10 22:10:35

Cheers all, can well imagine that im asking what many others have already asked you all in the past....so thanks for putting up with my questions ;) I just need to make sure i spend my dosh wisely as im going to be holding on to this car for the foreseeable future and need it to be right. Was speaking to local company who map cars, offered to remap it for £300 but no idea if this is a good price. They wanted to take it up to 235bhp, and map the power to come in after 2nd gear....interesting, they also offered to disconnect the prop shaft to the back wheels, said it would increase power by at least 20%.!!

Post 522632 by LiamT4 on 2012-07-10 22:22:35

Don't worry about all the questions. The search fuction at the top can help, but if you want to ask then just do it. I'v been on a few other car sites and when people have asked some questions and the reply was "just use the search tool at the top, noob" or similar and i just thought "well, i won't be joining that forum" (it was non volvo btw). Shows how friendly the place is imo and as we are all into cars i'd of thought most people want ot share there opinions/experiences. Not many people mod the older awds, but there are a few and bomb192 has plenty of knowledge on them. You would gain plenty of wheel hp by it just being 2wd, but how sensible/feesible that would be is out of my depth.lol If you do want some cheap power, then getting a good mbc and accurate boost gauge is a simple place to start, as long as you don't have too much boost and too much low down and your car is in good nick then there shouldn't be any issues. I

Post 522642 by vaderboyo on 2012-07-10 22:31:00

Really appreciate that cheers. The other thing that i forgot to say, the growl of the 5 pot is something else....wonder what it would be like with a screamer pipe ;)

Post 522645 by LiamT4 on 2012-07-10 22:33:45

[quote=vaderboyo;522642]Really appreciate that cheers. The other thing that i forgot to say, the growl of the 5 pot is something else....wonder what it would be like with a screamer pipe ;)[/quote] yeah they do sound good, i just had a small backbox on my s70r and it sounded great on boost. I do miss the sound it would make.

Post 522679 by Dangerous Dave on 2012-07-10 23:41:12

The problem with the LPT engine is the turbo is smaller which means quicker spool up but the downside is it runs out of flow at the higher rpm/boost levels. The most I could get out of mine was about 14psi, but the wastegate actuator on the smaller turbo is weaker so you may find it won't even reach that (had to replace mine with one from a 16T which sorted it). Aim for about 12psi. Of course all this is dependant on the state of all the supporting components. Best thing to do is a 'Stage 0' to bring everything to a standard level (the link below is quite old but the info is still good). http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?t=217 Then theres always more :D ....... Fit a 16T turbo, bigger injectors, better flowing exhaust system, air filter and a good remap will see it pushing more. There is a problem with the 2.4 engines in that the cylinder wall is 1mm thinner than the HPT 2.3 engines. This has always been a talking point on whether it is suitable for pushing to the limit. Some engines have had cracked liners and other problems. The other option is to find a 2.3 engine and fit it to the AWD (which it will) and then mod from there. HTH

Post 522723 by vaderboyo on 2012-07-11 07:41:40

Spot on pal

Post 522848 by AcidicDavey on 2012-07-11 14:52:42

One more thing Vader is that yes when I removed the prop from my AWD Auto the throttle response was greatly improved. First is an electric like surge but then on it's rather flaccid, I'll be swapping the turbo to a nice 16t, along with whole new exhaust and so on. Long way off that now though, I'm not even driving the bloody thing! Swapped to a Golf for some reason lol