Cubics V50 T5 R-design

cubic25

Hey all,

I know this thread is useless without pics. I'll put some up when I get a chance.

I feel like an idiot for not knowing this place existed! I've been on Swedespeed and C30 Crew for years and only discovered this place because a member is selling some Bilstein B8's that I am after.

I first fell in love with Volvo's when I saw the C30. I loved how different it was compared to everything else that was out at the time. From the interior design, to the awesome T5. It, along with the other P1 platform Volvo's, is such a comfortable and enjoyable place to be when driving.

Over the years of ownership, I slowly modified it to make it the car that I think it should have been. Especially the engine. In stock form, the T5 feels like it is being strangled. I knew there was plenty of room for improvement.
With a 3inch down pipe and Milltek exhaust, along with other supporting mods, such as Elevate intercooler, stage 3 tune and intake piping, the car really came alive.
I then went on to upgrade the brakes, Elevate sway bars, Eibach springs and Koni FSD's. Having the same chassis as the Focus and Mazda made it really easy to find parts.
Quick, albeit shitty, clip of my C30 at a cruise a few years ago.

Unfortunately, I needed a bigger car and 5 doors, so the C30 had to go.
Fortunately, it went to another enthusiast, so at least it is being looked after.

There was no way I was over the Volvo brand. I still loved the T5 and everything else about the cars, so I purchased a V50 R-design.
All parts purchased for the C30 were transplanted onto the V50. It feels exactly the same as the C30, with the added bonus of having 2 extra doors and a decent boot.

Neither car has given me any trouble, aside from the coolant reservoir cracking at around 90K km. The T5, even in modified form, is a rock solid engine.

Anyway, that was just a quick intro of how I got here. Hopefully I can contribute something useful to the community.

I'll post pics of the V50 ASAP!

EDIT:
Mod list
-Elevate stage 3 tune
-Elevate intercooler
-Elevate full intercooler piping kit
-Elevate 3inch intake pipe
-Elevate CBV
-Custom made 3inch pod filter
-Milltek turbo back exhaust
-Elevate RARB
-Team Dynamics 18X8 wheels
-Koni FSD's (soon to be Biltstein B8's)
-Eibach sport springs
-Elevate engine mount

Pretty sure there is more that I am forgetting. I'll add them as they come to me.

Chris

Welcome! I have the D5 but sadly no Milltek exhaust - with this on board the D5 sounds like the T5's evil twin :)

cubic25

Chris;105075 wroteWelcome! I have the D5 but sadly no Milltek exhaust - with this on board the D5 sounds like the T5's evil twin :)

I have heard a Milltek equipped D5. It sounds awesome! You're right about the evil twin part.

Chris

Very tasty!

Ex850R

Nice!

cubic25

The other week I installed a pod filter. More out of curiosity than anything else. I wasn't expecting any difference in performance, as I had heard that the stock airbox was good for 350hp.
I still have to weld a bracket onto the intake pipe. At the moment, a cable tie is holding it in place.
I wrote a review on C30 crew. I'll cut and copy it here.

Philia_Bear

Ahh nothing but the hottest pre heated air for your turbo

The elevate 3" looks good though

cubic25

Hey all,

I finally got round to building my custom intake after talking about it for about two years. It is heavily influenced by the Elevate intake. Differences are, that my filter is a little bigger, (I used this one https://www.aemintakes.com/search/pr...prod=21-2038dk, which I believe is larger than Elevates), and I used a 3inch stainless steel rather than 3.5inch aluminium.
Reason for stainless was that it takes much longer to heat soak. The trade off is that it also takes longer to cool down.

I am not sure if there is a power increase, but there is definitely a change in the torque curve. The car pulls harder from lower RPM than it ever did. The response is immediate and the car almost feels like a NA car. There is no noticeable buildup of boost like there used to be, as the torque curve is much smoother and linear. That alone makes it worth the install.
In the higher RPM, the car doesn't feel like it is running out of breath. Again, there is no noticeable power increase, no extra shove in the back, just a much smoother and immediate rev.

All the fears about heatsoak are unfounded. From my observations, intake temps rise quicker than stock, but only in heavy traffic. Once you start moving, they drop down to ambient quicker than they ever did when I had the stock airbox.
-When moving, the stock airbox was always two degress Celsius above ambient. The custom intake is always either the same as ambient or one degree hotter.
-In traffic, the stock airbox would take longer to heat up, and much longer to cool down. The custom intake is much quicker to heat up, getting about 10 degrees celcius hotter than ambient, but once you start moving, it will quickly drop back down.
I am not sure if there is any point in wrapping the intake pipes entire length in header wrap. I don't think it is the pipe that heats the intake air, but rather the fact that it is drawing air from a hot engine bay. The air wouldn't be in the intake pipe long enough for any heat transfer to take place....IMO.

As for those that like intake noise......my God it is glorious. All the whooshing and flutter and sucking makes me smile.

All up, it cost me approximately 120AUD.

cubic25

Small update on this.

To say I'm loving it would be an understatement. Everything has improved. Fuel consumption has definitely gone down, even though I'm driving harder, and the car feels much more linear in power delivery. It pulls strong all the way through the rev range.
There is a freeway on-ramp near my mates house that I like to take at a bit of speed. Before intake, I would be doing 120kp/h at the end of the ramp. After intake, I've been getting to 130kp/h. 10kp/h doesn't sound like much, but it is the way it gets there that matters. Pre intake mod, the car would sound asthmatic at about 5K RPM, and start to run out of steam. Now, it just keeps pulling.

As for intake temps, I have noticed sweet FA difference. In traffic, it gets hotter, quicker. As soon as you start moving, they start dropping. It definitely gets back down to near ambient temps quicker than the stock airbox.
It will be interesting to see what happens during summer, when the thermo fans are blowing hot air onto the intake.

If shipping to AUS wasn't so much, I would 110% get the elevate intake. For anyone considering this mod, I still think the Elevate one is the best option, hence why mine is heavily styled off that one.

I'm thinking about wrapping the pipe to stop the radiant heat. The intake pipe gets so hot that it will burn your hand if you hold onto it. All that heat radiating off it can't be good for everything else under there.
Good idea or nah?

Philia_Bear

Heatsoak should not be an issue as the intercooler is after the heat soaking steel pipe

Vee_Que

Sounds the goods! I'm personally not a fan of brand name pre made exhausts, they usually are more compromised than a custom made unit and don't bolt straight in. The intake mod sounds good too, unsure how it could gain power from it being turbo, but maybe old one was blocked.

sucksqueezebangblow

Is this FWD or AWD? What Koni shocks?

Man/auto?
Will you be getting a tune done?

cubic25

Vee_Que;105272 wroteThe intake mod sounds good too, unsure how it could gain power from it being turbo, but maybe old one was blocked.

Thanks for the comments.

I don't think it gained power, I just think the torque curve changed. It definitely builds boost quicker, no doubt about that, and it definitely feels more linear.
The main restriction in the stock airbox is the ECU, as it sits in the path of airflow to assist it in keeping cool.
I was initially concerned about the ECU overheating, now that it isn't in the airbox, but given that they removed the ECU from the airbox in the Focus RS, I'm no longer worried. I have positioned the ECU in the same spot as the Elevate intake positions it, and have also run a duct to it to assist in cooling.

sucksqueezebangblow;105279 wroteIs this FWD or AWD? What Koni shocks?

FWD. Two of the main reasons for choosing FWD over AWD.
-I already had all the mods for a FWD platform. If I went with AWD, I would of had to change the exhaust, which I had already spent $1200 on, and the springs/shocks.
-I had read too many stories about the AWD reliability. I already knew how solid the FWD platform was, so sticking with that was easy.

In saying that, it would be interesting to see how much better the AWD version would handle the extra power around corners. Especially exiting corners. I think if Volvo made the C30 in AWD, it would have been a massive hit. Especially to people looking for an alternative to the Golf or Focus.

I have the Koni FSD's at the moment, but wanting to change to Bilstein B8's.

The auto is torque limited in 1st and 2nd, so torque steer isn't an issue at all. Traction is only an issue in 1st in the dry. In the wet, it will spin third, which can get annoying. I'm currently driving on PS3's, which I have been happy with, but wouldn't mind giving something else a try. Definitely not Conti's though. I had them previously and whilst grip was fine, they felt like sponges, even at 40psi.

sucksqueezebangblow;105279 wroteWill you be getting a tune done?

Already have one. I went with Elevate, as they seem to have the most reliable tune. I used them in the C30 for 70k km and have now been using it in the V50 for the last 30K KM without an issue.
With the Elevate tune, I have 10psi in 1st and 2nd (up until 4K RPM), then it has 18psi for the remainder.
Other guys went for the Shark tune and have had a few issues. The only reason why I would go for a Shark tune is because they remove the limiter in 1st and 2nd, but then again, I want my gearbox to last. I have been told that the limiter is there to save the gearbox, not to alleviate traction concerns.

I should probably edit my first post to include a full mod list.

Philia_Bear

cubic25;105344 wrote
In saying that, it would be interesting to see how much better the AWD version would handle the extra power around corners. Especially exiting corners. I think if Volvo made the C30 in AWD, it would have been a massive hit. Especially to people looking for an alternative to the Golf or Focus.

The difference is huge, the AWD is massively better in corners and even in the strait and dry its better as you can just plow into the power without even having to think about the front end doing a burn out

cubic25

Philia_Bear;105348 wroteThe difference is huge,

Thought so.

How does the AWD system handle the extra power? As in, how much power can it handle reliably?

Philia_Bear;105348 wroteyou can just plow into the power without even having to think about the front end doing a burn out

Which is exactly what happens with me now. It does make things interesting though. :-)

Philia_Bear

cubic25;105350 wrote
Philia_Bear;105348 wroteThe difference is huge,
Thought so.

How does the AWD system handle the extra power? As in, how much power can it handle reliably?

Philia_Bear;105348 wroteyou can just plow into the power without even having to think about the front end doing a burn out
Which is exactly what happens with me now. It does make things interesting though. :-)

Its the same AWD system as used in the S60R and XC90 V8
I've heard from crazy people in Sweden that the practical limit is about 500 crank HP
You have to do maintenance on the system though to keep it reliable which 99% of owners don't do because Volvo does not list it

pastry

FWD or AWD, that is one hot V50. Great choice of wheels.

Guess short of buying an AWD and moving all the good stuff over, you need a Quaife!

sucksqueezebangblow

cubic25;105344 wrote
I went with Elevate, as they seem to have the most reliable tune.

how much is it? I was thinking of either the Polestar tune or a Hilton tune so I can just use the DiCE unit to load it.

cubic25

https://www.elevatecars.com/store/volvo-c30/elevate-volvo-c30-performance-software-tuning.html

I already have the handheld. If you're interested, I'll see if I can load another tune onto it with your VIN. Should be cheaper than you having to buy a unit.