Newish Volvo V50 AWD T5 -6 speed - time to modify

veefifty · 2017-07-11T00:30:43+00:00

Bcs are not really worth it if they are the base model ones. You do get what you pay for there.

veefifty

cubic25;113555 wroteI fucking love the woodgrain. The fact that it is real wood gives me real wood :3 Creepyness aside, congrats on the rare find. Hopefully Ash can help you out with the suspension.
Is the rear sway bar the same for the AWD model, or ar e they also different? If same, I'd also definitely change that when you get a chance.
What were you thinking of doing in the way of engine mods?

EDIT: If I had to get coils, I'd be getting Billies or nothing. I rode in a C30 with Billies and it was amazing. I've currently got B8's on the front, with Eibach springs, and I love it. Irrelevant to you though, as mine is FWD.

Yeah the woodgrain has grown on me. I was thinking of switching it out for some carbonfibre stuff from Carbonfibre works but changed my mind (The real carbon stuff does look pretty sexy on a black interior though.....

Not sure if the sway bars are different but figured I'll do the suspension first then see how it impacts its cornering behaviour before I switch it out. I am thinking about doing the LCA's whilst I'm looking at the suspension. The front end is pretty crashy but I'm not sure if that's the shocks or the LCA's (which I understand wear out quuickly on these cars). I need to do a bit more research on that aspect.

Engine wise I'm not looking to go too crazy. I'm thinking of changing the DP and exhaust, putting on a Snaab intake pipe and a tune. It sounds like there aren't any gains to be had from switching out the air filter so I'll leave that as is. The only other things I'd consider is intercooler and maybe a Pumaspeed Plenum - I'm not sure of the gains to get out of those though either so there's more research to do yet. No rush on those as I want to get the handling and footwork sorted first up. A turbo upgrade would be nice but I think that might be overdoing it not to mention the fact that my wife would shit kittens at the cost! lol My ideal target would be about 200kw at the wheels. I'm not sure how far off I'd be with my intended list as it stands but I'm happy to chip away at it over time :)

Philia_Bear

Biggest bang for buck
Do88 intercooler
Upgraded intake piping
Dp and exhaust
Tune
Easy 200kw+

veefifty

Philia_Bear;113887 wroteBiggest bang for buck
Do88 intercooler
Upgraded intake piping
Dp and exhaust
Tune
Easy 200kw+

Good to know. I've heard good things about the Do88 intercooler

Philia_Bear

When i did the suspension in mine i did all the bushings and the spring mounts in the front

And did nothing in the rear which i regret as the upper shock mounts are effed...
Need to go back and do them

veefifty

Philia_Bear;113889 wroteWhen i did the suspension in mine i did all the bushings and the spring mounts in the front

And did nothing in the rear which i regret as the upper shock mounts are effed...
Need to go back and do them

Good idea - I might look int that

Ex850R

Talk to Ash at DVS, the suspension GURU who can supply all you need.
@AshDVS.

cubic25

Philia_Bear;113887 wroteBiggest bang for buck
Do88 intercooler
Upgraded intake piping
Dp and exhaust
Tune
Easy 200kw+

Have to agree.
Except I would definitely also do the air intake, or at the very least, install the ECU spacer on the stock air box.
Cost vs gains, I wouldn't bother with the plenum.

veefifty

cubic25;113946 wrote
Philia_Bear;113887 wroteBiggest bang for buck
Do88 intercooler
Upgraded intake piping
Dp and exhaust
Tune
Easy 200kw+
Have to agree.
Except I would definitely also do the air intake, or at the very least, install the ECU spacer on the stock air box.
Cost vs gains, I wouldn't bother with the plenum.

I'll do the turbo intake pipe but I was under the impression that air intakes make a great noise but don't tend to provide any gains? I'm kind of surprised there isn't a true cold air intake on the market that does a better job than the Volvo OEM item or perhaps that speaks to Volvo's engineering? I've seen on the DVS Facebook page that Ash has been fabbing up a Focus RS airbox to use in his XR5 but the installation looks a bit involved. Curious to know if there were gains from the set up though.

cubic25

I did a brief write up in my build thread. I don't think I gained power, it definitely shifted the torque curve though. Power comes on stronger and earlier.
Elevate do a nice intake system and I essentially copied theirs.

AshDVS

An intake will make a noticeable difference to low rpm pull, the factory pipework here helps keep things quiet but is a little restrictive.

The factory plenum is a reasonable design and you wont see huge gains on an otherwise stock car by changing to a decent aftermarket one (Mountune, Pumaspeed, etc)

I'd probably do the intercooler first, followed by a decent intake pipe, before thinking about downpipe, exhaust, tune and maybe a plenum down the track.

veefifty

cubic25;113984 wroteI did a brief write up in my build thread. I don't think I gained power, it definitely shifted the torque curve though. Power comes on stronger and earlier.
Elevate do a nice intake system and I essentially copied theirs.

Interesting... I've had a look at the Elevate design but ideally I guess I prefer to have an enclosed design (partly for the cold air aspect and partly for legality). I found this one on Viva which seems to tick the box but I'm not sure if anyone has had any experience with them?

http://www.vivaperformance.com/cci-intake-system-volvo-s40-v50-c30-c70/

veefifty

AshDVS;113991 wroteAn intake will make a noticeable difference to low rpm pull, the factory pipework here helps keep things quiet but is a little restrictive.

The factory plenum is a reasonable design and you wont see huge gains on an otherwise stock car by changing to a decent aftermarket one (Mountune, Pumaspeed, etc)

I'd probably do the intercooler first, followed by a decent intake pipe, before thinking about downpipe, exhaust, tune and maybe a plenum down the track.

Great info - thanks Ash - I'll keep that in mind. Do you find that you need to do something to control boost pressure more effectively after the intake/intercooler upgrades?

cubic25

veefifty;114043 wrote I've had a look at the Elevate design but ideally I guess I prefer to have an enclosed design (partly for the cold air aspect and partly for legality). I found this one on Viva which seems to tick the box

People from C30 Crew that have had both said that the Elevate one is better. The size of the Elevate filter and pipe is meant to compensate for the loss of dense air.... If that makes sense. It is much bigger than other intakes.
I have an OBD2 reader. On my car, with my intake, My intake temps are consistently only 1 degree hotter than ambient. With the stock box and ECU spacer, the intake temps were 2 degrees warmer.
In saying that, the aftermarket intake is more susceptible to get soak. In traffic, intake temps get a little higher than the stock system. But, they drop pretty much as soon as I start driving.

veefifty

cubic25;114059 wrote
veefifty;114043 wrote I've had a look at the Elevate design but ideally I guess I prefer to have an enclosed design (partly for the cold air aspect and partly for legality). I found this one on Viva which seems to tick the box
People from C30 Crew that have had both said that the Elevate one is better. The size of the Elevate filter and pipe is meant to compensate for the loss of dense air.... If that makes sense. It is much bigger than other intakes.
I have an OBD2 reader. On my car, with my intake, My intake temps are consistently only 1 degree hotter than ambient. With the stock box and ECU spacer, the intake temps were 2 degrees warmer.
In saying that, the aftermarket intake is more susceptible to get soak. In traffic, intake temps get a little higher than the stock system. But, they drop pretty much as soon as I start driving.

Thats interesting. I'm not too worried about heat soak as I will almost never drive this car in traffic (It's strictly a fun car for the weekends). I'd still be concerned about an external filter as it's the number one thing that NSW police issue defect notices for. I'll see when the time comes I guess

AshDVS

veefifty;114044 wrote
AshDVS;113991 wroteAn intake will make a noticeable difference to low rpm pull, the factory pipework here helps keep things quiet but is a little restrictive.

The factory plenum is a reasonable design and you wont see huge gains on an otherwise stock car by changing to a decent aftermarket one (Mountune, Pumaspeed, etc)

I'd probably do the intercooler first, followed by a decent intake pipe, before thinking about downpipe, exhaust, tune and maybe a plenum down the track.
Great info - thanks Ash - I'll keep that in mind. Do you find that you need to do something to control boost pressure more effectively after the intake/intercooler upgrades?

Not at all.
Though a decent tune (at a later date) will take advantage of these a bit more and may change things a little.
I dont believe an alternative means of boost control is required on these cars. Others may/will disagree.

For me, exhaust is next. We do Milltek products, so mine will be a Milltek downpipe and then a custom locally-built system after that.

cubic25

I have the full Milltek on mine. Love it.

AshDVS

There are a few AWD clearance issues that mean it can make more sense to have something entirely custom built.

Philia_Bear

cubic25;114275 wroteI have the full Milltek on mine. Love it.

@cubic25 which system do you have and what did it cost?
I'm looking at the race system for my S40 but trying to work out value over just building it myself

cubic25

Philia_Bear;114522 wrotewhich system do you have and what did it cost?
I'm looking at the race system for my S40 but trying to work out value over just building it myself

I have the 3inch non resonated one. I bought it only as a cat back and it cost me $880. My cat is a 100cel random, can't remember the cost, and the dump pipe cost me $450.
I was quoted $1200 for a custom turbo back. I didn't want to risk it when I knew that the miltek already sounded awesome.

veefifty

cubic25;114524 wrote
Philia_Bear;114522 wrotewhich system do you have and what did it cost?
I'm looking at the race system for my S40 but trying to work out value over just building it myself
I have the 3inch non resonated one. I bought it only as a cat back and it cost me $880. My cat is a 100cel random, can't remember the cost, and the dump pipe cost me $450.
I was quoted $1200 for a custom turbo back. I didn't want to risk it when I knew that the miltek already sounded awesome.

I was just listening to a clip of a Focus XR5 with that system - sexy sexy sexy.... Not sure about the legality of the volume though?

« Previous Page Next Page »