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From Swedespeed.com Feature Cars Editor's Note: When Frank Hoffman approached us about featuring his car recently, we jumped on board right away. Hoffman's S60R is a great example of how enthusiastic R owners are. Whether priorities are performance, looks, audio, or a mix of all, R owners are some of the most fanatical Volvo owners out there. In as much, Frank was kind enough to share the details of his car, found below in his own words.
Exterior Styling After completing the performance upgrades it was time to focus on the cosmetics. A local body shop installed the Evolve aerodynamic kit, but I wanted to take things a step further. There were so many grilles on the front end, I thought it would be cool to have some ghost flames coming out of them, American hot rod style. Whoever heard of flames on a Volvo, right? I was a bit apprehensive about doing this because I had no idea how it would look when it was done.
The painter at the body shop had a creative way of showing me how the flames would look. Using low-adhesive tape and “drew” the flames freehand on the car to show me what they would look like. He then showed me a gas can that he had painted completely red, with each of the styles of flames on it. The guy obviously had talent. I ended up choosing blue flames with gold tips, and was very pleased with the results. At certain angles, the flames are invisible. In the right light, they really pop. In order to paint the flames, the painter had to completely wet sand the hood and both sides of the car. He had to do this because the flames started at the hood grilles and went all the way back to the tail lights. He first painted all of the stock black trim red, and then painted portions of the flames over the trim. Since the flames were coming out of the hood grilles, I felt that there should probably be some flames under the hood too. I had the painter paint all of the plastic covers under the hood red with flames. He also clear coated all of the existing paint under the hood to give it a glossy look. I had him make the flames a little bolder so that they would be more noticeable. If you look closely, you can see that he even painted some flames on the strut towers. Interior Styling I have always thought that two-tone leather interiors were classy and stylish. I was looking for ways I could do this on my car, but I was concerned about affecting the comfort of the seats. After all, the seats had been one of the main selling points for me. I sent an e-mail to Evolve asking about it, and they told me that they were thinking about offering custom interiors. They sent me a schematic of the interior, so I experimented with some different patterns. I liked the Volvo Inscription interiors, but I also liked what Evolve did on their blue car. I took ideas from both, using Evolve’s pattern for the seats and making the door panels solid red like the Inscription interiors. The seats are just as comfortable as before, and the leather is more durable than stock.
Evolve was also able to hook me up with a two-tone leather steering wheel, which I absolutely love. Not only does it look sporty, but I like the feel of the new leather much better than the stock leather.
Audio Upgrades Once I had the interior done, I decided that I just had to do some audio upgrades. I always wanted to have a premium audio experience in the car. For me that meant an easy way to access all of my MP3s. I also wanted satellite radio, a navigation system, and subwoofers in the trunk. I ended up going with an Eclipse AVN5495, which provided an all-in-one interface to these functions. I didn’t need to purchase an iPod and remember to take it with me because this unit already had an internal hard drive for storing MP3s. It also had Sirius integration and an excellent navigation system. The system also came with auxiliary inputs for both audio and video, so I had these installed on the passenger side of the center console. I saw some examples of trunks that the audio installer had designed, and was highly impressed. I decided that I wanted to do something like that to my car, so I went all out. It took him two weeks to build the wooden frame and mold the fiberglass so that it fit perfectly in the trunk. The craftsmanship is amazing. He made all of the pieces removable so that I could get to the battery and do any other maintenance work required back there. He also installed Dynamat throughout the trunk and in all of the door panels. The system is powered by two JL Audio amps. One of them powers two 10" JL Audio subwoofers in the trunk, and the other powers all of the other stock speakers. I also replaced the stock battery with an Optima Yellow Top battery. I decided to remove the spare to reduce weight and allow for the best possible design. I installed a 3rd Eye tire pressure monitoring system to help compensate for the loss of the spare.
After the audio components were installed, I had to have the fiberglass panels painted. I took them to the same painter who originally did the flames. The painter, as usual, did an excellent job. He painted flames coming out of the speakers that looked as though they were being distorted by the sound. At night, a blue trunk light illuminates the flames. I hope that all of this work has helped promote the Volvo brand. Almost every time I stop at the gas station, I have people come over and tell me how much they like the car. I was happy that the dealership didn’t completely freak out and that they were willing to work with me on this project. They actually seem to enjoy working on the car and always park it out front when they are done. I have been told that my car has brought in business for several different shops. I hope that my experiences will also help those who want to push the envelope a little. While making all of these modifications, it was difficult for me not knowing how things would turn out. The end result should give these people a little more confidence. By doing this project, I met some great people on SwedeSpeed and learned a lot in the process. I plan on being a Volvo owner for a long time and look forward to the future of Volvo and the Volvo aftermarket.
Acknowledgements 1. Michael Sosnow, for teaching me about Volvos and convincing me to get the car in the first place 2. David Sosnow, for his excellent mechanical work 3. Capital Collision and Olympia Collision Repair Center, for their professional body work and superb job with the paint 4. Car Toys Puyallup, for getting me set up with the audio system and doing such a great job on the trunk 5. Topping Volvo, for their willingness to install the parts and their excellent service department 6. Joshua at Rempt Motor Company for being a good guy and addressing various mechanical issues All information Copyright © 1999-2003 Swedespeed. All rights reserved. No photos, news stories, graphics, or Swedespeed logos may be used or reproduced without written permission. Volvo is a registered trademark of Volvo Car Corporation and Ford Motor Company. Swedespeed is an independent media publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Volvo Car Corporation |
