[Willixel]

Hey guys, I'm new to the Volvo game, figured it was about time I joined the forums and introduced myself.

Late last year around November, I picked up a '98 V70 T5 5-speed from a friend of mine, it currently has almost 204k miles on it!

I'm going to be using this thread to save and track all of my progress for reference, and for everyone's viewing pleasure This post is going to be long, so I hope you have your schedule clear. But trust me, it's worth it.

Let's start with a short introduction and overview of the car:

When I picked it up, it had been sitting for a time frame of about 6 months to a year. The car was in absolute shambles when I got it, I mean it needed the PCV system service as typical with higher mileage P80's (which the P/O kindly did before I got it), the rear calipers were seized due to sitting for so long I'm betting, it had a massive gas leak from the fuel filter, it needed brakes on all four corners (two rotors were warped, one of the two was also pitted very badly), and finally it has a massive oil leak. I originally fell in love with this car about 2 years ago when I got a ride in it for the first time. I could NOT contain my smiles when the boost came on and it threw you back in the seat. And also I absolutely LOVE the sound of these 5-cylinders. Ever since I got a ride in it, I would always joke around with my friend (the P/O) about buying it, always asking if he was ready to sell it. After a year or so of no's, he finally let it go to me. As far as I was told, the only things currently done to it are: OBX 3" downpipe and catless exhaust, R Intake & Exhaust manifold swap, N/A cams, and an unknown tune. According to my little OBD scanner and Torque, the car peaks 18psi and settles around 15-16psi in every gear (except first, boost is lower in first gear). Yes, I still have the stock 16t. Yes, I know these numbers are a little on the high side of the 16t from what I have read, save your comments.

As soon as I got the car, the parts started flying. StopTech Drilled and Slotted rotors up front, StopTech drilled in the rear, ceramic pads all the way around. New fuel filter to fix the gas leak, and new rear calipers. My original plan of keeping this car as a project ended up falling apart due to life getting in the way, it is now my daily driver. I mean, who doesn't want a sleeper wagon as their daily driver, amirite

Now the time everyone has probably been reading this post for; PICTURES!!!

^ Can you guess which car out of those is the fastest, and to make things easier, NO it ISN'T the S60R

And a little bonus, FLAMES:

 

[Willixel]

Yes it is.

 

[Willixel]

Very nice! 15-16 psi is not necessarily unreasonable for a 16T if it is well tuned but it is at the top of what's reasonable. Did you get the 302mm brakes I hope?

What wheels and tires are those? Looks like you have a lot of wheel gap

Is the mini the fastest? Something looks up with that car and I'm not sure what.... Could be you, too. A P80 T5 that's been set up well can keep up with a P2R.....especially if that S60R is automatic. The '04 automatics are the slowest of the P2Rs.

No idea on the wheels, they came with the car when I bought it. The tires are like 205/40/17. I was told that the "correct" size tire should be a 225 with a 40-45 sidewall by the P/O, and that getting something around that would help with the wheel gap quite a bit.

Unfortunately I did not go with 302mm brakes due to needing to get the car road worthy ASAP at the time, though a little bit of "spirited cruising" a few days ago ended up in me boiling the brake fluid (see below), so I foresee a brake upgrade in the near future.

Yes, my wagon is indeed the fastest The S60R is a manual with just intake and exhaust, still on the stock tune. I expected it to still walk me though.

This was taken on the side of the road by a friend after I boiled the brake fluid and lost all braking power. Car sat for about 3 minutes, and was fine. There was quite a smoke show when this happened, probably ended up cooking the pads as well. That being said, I've done some light research on going the big brake route. So far I've only looked at S60R/V70R Brembo's, though IIRC I think I found out that the fronts don't fit. Anyone mind pointing me in the right direction on where to go about upgrading the entire braking system on the car? This weekend when I have time I plan on doing a full flush of the brake lines/system and filling it with fresh fluid for the time being, hopefully that'll stop the boiling issue for a while until I can upgrade.

 

[Willixel]

Flush your brake fluid first. All of it.

Get 302mm discs, brackets and akebono ceramic pads.

302 brackets:

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/9263/120644-302mm-brake-upgrade-brackets-front-p80-850-s70-v70-c70

This is the cheapest supplier currently

302 rotors:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-disc-brake-rotor-front-models-with-302mm-front-discs-272276

Zimmerman are excellent quality and you want to have BLANK rotors. $33 a piece is super cheap as well. I have these on 5 cars and no complaints. In fact, theyre thr only thing that seems to last.

Akebono Ceramic Pads:

Front:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-disc-brake-pad-front-850-c70-s70-v70-euro

Rear:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-rear-brake-pad-rear-850-c70-s70-v70-eur541

These last forever, make a very light colored dust and most importantly they dont fade when hot.

If you boiled the brake fluid it was a combination of things: water contaminated brake fluid, stock pads, small rotors and not enough tire grip.

Might want to do Stainless Brake lines as well:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vo...ts/volvo-brake-hose-front-models-with-302mm-front-discs-stainless-steel-9191400

225/45r17 is an excellent tire size for these cars on a 7.5" rim, otherwise 215/45r17 for a 7". You want a little bit of tire overlapping the rim to prevent curbing in case of parking mishaps.

If youre going to drive in that kind of a spirited manner, get some really good tires. Michelin Pilot Super Sport, Pirelli P Zero, Continental ExtremeContact Sport, Nokian ZLine. How fast your car can go is completely irrelevant if it cannot stop or corner.

Speaking of cornering, I highly recommend a larger rear sway bar. But only the rear. Makes the car neutral.

Kit ( but IPD will sell just the rear if you call in person):

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/4873/109445-anti-sway-bar-kit-850-70

Moderate lowering springs make a noticeable difference in flatness, squat and dive:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-lowering-springs-h-r-29955

As for a big brake kit, there are 2 options:

320mm rotors and single piston calipers (still fits under most wheels)

http://www.vivaperformance.com/320mm-front-brake-upgrade-volvo-850-s-c-v70/

330mm rotors and brembos from a porsche/s60R

Rear:

https://www.yother.com/product-p/1016-rk.htm

Front:

https://www.yother.com/product-p/1015-bbk-r.htm

Yes, that setup runs you $4000. Not worth it, so just get 302's or 320s if you have to have bigger brakes than 302s.

A strut tower brace will help a lot with the torque steer.

Ipd has the nicest one, its pretension-able. Takes all the flop out of the front of the chassis. Get it when its on sale to save $40

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/104...LfHBRD_jLW93remyAQSJABIygGpFyEv2D5ImQp835k6M7VhtiH6sF0U2cSIUz74GBQRkRoCUdTw_wcB

Kaphlenke Racing makes delrin subframe bushings. These turn the subframe into a chassi brace, improve handling precision, braking and acceleration.

https://www.kaplhenke.com/collectio...m/collections/850-s70-v70-c70-s60-s80/products/awd-fwd-delrin-subframe-bushings

That should keep you busy for a while.

Thanks for all your pointers! Later this year or early next year, I plan on picking up an S60R anyway, so my wagon will probably be under the knife for an engine rebuild and suspension overhaul when that happens. Struts & springs are the stock ones with 204k miles on them, so they leave a lot to be desired in that department. I don't plan on getting rid of this car any time soon, despite the oil leak the engine still runs really strong. Honestly I'm tempted to just tear it out to do the clutch and rear main seal and then just toss it back in because of how well it runs.

I believe those pads you linked are the exact ones I bought, just off of IPD's site. As for rotors, these are the ones I picked up when I did the brakes:

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/5235/114447-stoptech-powerslot-front-rotors-280mm-p80-850-s70-v70-c70
https://www.ipdusa.com/products/5236/103930-stoptech-powerslot-rear-rotors

As far as torque steer goes, it's non-existent on my wagon. It'll either spin the tires like it's on glass, or it just wheel hops (aforementioned 204k stock suspension probably the culprit here). I'm currently researching coilovers to get for it as we speak. I've found different conflicting opinions/details about manufacturers such as BC Racing. Also, the engine torque mount (?) on top of the engine is currently a poly or delrin bushing instead of the stock one, so I'm sure that helps a little bit.

 

[Willixel]

Wheel hop would be worn out bushings in the rear delta link.

Any upgrades for those, or just OEM replacements for the old ones?

 

[Willixel]

Lemforder

Lemforder which is oem. Don't cheap out on these it's a b*tch to do twice. Ask me how I know....

Any links for those? Quick google search didn't turn up much, though my search skills are probably potato right now. It is 1am and I just got home from work.

 

[Willixel]

Little update:

This weekend was a kind of busy weekend for me. Went and cruised around with another Volvo friend with the S60R from my original post, had some fun (pictures below). Also installed a fair few boost gauges into my car (more on this too, below). Replaced a bunch of dry-rotted vacuum lines in my car to solve boost gauge issues, and bled the brakes.

SO, a while back I ordered the iPd boost gauge, found here: https://www.ipdusa.com/products/10122/121177-ipd-boost-gauge
After completing the install, I took my car for a test drive. The iPd gauge was only reading ~10psi at WOT. Keep in mind my wagon has spanked the S60R in my pictures, which only has an intake and exhaust/cutout on it. We tried switching vacuum/boost source for the gauge, still the same reading. After some quick research in the garage, we found out that the iPd gauges had issues with reading the correct boost levels a couple of years ago. So then we threw in a GlowShift gauge, still about the same, but a little bit higher. The GlowShift gauge read 12psi under WOT. We then switched back to the first vacuum source we used with the iPd gauge, still the same reading; ~12psi. Finally, we pulled the typical $25 AutoZone Bosch boost gauge out of the S60R which was verified to show the proper boost levels in his car (12-13psi at WOT), and it worked flawlessly using the SAME vacuum source we originally tried to use with the iPd gauge. The Bosch gauge spikes to around 16 or 17psi and settles at 14-15psi under WOT, 20-22 inHg of vacuum at idle. That being said, both the GlowShift gauge and the iPd gauge showed the proper vacuum levels at idle, just wouldn't show the right boost level. We checked for the air flow screw in the back of the iPd gauge, but none such screw existed. Now, afterwards my buddy with the S60R let me have his Bosch gauge and I gave him my iPd gauge, because the iPd gauge works perfectly fine in his car; shows the same boost pressure that this Bosch gauge showed. Let me remind you, the vacuum line that is currently run to the Bosch gauge is the SAME LINE that we ran to the iPd gauge.

Video (yes I know I had a vacuum/boost leak, this is what prompted me to replace the vacuum lines. This pull was before lines were replaced):

We also stumbled upon a supercharged Mini in our travels: