[850Rwagon]

Well i finally got around to doing a modification that rids you of the turbo lag

I had called IPD after installing their ECU and was questioning the lag it still had. Fred from IPD was very helpfull and offered to email a modification to the base boost setting on the wastegate. We did it last night and sure enough you have MUCH better performance. I had eailed these same instructions to another R owner (please jump into this topic if you are here?) off brickboard who also found his stock R alot faster.

My 97 R has IPD ECU and IPD exhaust and we installed a very nice SPA design boost/temp gauge to monitor the action

It is fully programmable and recalls/clears peaks on demand. Prior to the base boost mod the car routinely saw 17 PSI under hard acceleration and even 18PSI when running octane booster. Now it peaks at 19PSI

What do you guys think of this?? is 19PSI too much??

We believe we changed it to around 7psi. At idle it is the same negative something PSI and unless you start to get on it the car acts like before. When you do start to get on it it seems to jump up into 6-7 PSI right away where before it would not.

heres a link to my R page so far - look at the gauge - the thing is the balls. http://members.home.net/highrpm/850R.html

heres the instructions I was given:

NOTE: IPD suggests you perform this modification "At Your Own Risk", as they don't have information as to what the long term
effects may be.

BASE WASTEGATE ADJUSTMENT 850 / 70 SERIES
It's not possible to change the maximum boost level w/o check engine
lights, but you can adjust the base wastegate setting to improve bottom end
throttle response and torque. The base setting is about 1.5 psi, you can
safely raise this to 6-8 psi. This will give almost instant boost production
in response to throttle input. If you over do it, you will have a hard time
preventing the tires from spinning on take off so you might have to
experiment a bit. You'll need a boost gauge or other accurate low pressure
gauge that you can temporarily use to adjust the wastegate. We use a
radiator pressure tester / pump that has a built in gauge. You can get these
for around $50 or borrow one. Remove the heat shield above the turbo,
disconnect the wastegate actuator line at the turbo controller valve (TCV)
and attach the pump and gauge to this line. Make sure your connections are
tight, you don't want any leaks to cause erroneous adjustments. Disconnect
the waste gate actuator rod form the waste gate lever (C-clip or spring
clip). Loosen the 10mm lock nut and shorten the rod so that it exactly
lines up and drops over the closed waste gate lever when 6 psi is applied to
the actuator. Test and adjust to suit your personal tastes. Do not exceed 8
psi, it won't hurt anything, but performance will be reduced and you will
get a check engine lamp as the ECU is sensing that the wastegate is
operating beyond the control range of the TCV.

 

[black850R]

Wow, that's excellent! So far, the lack of off-line power is one of the few complaints I have with my 97 R; it's just too soft below 40mph. And as a former 5.0 Mustang owner, I really miss that off the line punch.

Next weekend I'll try to beg or borrow a radiator presure tester and do the mod. I'll be sure and report the results! Thank you very much for doing the research and posting!

 

[Kai]

You may want to check your boost gauge again. 19 psi is not really possible with the stock wastegate you have, assuming you have the stock wastegate.

There is gotta be something off here...

 

[850Rwagon]

quote:

Originally posted by The_one_n_only:
You may want to check your boost gauge again. 19 psi is not really possible with the stock wastegate you have, assuming you have the stock wastegate.

There is gotta be something off here...

Yes it's stock motor except for the IPD ECU, K&N and IPD exhaust.

I bought the gauge because I thought it would be very accurate so I'm not happy to hear it might be wrong. Did you see the pic of the sensor install? It seemed to be a really good place.

 

[1FASTBOX]

Nice gauge! nice car! but the boost number of 19psi is to high for a stock system. I have only seen one white R in town here and had to check and see if it was real. I to hope to have a website for my T5R with some cool pics, I have pics and a movie of me at the local drag strip. I went to the line and herd some of the people in the crowd with comments like thats just a Volvo, and some others mixed with chuckles. I decided to shut them up with a little smoke, it looks cool as the car gets lost in the smoke an all you can see are my head and fog lights. It turned the situation around and people were impressed. No other import there could do that try as they may in that short launch area without tripping the lights. The runs were good, it was stock at the time and my 60 foot times sucked, no traction, the pro street cars that ran during the day put down lots of rubber, I only had my stock p zero's. This week I will be getting my exhaust/ecu/boost gauge/ and some steel brake flex lines. I may go back and compare time slips after the mods. Are you going to the import show on the weekend of the 18th with anything? Later!

 

[850Rwagon]

quote:

Originally posted by 1FASTBOX:
Nice gauge! nice car! but the boost number of 19psi is to high for a stock system. I have only seen one white R in town here and had to check and see if it was real. I to hope to have a website for my T5R with some cool pics, I have pics and a movie of me at the local drag strip. I went to the line and herd some of the people in the crowd with comments like thats just a Volvo, and some others mixed with chuckles. I decided to shut them up with a little smoke, it looks cool as the car gets lost in the smoke an all you can see are my head and fog lights. It turned the situation around and people were impressed. No other import there could do that try as they may in that short launch area without tripping the lights. The runs were good, it was stock at the time and my 60 foot times sucked, no traction, the pro street cars that ran during the day put down lots of rubber, I only had my stock p zero's. This week I will be getting my exhaust/ecu/boost gauge/ and some steel brake flex lines. I may go back and compare time slips after the mods. Are you going to the import show on the weekend of the 18th with anything? Later!

What color is your T5-R? I looked for a LONG time trying to find a yellow 95 wagon and gave up.

what were your times?

I'm not planning on going to any import shows except WATERFEST but I would like to go to a VOLVO specific show if they have any in new England area.

 

[Richard]

I also have a 97 850R and did the basic boost adjustment. My car drives much, much better now. I set my basic boost so 7 psi would open the wastegate. The car has almost o turbo lag now, with much more boost available at low rpm's. It seems to boost to about 11 psi from 2000-3000 rpm then from 3000 on the boost rises to ~14psi. The ecu is still abl to control the wastegate and I have heard no spark knock. I spoke to a master Volvo tech and he said it should be ok to leave like that. When the car shifts the boost does spike to about 17 and maybe thats where your seeing 19 psi Bill, during the shift.
On another note I flushed the trans with Mobil 1 ATF and the trans shift WAY better now and the lock up torque converter seems to hold better and smoothly engage itself. My car had 47,000 miles on it when I did the flush. I highly recomend this as it is very easy to do.

 

[Arizona T-5]

I was wondering if you remember how many FULL turns that it took to get you that performance.

quote:

Originally posted by 850Rwagon:
Well i finally got around to doing a modification that rids you of the turbo lag

I had called IPD after installing their ECU and was questioning the lag it still had. Fred from IPD was very helpfull and offered to email a modification to the base boost setting on the wastegate. We did it last night and sure enough you have MUCH better performance. I had eailed these same instructions to another R owner (please jump into this topic if you are here?) off brickboard who also found his stock R alot faster.

My 97 R has IPD ECU and IPD exhaust and we installed a very nice SPA design boost/temp gauge to monitor the action

It is fully programmable and recalls/clears peaks on demand. Prior to the base boost mod the car routinely saw 17 PSI under hard acceleration and even 18PSI when running octane booster. Now it peaks at 19PSI

What do you guys think of this?? is 19PSI too much??

We believe we changed it to around 7psi. At idle it is the same negative something PSI and unless you start to get on it the car acts like before. When you do start to get on it it seems to jump up into 6-7 PSI right away where before it would not.

heres a link to my R page so far - look at the gauge - the thing is the balls. http://members.home.net/highrpm/850R.html

heres the instructions I was given:

NOTE: IPD suggests you perform this modification "At Your Own Risk", as they don't have information as to what the long term
effects may be.

BASE WASTEGATE ADJUSTMENT 850 / 70 SERIES
It's not possible to change the maximum boost level w/o check engine
lights, but you can adjust the base wastegate setting to improve bottom end
throttle response and torque. The base setting is about 1.5 psi, you can
safely raise this to 6-8 psi. This will give almost instant boost production
in response to throttle input. If you over do it, you will have a hard time
preventing the tires from spinning on take off so you might have to
experiment a bit. You'll need a boost gauge or other accurate low pressure
gauge that you can temporarily use to adjust the wastegate. We use a
radiator pressure tester / pump that has a built in gauge. You can get these
for around $50 or borrow one. Remove the heat shield above the turbo,
disconnect the wastegate actuator line at the turbo controller valve (TCV)
and attach the pump and gauge to this line. Make sure your connections are
tight, you don't want any leaks to cause erroneous adjustments. Disconnect
the waste gate actuator rod form the waste gate lever (C-clip or spring
clip). Loosen the 10mm lock nut and shorten the rod so that it exactly
lines up and drops over the closed waste gate lever when 6 psi is applied to
the actuator. Test and adjust to suit your personal tastes. Do not exceed 8
psi, it won't hurt anything, but performance will be reduced and you will
get a check engine lamp as the ECU is sensing that the wastegate is
operating beyond the control range of the TCV.

 

[850Rwagon]

I believe it was 3-4

 

[1FASTBOX]

The car is yellow, and I to wanted a wagon but the one I have is perfect very clean car in every respect. The times were from 15.7sec to 16.3sec. Like I said my 60 foot times sucked, there were Hondas there with steet slicks, not quite full slick but was still cutting my time almost in half. It was fun but if I do go back i will consider some of those tires for better times and to save my pzeros. Just for fun I put the TRACS on, wow that sucked even more! I will be at some Volvo meets this summer hope to get to ones in the U.S. as well. Talk to you later,see ya!

 

[tx850r]

Not to get off the subject 850R wagon, but what a cool looking garage!!!...You have given me some cool ideas about what to do with mine..and cool to see other VW/Volvo owners...

 

[850Rwagon]

Thanks - I love my garage

heres an old pic -