[97R]

Hi all, I'm new to this board, let alone volvo. I just picked up a black 97 855R. Very sweet car. But the problem is I also just sold my 91 5.7 Z28 that was modified to the tune of [email protected] in the quarter mile and would pull over 1g on a skid pad. Do you guys think that a TME exhaust system and their ECM upgrade will get the car even close to a mid 13sec time-slip. I got a base line g-tech time of [email protected], Which is not bad for a unmodified wagon no less, but still leaves me about 1.5 seconds I need to get rid of. handeling I can tell won't be a problem. This thing eats up road real good with no more than a tire pressure adjustment. I can only imagine suspension componet upgrades. It's the power I'm concerned about, or I should say "speed"<BR>I would be happy with a [email protected]???mph what can I do to get there. Also one last thing how do you get these front wheel drive cars to launch off the line quickly. It's proving to be difficult. Please offer some suggestions. Thanks.<BR>MIKE<BR>

 

[Washington Irving]

There are plenty of upgrades to help you go fast. You might need more than the ECU to get where you want to be, especially with your wife and kids in the car. Check out <A HREF="http://www.easternaerospace.com" TARGET=_blank>www.easternaerospace.com</A> for other ideas.<P>

 

[Kai]

Eastern Aerospace??!! That should not be considered as part of 'other ideas.' Unless, you don't know jack and would like to get rippe off for nothing. C'mon, this guy has a 13 second Z28(which is not uncommon)...you think he'll be silly enough to fall for EA? <P>You gotta be the very few people on the Net promoting for EA.<P>It's true...Mike, you would need more than just the ECU and catback to do flat 14s.

 

[97R]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have checked out eastern areospace and they have some cool stuff and neat ideas, but the power gains they list for their mods are in my opinion grossly optimistic. And do seem a bit pricy like The-one-and-only pointed out. It was so easy to get the camaro in the 13s. But I am dealing with about 210 less cubic inches.(ouch!) And I'm sure when those swede's sat down to design the front suspension low 60ft time never crossed their minds. On a positive note though, has anyone ever heard a a NOS system that gives full spray at lower rpm's(vacuume in intake) and slowly bleeds off till no more nos at full boost. Sounds like a neat system to me. One thing I did learn with my camaro is that you don't need tons of horsepower to be quick, it most certainly helps but traction can win races. Getting the most out of what you got type of thing. Anyway I guess I'm looking forward to a challange and keep the segustions coming. I'm gonna need them. Thanks<BR>MIKE

 

[towerymt]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by The_one_n_only:<BR><B>Eastern Aerospace??!! That should not be considered as part of 'other ideas.' Unless, you don't know jack and would like to get [ripped] off for nothing. </B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I was trying to think of a nicer way to say that, but I can't.<P>Here are a couple more sites to check out for ideas and/or parts sources. The auto trans probably can't handle over 300HP, in case you're planning on having that much power.<BR> <A HREF="http://www.volvotuning.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.volvotuning.com</A> <A HREF="http://www.samsteffansson.se" TARGET=_blank>http://www.samsteffansson.se</A> <A HREF="http://www.volvospeed.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.volvospeed.com</A> <P>

 

[97R]

Towerymt, I am aware of the max 300hp tranny issue. I'm hoping that I can reach my goal with around 250hp at the wheels. Thats how much my camaro made at the wheels and it beat alot of car with more, only because the suspension was built more than the motor and I could hook up off the line and still blow then away on a road course. I have checked out those sites and I have moved the horns, and made a cheap ram-air and put a K&N filter in the air box. Also I removed the screen from the mass air meter. I just pushed it out from the back all in one pieace, easy. I also adjusted the wastgate, and I understand the debate if it really helps or not, But the car has not gotten slower and it feels quicker, I think. Perhaps it's just wishfull thinking. Anyway thanks for the reply.

 

[Washington Irving]

Providing a link for somebody is hardly promoting. I did assume that he was inteligent enough to make his own informed decisions.<P>Who do you know who was silly enough to fall for EA? What was the nature of the rip off?<P><P>

 

[Washington Irving]

Ok, that is two people who who discredit EA. I wasn't promoting anything, just trying to keep another question from going unanswered.<P>Now, I've been to all of the links here in this thread, and to some that aren't. I consider it wise to be skeptical of all of these tuners. For any of them to make the claims that they do, I expect them to back it up. I would also expect that people with the first hand knowledge (The_one_n_only and towerymt) could provide more than what was provided here. Seems like EA is an inside joke. That may be waranted, but the rest of us will never know without more details than "they suck" and "yeah, what he said".<P>

 

[towerymt]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Washington Irving:<BR><B>Seems like EA is an inside joke.</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>One of the things that people don't like about EA (other than generous HP claims and some high prices) is that they would sometimes advertise on the Brickboard aftermarket forum by post things like "EA has this product and it's great. go check it out", as if it was coming from a customer. OK, that may sound strange but it's kind of hard to explain.<P>I remember one time when someone from EA posted at the BB about a hood scoop that they had just started selling. Most of the responses were negative, ranging from price ($249! for a hood scoop!) to the fact that it's made from aluminum and corrosion could be a factor between the hood and the scoop or the screws used to hold it on. Others were bewildered at the thought of cutting a hole in the hood of their Volvo, and I pointed out that JC Whitney sells a similar item made from ABS plastic at 1/5 of the EA price.<P>I've only been reading the Brickboard for maybe a year, and most of the stuff about EA happened before I got there. One of the other incidents I witnessed on the BB was an all out flame war between someone from EA and a former customer. It stemmed from a complaint that someone had about the way he was treated on the phone by EA. To say the least, it didn't make Eastern Aerospace look very good.<P>I've never dealt with EA, but I've read many opinions from other people and I've seen enough to make my own judgment, which is that I will look elsewhere for performance parts.<P>

 

[Washington Irving]

Thanks towerymt, that is good info. <P>I agree that EA posting topics in a forum under the guise of a customer testemonial is NOT cool. Losing their cool (EA) in a public argument sounds unfortunate. Nothing like looking bad in front of your entire market all in one shot. I'll bet they wish they handled it better. Flame wars are part of life on forums. They can start so easily. Seems that it takes great care to make a point without it being taken wrong.<P>Personally, I am not interested in power gains so much as handling and braking. The only thing I thought was interesting was the machine work that EA does, that I did not see elsewhere. That is what I meant by "other options" (not "alternative to ECU upgrade"). I could see those prices as fair from the point of view of a small business owner. I charge about $400 for a day of work, and I have no overhead. If I had to buy machine tools and rent a shop, I'd charge a good bit of money for that service or I wouldn't eat. Of course, if I couldn't produce the advertised result, I wouldn't/shouldn't last long.<P>I believe that sharing this kind of info is healthy for this forum to last. I suspect that if I hadn't brought up the subject, there may not have been any replies.<P>Thanks again for your point of view.<BR><P>

 

[[email protected]]

The TME chip and exhaust will put you just shy of the 300hp mark. We just sent off the ECU for our 854R yesterday for the upgrade and the exhaust is ready to go on the car. I'll have to get my hands on a Gtech to let you know how it goes.<P>As for traction, the fwd is somewhat limiting I suppose. I think Heico Sportiv has a limited slip differential for these cars, and they have a distributor for the US now. <P>their url is <A HREF="http://www.mgracing.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.mgracing.com</A> . I have no experience with this company or with the Heico LSD. Good luck.

 

[97R]

George, seems like you and I both have the same idea for our cars. I'd be very interested to know how your 854R runs with the upgrades you listed. Have you done a base line G-TECH run with your car to compare before and after runs. My best like I posted above was a 15.2 but I spun my tires like crazy. I'll look into that new differential and see what thats all about. Also using street slicks form BFG or nitto may prove to be usefull in off the line traction. Anyway I hope your car runs strong and thanks for the reply.<BR>MIKE

 

[[email protected]]

What tires are you running now? I've got the Yokohoma Paradas on it and they don't spin too easily on dry pavement in a straight line.<P>As for the TME chip, if you are looking for all out 0-60 times, you may be curious about one thing I have heard about it. Off the line, I have been told the chip feels weaker because they dial back the boost to ease wear and tear on the tranny. I haven't driven it yet to verify this, but that's what I've heard. I would imagine that means that off the line runs might be not as impressive when looking at numbers as say a rolling run.<P>I have not used a G-tech on the car, and now I won't be able to unfortunately. I may do pre and post exhaust runs though as the car doesn't have the exhaust on yet.

 

[97R]

George, the tire's that came on the car when I got it are yokohama A520's 205-45-17. I only get tire spin if I load the tranny up and bring the needle on the boost gauge to the middle, just before the white. Then I release the brake and roll onto the gas. Using this method I got my best time, but I think I'm just going to have to live with tire spin on hard acceleration form a stand still. If the ecm upgrade does do as you say, I can live with that. So long as it's faster though and I'm sure it will be. Thanks.<BR>MIKE<P>

 

[Prospero]

Hey George, <BR>Are you swapping ECU's with IPD or are you sending yours out to be programmed and then sent back to you when complete? And idea on turn-around time? I am planning on doing mine in 3-weeks as well as exhaust, power slot brakes, new headlight lenses, timing belt, and side turn signals. The following month I may do HID headlights. (I've been saving my pennies!) BTW, is your R still doing that funny 1st start thing?<P>Prospero

 

[[email protected]]

Matt, yes it still runs kind of oddly when you first start it up, sometimes not turning over on the first try. I'll see if the new chip does anything differently, and I may run some injector cleaner. After that, I'll have a shop try to diagnose it.<P>I fedexed my ECU to them last Thursday afternoon. I'll let you know how fast I get it once it's returned. I figured I'd call out there to check on it. I opted to keep my particular ECU, so I sent mine it and am letting the car sit for a few days rather than using their core charge program.<P>I also got the power slots and teh PBRs, though they aren't on the car yet either. I need a free weekend to do the installs.<P>As for the HIDs, we could start a thread on that alone. I've been doing some research, and I have some reservations about doing the mod to the car.

 

[Prospero]

Sounds good to me. <P>AS far as the HID, let me guess...you are concerned with blinding other drivers since there are no beam correctors.? I have the same concern. I figure that there should be a way with some creative use of polished stainless baffles behing the lens. I will have to think about it for a while though. It may not be worth it in the long run. Getting the car to pass inspection in the future will be difficult once the HID lamps are in.<P>Prospero

 

[[email protected]]

You're right. I've been also looking at factory HIDs for our VW Golf. The trick is that most cars with HIDs have auto-levelers, so even with a heavy load in the back, you won't blind people. I see the handiness of such a feature and because of this, I am now a little more skeptical than I was earlier.

 

[turboale]

I was looking at the Audiworld A4 forum the other day, and there was a guy that did the Xenon swap, and said that it was horrible. He even changed back to his original bulbs while he waited for his euro lenzes to come in. It will be interesting to see what there is to do about the problem. Espcially since we can't order a nifty euro conversion like the a4 ppl can.<P><P>

 

[[email protected]]

Heck, the A4 people can order a US Xenon setup.<P>Check out the foglight thread adjoining this one. Perhaps the anwer is Xenon auxillary lighting in the form of foglights.