i am buying a volvo eventually and im trying to find a decent one. a question i have right now is if i bought an auto 740 turbo how do the transmissions do with a boosted engine and an enthusiastic driver(thats the ony word i could think about using). im going to be looking into doing everything but the turbo upgrade. the reason why im looking at getting one of these is because i like the idea of having a RWD turbo car. would love a 5spd but there are way more autos out there.

let me know guys thank you.

 

well...they come from the factory boosted so...I'd say they hold up pretty well.

 

M46 4 speed with electronic overdrive has a 250hp cut off, maybe less if you drive it really hard. M47 has an even lower cutoff. Thats why the big boys run t5's and getrags. The auto's can actually hold more power than the manuals.

 

hey thanks guy this brodens my horizons alot. if you have anymore to tell me about these cars when you start putting more power to them let me know.

 

The stock auto is good for decent torque BUT you MUST service it regularly, the turbo engines have no lockup convertor so heat the oil more.
Stock trans oil coolers are poor on Volvos, put a big one in and run synthetic fluid.
Trans fluid should be drained every 40k kms according to the manuals and with any auto, it greatly extends their lives if you do.
There are also a couple of very easy, free shift mods you can do to reduce slippage on shifts that will also extend the life quite a bit.
If the trans should die, they are a very cheap trans to rebuild and any auto trans specialist has seen these boxes before, they are quite common.
So, as with any auto, if you service it regularly, put a good big cooler on it, and don't abuse it horrendously daily (brake jobs) it'll last quite well.

Regards, Andrew.

 

awesome! i already read about the overdrive issues with the cars and i read about the solonoid block off and would be planning that to be one of the first mods done im not huge for overdrives anyway.

 

To be honest, the overdrives don't fail much and when they do, they are cheap to fix. Why not have overdrive?
My Turbo loves the overdrive, returns 10l/100km on the highway and will blast up any hill on the freeway in OD at 2500-2700 rpm. It just builds boost, doesn't kick down and goes.
It's quite cool having the cruise control on, watching the boost gauge go up as teh hill is climbed, but nothing else changes.

Regards, Andrew.

 

hmmm i never thought of it that way. i always was under the impression that the overdrive gear in an auto trans is small and weak. it is better to keep it turned off then to run around with it shifting in and out. but that was about the chrysler transmission in the pre 00 rams and grands. if it doesnt bother too much then im not going to worry about it right off.