Thanks to the advice given to me on this forum I have purchased a very nice 1987 850 R (white, 120k).
Are there any engine mods that are available for the "R" models ?
Any other suggestions would be appreciated, however, this car is very stock and I'd like to keep it that way.
Thanks, Jim

 

I have a white 97 R and it runs great without any mods.

Congrats on finding that car. They are not that easy to find and 120K is really good.

 

Theres a few things you can do to get considerable gain. Basically just increasing the air flow to and from the motor should get you to the point where your car is fast as bleep. If your car hasnt had a timing belt change you should definitely do that now before you mod anything. Check the useful information sticky and if you make a checklist of all that stuff and do it, your car should be one hot ride. Theres literally hundreds of different things you can do to your 850. Lets get some pics too!

 

Yes there are engine mods...

1. Start with STAGE ZERO.

Full stage 0 list:
Plugs
cap/rotor
oil/transflush
filter (oil)
hoses (the little vac lines)
samco hose kit (Turbo Models ONLY)
02 sensors
fuel pumps
clean injectors
clean IC/IC plumbing (Turbo Models ONLY)
Air filter
plug wires
Turbo Vac/Boost gauge, one that can read 25 In Hg and 25 PSI.

This will get your car up and running like it should be so it can take on the added stress from the performance parts.

2. 3" mandrel bent downpipe to a 2.5" to 3" mandrel bent catback system with a free flowing non baffled muffler. Mandrel bends equal better flow. If you want to add a IPD USA and or EuroSportTuning Short Ram Intake (SRI) go ahead, but it wont add much of anything but sound. Or you could create your own custom CAI. None available for our cars except the s40/c30 models. I'd have a local muffler shop that can mandrel bend make you the downpipe and catback system. Also known as a TURBOBACK exhaust system. Since it goes from the turbo all the way to the back...

3. Finally ECU upgrade. RICA, IPD USA, BSR, three best tuning companies on the market for our Volvo's. Best developed and researched as well. Upsolute, Inmotion, SpeedTuning USA three other tuners less quality less researched less developed also cost significantly less then the first three.

Do an ECU upgrade last as it will incorporate all the other mods you have done and gain the most power from everything.

The above are your typical mods and the most proven... Below are some other mods that are also proven.

-FMIC (Front Mount Intercooler), no pre made kits on the market really just piece one together and go from there.

- Larger turbo (You already have an HPT (High Pressure Turbo) but you can always go larger) and 18T and or 19T would do the trick but with these you want to think about internals being upgraded.

 

I would start with 3" turbo back and an air intake. I beg to differ with the air intake, I think there are noticeable gains with the air intake, they won't be high end gains but off the line gains. It's going to be hard to keep the car stock if you want to do mods to it. But with an SRI and exhaust you'd probably be pretty happy with that.

If you really want to upgrade your turbo you can. It's not the boost that kills engines with the 19T, it's how fast they spool up and that's when they bend your rods. You can run a 19T, you just have to watch your self. There are a lot of people that run 19T on stock internals. But if you really want to go that far, that's when you need bigger injectors and a tune, and should have a FMIC. And would be a good idea to invest in some gauges then because when your running that much power in stock internals you need to know what's going on under the hood.