Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum and I am interested in aC70, possibly new model. I have been a Benz owner for 7 years and I havealways wanted a C70 but dislike front wheel drive and lack of hp. My current car is a 2006 E350. I am looking to get into a C70 within a few months so any insight would be great. I am mainly interested in boosting HP. Is it possible to get 350-400 hp from a C70 without impacting daily driving? I really like the coupe vs. convertible so I may go pre-owned. Which in turn will save me some cash for upgrades. I look forward to hearing from members that has successfully upgraded their performance.

In addition,howdoes the interior materialshold up over time?All myprevious Mercedes have held up rather nicely and that is about the only part of MB that impresses me... service is horrible to say the least...

Thanks,
Anthony

Included current car photo to show the look I like... sporty but mature... if you will..

[IMG]local://upfiles/9049/46575331D2034B448EDF336090226854.jpg[/IMG]

 

1. Welcome

2. Get a 1998 C70 HPT (High Pressure Turbo). There was an LPT (Low Pressure Turbo) but try and find an HPT. Why I say a 1998 is because after 1998 Volvos came with an ETM (Electronic Throttle Module). This is bad news and you wont want to deal with it when modding a newer Volvo.

3. You can sqeeze about 300 Hp out of a C70 before you need to do internal engine work. If you don't beef up your internals say bye bye.

4. Do not buy anything from VMS (VolvoMotorSports).

5. Look through the links provided here, https://volvoforums.com/m_38606/tm.htm

6. What is your budget after you buy the c70 for mods?

7. We know what your HP goal is now too which is great.

These are the mods I would look into...

A. 3" mandrel bent downpipe
B. 3" mandrel bent catback exhaust system with a free flowing muffler like a Magnaflow.
C. Green injectors from a s60R.
D. FMIC (FrontMountIntercooler)
E. Definetly a bigger turbo. 18T/19T, but I would seriously look into a Garret turbo some like a Garret GT35R or something in and around there.
F. Your going to want a custom tune for this as well. Your going to want to dyno tune this for sure. Meaning take your stock car to a dyno and do a few pulls. Get A/F ratios with it so you know what your baseline is. Then when you have all your new parts installed dyno tune it. Meaning while your dynoing your tuning the car at the same time. This will be a better tune then IPD, RICA, Upsolute, SpeedTuning USA, Inmotion, BSR can give you. The tuning is the most important step with this and you don;t do it right don't do it at all, because you will really screw up the car.
G. Walbro fuel pump, a bigger one. I think the 255 not sure.
H. Ported and polished intake and exhaust manifolds. Gasket matched as well. Unless you have some custom ones made.
I. I believe the throttle body on the HPT and LPT model were smaller then a NA 70 series Volvo. I would install a NA throttle body as well.

Some other odds and ends you might want to think about adding would be...

A. Boost gauge ( http://www.egauges.com ) this is the place to buy them.
B. Wideband 02 gauge, this will def. be needed. You will want you know your A/F ratios and a Narrowband wont cut it. Again get it from, ( http://www.egauges.com ).
C. EGT gauge ( http://www.egauges.com )
D. For a pod go to ( http://www.gaugepods.com ). Buy the triple gauge pod for the 70 series Volvos. Then send your triple gauge pod and OEM A-pillar to, http://www.rodpods.net/
He will custom mold the triple gauge pod to the stock A-pillar for a very custom very OEM look. Yes you have to do this unless you do another mounting system on the c70 models.
E. Silicone vaccum lines and silicone turbo hoses.
F. Aquamist system (IPD USA sells this)
G. BOV (Blow Off Valve). Your going to be running higher boost so your going to want a good BOV. Don't go with Turbo XS. I would get a TIAL. Or an HKS SSQV.

Also your going to want to stop quickly and handle better with the boosted power...

A. BBK (Big Brake Kit). I would go with the Porsche BBK from various vendors. Check the link I gave you for website links.
B. SS brake lines
C. IPD sway bars (Best suspension mod you can do)
D. Coilovers (KW coilovers) or just a nice spring and shock.strut combo.
E. Strut brace (A few vendors sell them)
F. QBM (QuickBrickMotorsports) Extreme sway bar endlinks

On a side note this will not be cheap. Nothing for Volvos is cheap. Expect to dish out the cash for this project.

 

WOW.. a lot of info... Thanks!

I looked up the 1998 models and they seem very reasonable. I only want to spend about 10K for upgrades after the initial purchase. I would be willing to go to 15K if I can reach my power number or just get into the low to mid 13s with a C70. I need it to be reliable and fast... I guess getting a high mileage car wouldn't matter if I am going have the engine worked...?? What about transmission concerns, will it handle this much power?

Keep in mind... I am not intending race this on weekends at the track (drag) but just use the 1/4 mile times as a reference... THANKS AGAIN.

 

The transmission should be good up till 300Hp.

After that your going to want to look into upgrading the tranny. Level 10 does this and they have different stage setups for trannies.

$10-$15K in mods will do you very well.

 

Not to mention that when your running this high of HP and torque your going to want a transmission Temp gauge to monitor your tranny temps.