1998 Volvo C70 HPT Coupe.
Automatic (sadly)
99,XXX miles
1 Owner (retired 1 owner 70 yr old physician)
All records/maintenance @ local Volvo dealership since new
Purchased for $9K.

A little history about myself- have been modifying cars, for a little over 10 years- Have gone through the drag strip, Solo 2, Autocross 'phases'.
I'm comming from a VW background, had a mk4 1.8T GTI prior to this vehicle which was my summer only car.

My goal with the Volvo is to make it as a daily driver RELIABLE vehicle. Naturally I would like to do some 'mild' modifications, basic bolt-ons mostly.

Chipping the car: Most likely will go with SpeedTunningUSA, or Upsolute- My question/concern, mostly would be the automatic tranny, those of you who have chipped your C70 (automatic) have you had any issues with tranny at all after doing so?

Turbo system- Basically planning to get a set of Samco hoses- and thats about it.
I need to know whether this turbo system runs a Blowoff Valve, or recirculates with a DiverterValve, and if anyone has added one to maintain a higher PSI boost.

Otherwise, thats about it-perhaps a set of 18" wheels, to fill the gap I have...like I said, I want this to be a daily driver.

After the "Stage Zero" has been completed, I'll start these basics.

Any feedback on the tranny reliability when chipped?

Thanks guys,
ryan

 

Welcome to the forum we will all be glad to help you out.

1. Chipping the car you have done so research which is good. SpeedTuning USA and Upsolute are on the cheap end of Volvo ECU tuning. You will get your bang for the buck, but will run RICH. I would save the money and spend it on IPD USA or RICA. They have done the most R&D of any companies that tune for Volvo. As far as your tranny goes it can hold up to like 350-400 Hp. So with the chip upgrade you will be fine. I have a ST USA ecu upgrade in my 1999 s70 awd and have had no problems with my tranny yet.

2. SAMCO hoses are great and they wont disappoint. I would also look into the Stlyin Motors Turbo hose kits as well as their vaccum line kits. Great company great customer service and great products. I have both the turbo hoses and vaccum lines and love them.

Volvo's turbo system runs what is called a CBV (Compressor Bypass Valve) "A compressor bypass valve (CBV) also known as a compressor relief valve is a vacuum-actuated valve designed to release pressure in the intake system of a turbocharged or centrifugally supercharged car when the throttle is lifted or closed. This air pressure is re-circulated back into the non-pressurized end of the intake (before the turbo) but after the mass airflow sensor."

You can run a BOV. There are three options. One weld it to your Upper Intercooler Pipe, the one that goes over the engine and into the turbo. Two since you have a 1998 and are not into the ETM system like us 1999+ guys place it as close to the throttle body as possible. Or three buy the SAMCO hose that has the BOV fitting and buy the SAMCO BOV to go with it. I believe you can run other BOV's with this hose but some special work might be needed to make it fit right. Also you may want to think about blocking off your CBV with what is called a Blanking plate. You can run the CBV and BOV at the same time, but most people will blank the CBV and jus run the BOV. I was running both and had no problems. I would recommend BOV's from HKS (HKS SSQV), TIAL and the SAMCO BOV as well. With the first two BOV options you will either have to run a seperate vaccum line to the BOV and or if you blank the CBV take the vaccum line from the CBV and run it to the BOV.

Of course when you chip a car any car your putting more stress on it which will decrease the life of the engine for sure. How much who knows everyones situation will be different. Also please tell me your getting a boost gauge as well when you do STAGE ZERO. It will help you out a lot.

18" rims and tires will look great and add a little performance as well. What brands are you looking into? TireRack, DiscountTireDirect both sells rims for Volvo's.

 

S70driver, thanks for the welcome and info-

As for chipping the car, SpeedTunning USA or Upsolute are essentially the price range I was looking at which is roughly 400-450. IPD was running close to $900- which is not much of an option for me.

A local reputable tuner here in town has his own program which basically matches all of the old REVO programs, as well as Eurodynes.
His program is $400 which will safely bring up my hp to roughly 286/302 tq for $400. A few guys in town are running this program, and run rich at Wot, and a solid stoich (sp?) for daily driving. Never have I seen their AF gauges plumet to lean (mind you they're not running a wideband)

I allready have my gauges from my VW I'll be using on the C70 (oil press. boost. and AF)

As far as I've read I believe stock boost is roughly 9psi?

Thanks greatly for the infor about the CBV, and the available Samco Kit which incorporate the BOV, aswell as the vac. lines- basic upgrades as such are my goals.
I'm not looking to toss a huge turbo on it and break records ;-)

Do these cars run on a "ignition coilpack" system, or distributor?
Also, which sparkplugs are you guys runing after the car has been chipped, and at what gap?

thanks again!
I'll post up pics once I get a chance :-D

Ryan

 

Yes the HPT makes around 9-10 pounds of boost. 15-17 PSI will be just fine on your HPT to run with an ECU upgrade.

SpeedTuning USA = $325
Upsolute = $425

Is your A/F gauge narrow or wideband? If narrow sell it and get a wideband. If wideband good choice on an a/f gauge that actually tells you something.

By tossing a bigger turbo on your car your going to bend rods without modding other things in the engine. People have bent rods in these Volvo's not just a c70 with 18T and 19T turbos.

Your spark plugs should be fine if you replace them during your STAGE ZERO. OEM should do you just fine. As far as gap goes I'm not sure someone else will have to tell you that.