Hi All,

I have a 1998 V70 non turbo with 97k miles. It is a great car and I love driving it. But I was wondering what would be good performance mods to this car. I think it cuises excellent on the highway and when I put my foot on it at highway speeds it really takes off. But since I drive mostly city with freeway driving mixed in, I find it a little lacking from a stop. In fact I find that some of the smaller imports stock out accelerate me. So any advice would be great.

Thanks, Bo

 

Sell it and buy a Turbo model. This has been talked about many times on this board and there really isn't much you can do within a reasonable expense. I'm serious when I say it's cheaper to sell it for as much as you can get and then put that money right back into a turbo model. By the way if your 98 V70 is a GLT it does have the low pressure turbo.

 

I agree sell it and buy a turbo model.

NA models will not even come close to what a stock turbocharged model makes stock. Yeah you can upgrade an NA and yeah you will gain some power. However it wont be enough to even talk about.

1. 2.25"-2.5" catback system with a Flowmaster muffler or a performance muffler with baffles in it. Your NA so you want backpressure and a straight through design muffler like Magnaflow wont give that to you.

2. QBM's cam timing tool.

3. Lighten your car up a lot.

4. K&N panel filter or custom intake.

5. ECU upgrade, yes some places make NA ecu upgrades. However you wont gain buy maybe 5-10 Hp from them. Unlike the turbo ECU upgrade where you get way way more.

These ideas are within reason. However you be anywhere near a stock turbos power. Again I suggest selling your NA and buying an already turbocharged Volvo. You wont be disappointed.

 

Thanks for the reply, what you are saying is what I was afraid of. I really love the car and just spent about $1500 in a new stereo. I think I will probably hang on to it for another year or so and look for a turbo model. I kind of dig the xc cross country, what do you think,

Thanks,
Bo

 

I like the V70R better than the XC. I really prefer just the T5 to any though for 98. I'm looking for a 98 V70 T5 M in red with charcoal interior. 2nd choice would be same car in white. Has to be five speed though.

 

If you want a turbo model do not go for the XC. Even though they do come turboed you wont be happy.

1998 models are what your looking for. Turbo, T5 and R versions are what you need to look for.

 

How do you make sure that a car is a T5, in my area a 98 R model is available with about 160k on it and they want something like $7k. What would be a good price and mileage for one of these. I drive alot so trouble free is the key.

Thanks

 

The T5 does not have AWD while the R does for the model year 98. The T5 is harder to find. The other model that is a low pressure turbo is the V70 GLT, which is what I have. It's a good car and does not give me any trouble and we put about 25K a year on it. They have to be maintained properly though. I would try and find one with less mileage if you are going to be putting quite a few miles on it. 160K is getting up there and you can find them with less miles for about the same price, maybe a little more.

If you want a car you can just drive lots of miles with very little expense, I would get and Accord or a Camry. Any European car is going to cost more to maintain. I sold my Japanese cars though and now have all Volvo's. When I go out to go to work in the morning and a Volvo is sitting there and some other regular car is sitting there, I'm taking a Volvo 90% of the time. So I sold the others and now have three Volvo's.

 

Went out and did a little lookup and found that the 98's do use the VIN number much like the 850's do, but use different numbers. Look at the 6th and 7th position of the VIN and the following values will tell what engine it has:

53 = T5 HPT with 236HP and FWD
52 = R with 236 HP and AWD
55 = Non Turbo 168 HP FWD
56 = Low Pressure Turbo 190 HP Used for both GLT FWD and XC AWD

I would stay away from the ones with 55 and 56 with AWD.