brickboy

I used to have a S40 T4 (hence my username). In the UK this is the full-power 200BHP turbo, we also had the 165BHP 'light-pressure' turbo model. I don't know which one you get in Oz.

If yours is a 2.0T, you can use normal unleaded (95 octane in the UK) all the time with no performance penalty. If it's a full -power T4 you **must** use Optimax or SUL (97 / 98 Octane) all the time if you want full performance.

Without Optimax / SUL the T4 and T5 lose around 10% BHP. It will not do any damage, as the ECU simply restricts boost and alters timing, but you won't get full power.

Try the following mods which make a nice difference to throttle response:

The wastegate actuator is usually set up quite "soft" to give more progressive boost. You can change this to get faster spool-up and less lag.

Remove turbo heatshield (3 bolts). Remove spring clip on wastegate actuator arm but DON'T pull arm off wastegate yet. Loosen locknut on wastegate rod extension piece (10mm nut). Then lift actuator arm off wastegate GENTLY. Shorten rod by two complete turns. Replace actuator arm on wastegate. Retighten locknut, replace spring. 30 minutes max, even taking it slow.

If you like, you can give it an extra turn but I wouldn't go more than 3 turns.

If that's not enough, rather than a Dawes, contact www.Kalmar-Union.com in London, Don Norchi there does a bleed valve specifically for the Volvo turbos. The bleed hole is sized so that boost doesn't get out of control. About £40 UK IIRC. Never tried this but a mate did, and liked it. A lot The problem with these is traction

The Volvo boost management / ECU set up is pretty sophisticated, and there's quite a lot of margin built in. You'll know if you've gone too far, you'll get a "Check Engine" light. If this happens, just wind back your settings one turn. Waiting for 30 minutes or so with engine off will usually reset the Check Engine unless it's a sensor problem.

Removing the foam lining from the airbox helps breathing a bit, and you can hear the turbo better too Don't bother with a K&N or similar replacement filter, the OE Volvo one is fine. However, if your filter has the black foam stuck onto it, peel it off carefully. Makes a small but noticeable difference.

DON'T bother with an aftermarket dump valve, the Mitsu turbo has a built-in recirculating type which works fine.

Don't bother with special spark plugs, the OE Volvo ones work fine and last a long time. If your car is a bit older, it's worth checking the gaps though. They like to be at 0.75mm / 30 thou exactly.

Oh, and make sure all the turbo and recirc valve hoses are not kinked or trapped. When I got mine from new, a couple of the hoses were badly routed and trapped, which was affecting performance.

[Edited by brickboy - 12/10/2002 10:17:30 AM]

brickboy

The big thing is the wastegate actuator adjustment -- when I had my T4, checking with other owners showed that the set up of these varied a lot from car to car.

Even the basic 165bhp model can be pretty lively once it's dialled in right. As mentioned, the bleed valve from Don Norchi at Kalmar Union (based West London) is the best tuning route.

You can turn up the wick quite a long way on the Volvos 'cos the intercoolers on these cars are truck-sized (unlike the pissy little ones on a Scoob) which keeps things nice and cool in our climate, anyway.

You can get ECU & exhaust upgrades from Kalmar Union too, but for both of those you're looking at nearly £1000. £50 and an hour of time will put a smile on your dad's face

[Edited by brickboy - 12/10/2002 3:22:04 PM]

BarkingMad

Can anyone give me some advice on increasing power on a Volvo V40. Sticking a MBC seems to be the cheap easy way of doing it...

But I have no idea about these motors and don't know how far I can go...

Any advice please?

BarkingMad

Thanks heaps for the advice mate...

It's a three year old UK 2.0T 200hp... My dads car, and all he's done since he bought it is whinge how slow and boring it is...

I am going to be in the UK in a couple of weeks time and have promised him I will try and pep it up a bit for him (besides I am going to have to drive it around for a few weeks!!).

BarkingMad

Thanks mate..

Mark Miwurdz

Brickboy

Interesting......

Following on a Swedish theme, can you get similar spectacular gains on a Saab?

Cheers
Kav

carl

Saabs (the old ones) used to be particularly simple to tune as they had analog boost control. 238bhp was easy to get from a 900T16.

brickboy

Mark, yes you can -- the Saab and Volvo boost management systems are similar in principle, although they use different components.

Your best bet for advice is saabnet -- there's a lively performance section there, and Dawes and other MBCs are popular and discussed regularly. There are also sections devoted to old and new generation 900s, the 9000s and the newer 9-3s etc.

Apparently all turbo Saabs up to and including early 9-3 and 9-5s respond very well to wastegate actuator adjustment and use of MBCs. Again, big intercoolers etc help.

Edited to say that wastegate actuator etc doesn't increase power, but makes the car feel quicker because throttle response is sharper at all speeds. Power gains come with MBCs etc.

Once again, the big problem appears to be traction

[Edited by brickboy - 12/12/2002 9:29:46 AM]

[Edited by brickboy - 12/12/2002 9:31:15 AM]