Track day antics!

Laid up for a couple of days with a Winter flu is not much fun, but I have to confess it’s a nice chance to browse the Gumtree Volvo adds and alike. I should be thankful to my wife for many things, the very least of which is the fact that I only own 2 Volvo’s. Heaven forbid, if she wasn’t around there would be no room at my house. Potentially an ugly scenario given that I could fit about 10 cars between the front an back yards. Yep, I’ve thought about it!

I’m inspired by the commitment of Volvo enthusiasts advertisements, the cars that have been dearly cared for, the others which make a statement, like the 240 wagon with 5 litre LS1 that up for grabs at the moment. I feel sad at the lack of love and care shown to some fabulous old girls, and a few of the more modern ones too. I’m horrified by the failure to get the facts right. God knows how many of us are scanning the Volvo Manual Transmission adds for that rare manual transmission. For goodness sake, look at the bloody gear stick before you list it as a Manual transmission, or maybe count the pedals. I’m sure I could rabbit on all day so I’ll leave it with these last two whinges. If it’s a 5 cylinder but doesn’t have a turbo then don’t list it as a T5, it’s not that hard really! and if you’re selling an S60/V70 2001 t0 2003 with and auto transmission that’s acting up a little just come clean, “may need a transmission service” is a nice approach but realistically the following wording would be more appropriate “transmission most likely stuffed – Good luck” 🙂

Moving on, I’ve simply been enjoying my time with the old girl of late, not my wife, the car! I’ve not undertaken any significant work or modification for a couple of months. During this time she’s completed 2 more track days at Wakefield Park raceway and driven me to and from work each day, and I must add, without fault.

The track days were the first opportunity to run the car with some earlier changes including the newly fitted Bilstein B6s, the wheel and tyre package and the NA cams. In a straight line, she’s quite fast! The main straight is around 700mtrs in length. By the time you get to the 400 metre mark you’re at about 160kph and starting to think about backing off as you approach a gentle kink.

Overall lap times are a little less impressive. Firstly the driver, me, knows very little about driving this thing fast on this track, and secondly, the general lack of grip, primarily turning and acceleration.

Given that scenario I spent about 15 minutes with a suitably qualified instructor seated beside me providing some valuable instruction and assisting with improved lap times. Gotta say how beneficial this was, with some immediate improvements in lap times and making it a more enjoyable experience. In my particular instance I’d say there were three issues that made a nice change to the results. I learned to brake much later and harder than I had been doing previously. Also, using the brakes as you turn in across the apex to assist in maintaining grip and finally, positioning the vehicle more appropriately on the track as you approach braking areas.

Coming to understand the limits of the car was a key aspect in making this a far more challenging and enjoyable experience. I guess it probably goes without saying but you have to get to a point where you can trust the car to do what you know it can. When you develop that confidence, then you feel far more comfortable in pushing the limits a little.

In terms of further mods to improve track performance, the fitment of a good set of semi slicks would provide the simplest and most beneficial performance gain from here. I do fear however, that if I start to chase lap times and make this the focus of future mods, the journey will never end. I have to remind myself that this is about enjoying the experience and the car, celebrating the personal involvement and investment, whilst not getting too caught up in the lap times. The truth is there will always be someone out there faster than you, not to mention with a lot more money.

I might add though that it’s also really cool to be able to put the 20 year old Volvo out there and gain some attention, which she does, and most often for the sweet sound of her 5 cylinder growl.

I’ve not as yet had the opportunity to get back on the dyno following the cam change, but figure if I keep posting on this subject then I’ll eventually get to it. Did I notice a change on the track since swapping to the NA cams? I think so, she continues to feel a little more punchy in the midrange.

I’ve little more to add at this time except how much I continue to enjoy getting behind the wheel each day. I’m sensing the M56 gearbox may be feeling a little more weary following the track days but before I get too concerned I’ll put through some fresh oil and re-grease the gear linkages. It’s nothing significant, just feels a little notchy on these cold mornings.

Next step, get back to the dyno and see how she compares to previous results.

 

NA cam swap

I’d resisted undertaking the NA cam swap modification for 2 years. During that time I’ve read more on this particular subject via forum posts etc, than just about any other Volvo 850 turbo modification, and I’ve read a lot of stuff!

Researching the subject is a little like looking through the proverbial haystack to find the  needle. That needle being some valuable accurate information relevant to setting up the NA cams and expectation around performance improvements.

Digging through that haystack will uncover a multitude of information that is just not right! To add to this there are many thoughts and opinions as to what is helpful, unhelpful, needful, unnecessary etc etc. For example the belief that there is something special about 93 model NA cams. There just doesn’t seem to be any substance for that belief.

Before I launch into my own experience it’s worth noting that the performance gains from this modification are not huge. You may even end up with a performance loss. 😦 There are too many variables and variations of engine/turbo combination to be able to say do this and you will definitely get that.

Changing the cams may provide the potential to improve HP and torque but if you don’t get the cam timing right it won’t serve any benefit. If you’re reading this then you’ve probably already delved into the conjecture around valve overlap and associated advantages and disadvantages, which is all related to cam timing.

The bottom line for knowing if you got it right may well be the need to compare HP and torque results from a dyno. And how many of us have a dyno in our backyard. Only dyno I have is in my back side and it’s incredibly inconsistent.

Before concluding that I’m saying the mod is not worth pursuing, I’m not saying that at all. I’m a great believer in squeezing out lots of small performance gains for the greater good. What I am saying is that you might just need to work a little harder at fiddling with the variables. It’s not like bolting in a new inter-cooler, where you’re gains are a given.

In my humble opinion the most useful document still available on the web on this subject is the IPD cam timing tool setup guide. The relevant points to pay attention to on this document are the variations in duration, opening and closing times of the NA cams compared to the turbo cams. When installing the NA cams it is helpful to set them up with a same or very similar overlap and timing settings as the turbo cams you just removed. This in effect requires the intake cam retarded by 4 degrees from the factory base setting and the exhaust advanced 5 degrees from factory base setting. This is the starting point.

The reason I highlight this point is the volume of references out there to initial timing settings which have been plucked out of god only knows where.

If you’re running a stock engine/turbo setup then you may like to play a little with the timing settings from here but this is probably as good as you ‘ll get. If you are running a larger turbo with associated tune then you can play a little more with an expectation of gains. Big turbo, high boost, intake can be retarded as much as 7.5 degrees. To retain same overlap, exhaust could also be pulled back a little to maintain same overlap.

The whole valve timing overlap thing is quite frankly confusing! ARD have a good easy to understand article on this subject. Read this for some background. Some say that higher performance engines can benefit from overlap, but the general consensus seems to be that it’s not helpful in TD04 turbo applications.

In my install I’ve chosen to retard both cams slightly but maintain the overlap, or lack thereof. In this way hopefully pushing the power and torque up the rev range a little. Intake is set to -5 degrees and exhaust +4 degrees (from the factory base setting)

Without putting this on a real dyno, my backside dyno assessment over the past 4 weeks would lean toward being a little more punchy in the mid range, but possible slight loss of power at the top end. It’s actually very hard to say for sure, and as I say have been driving the car for a few weeks before leaping to conclusions.

Was the mod worth it? Definitely! it’s been a great learning experience, and the bottom line for me always goes something like, give it a go, otherwise you’ll never know.  Worst case scenario I can pop the turbo cams back in.

I do intend to put this vehicle back on a real dyno at some stage in the next couple of weeks and will post the results. Provided I’ve not gone backwards in maintaining a nice power curve then I’m pretty happy with the current setup. She still goes like a scalded cat and quite frankly inspires one to want to drive too fast. Hey, but I guess that’s the benefit of track days at the local motor sport park.

 

 

And now for something completely different!

 

With another track day coming up in April I decided to throw on a different set of wheels and tyres. The ol’ girl draws quite a bit of attention with these on, gone is the sleeper look for now!

It’s been a laugh seeing how people react with the red wheels. Two kids in the street stop in the mornings now and wave as I drive by. I’ve been driving past them for two years, clearly they like it 🙂 Had a guy pull up beside me the other afternoon giving me the thumbs up from his early model Saab, and today a tradie working around the corner shouts out, go the Volvo, with a bit of a laugh in his voice. Sure, I agree, it’s a bit out there!

I like the red rims but I’m not so sure about the attention. I felt they would make for a sporty look for track day vehicle even if the choice was a bit brazen. My backup plan was to plasti-dip them in white or something more culturally acceptable. Anyway, who said we all must have silver, graphite or black rims on our cars.

Aside from the very bright and flashy aspect of the rims, more importantly the new rubber is a set of Falken FK 452’s, 215/45 r17s. Compared to the old rims which are fitted with a set of budget minded Firenza tyres, these things are about a 200% improvement in providing traction under straight line acceleration. It is way harder to smoke the tyres in 2nd gear and I’m more reluctant to do so as it tends to bite now.

Other than the rim and tyre change I had someone who knows what they’re doing setup the Camber, toe out and alignment of front wheels, and alignment of the rear wheels. Not sure where I’ve been all my life but wasn’t aware until just recently that there was adjustment in the rear wheels, but there you go!

These rims are nice and light and with the Bilstein struts she feels pretty good on the road. My first impression regarding the change from OEM Sachs struts to Bilstein B6s is not huge except for hot weather days, of which we have a had a whole bunch of 30deg C + days over the last few weeks. With the Sachs there was a noticeable loss in performance on hot days, the car felt a little bouncy and not as stable as the Biltein’s. To be fair on the Sachs stuff, they probably weren’t designed to operate on a lowered spring and this may have been a contributor to the issue

Looking forward to getting this thing back out on the track!

When I was thinking about the Red rims I really wanted to see a photo online from some one else who’d already gone down this path. Closest thing I found was an 850 wagon with some orange rims. Playing around with the Hue on a photo editor lets you have a bit of fun with other options, love it or hate it! Here is what your silver T5 sedan could look like with some other coloured rims.

 

 

Front strut upgrade

Oh yeah! Finally got the Bilsten B6 HD struts installed. I’ve been waiting about 2 years to install a set of performance struts. Lots of good reviews on these, really looking forward to see how handling and performance is affected at the next track day.

In these images your looking at IPD lowering springs, installed 2 years ago, 320mm Big Brake kit from a Volvo V50 t5 , a set of unseen Project Mu NS400 brake pads and Camber adjustment kit allowing approx 2 degrees of negative camber.

550cc Fuel Injector Upgrade

Time for another small mod in the search for performance gains.

When we dyno’d this car some months back the 440cc Bosch Green Giant injectors were identified as operating in the upper range of their efficiency at 90%+ duty cycle. Don’t ask me to explain exactly how this calculated but at the time it was suggested by Dyno guy that there is a potential loss of efficiency as you extend beyond this range.

From all intents and purposes the Green Giants had been doing their job admirably but in the continuing search for small gains it’s possible that further modifications may ask the injectors for more. One of these mods includes a switch to NA cams, more on that at another time. Suffice to say that the whole NA cam swap timing thing gets alot of forum time and a variety of responses depending on the weather and lunar cycle, not really!

The injectors I chose for this upgrade are a Bosch EV14 high impedance injector which are basically a plug-and-play swap for the Green Giants.

At 3 Bar fuel pressure these injectors will support up to 415hp. Fuel flow rate varies from 550cc to 630cc depending on fuel pressure.

The only notable comment I have on these injectors is a recommendation to install a pre-injector fuel filter of between 40 and 100 microns.

Preferred location of the Proflow fuel filter is not too far from injector rail. I’ve done a temporary install pending fabrication of a more secure installation. Using traditional fuel line in this location is not going to tolerate high temps and pressure at this point.

For would be modifiers you need to be running the M4.4 ECU and ideally you will have a tune to suit larger injectors.

I’ve not yet driven with the new injectors as they are part of a broader range of mods and maintenance stuff that I’m presently undertaking, suffice to say that the car starts and idles purrfectly with the new injectors.

Looking forward to getting on the road again soon!

Till death do us parts

The two and half year modification journey with this vehicle continues and as such I continue to replace a bunch of parts and upgrade a few not-so-big items as I  maintain and improve certain aspects of this vehicle.

I’ve owned Ovlov for 7 years now and have told my kids they’ll need to bury me in this car! Having said that there is the odd day when I wonder if I should settle down and get myself a daily drive more suited to an aging father of three, perhaps a Toyota Camry or similar?!

Sure there’d be some gains in quietness, comfort and economy, but I’d seriously miss the 5 cylinder growl, stupid acceleration and the smell of burning rubber. I’d miss the lack of traction in 1st and 2nd gear, the way that the car will wander in 3rd and 4th under hard acceleration, and the way in which the steering wheel will occasionally want to rip out of your hands. I’d miss the somewhat noisy exhaust note, the pssst of the BOV and flutter of the turbo, I’d miss it alot!

I do actually drive a Toyota Camry company vehicle on occasion and it does most things very well but I guess the bottom line from my perspective would be to say that it has no soul.

As a saleable entity Ovlov is probably not worth more than a few grand on the open market, and given my significant financial and personal investment of close to $10K and a bunch of hours I’ll never see again, I fear it would be a loss leaving me with regret. Yep, when I go, she’s coming with me! Completely stupid to think that I could find true happiness in a Camry!

We’ve clocked up 45,000klms since the rebuild and she’s continued to perform remarkably well with no catastrophic issues to report, though I have and continue to undertake a whole bunch of changes due to minor failures or ongoing maintenance. I’m going to itemize a few of these maintenance issues as it may prove helpful to someone, somewhere one day.

Steering rack and pump – I tolerated the feel of the steering in this car for several years knowing that it didn’t quite feel right! Having owned and driven several other 850s the steering in this vehicle often felt vague and light, and did not inspire confidence at higher speed. To add to this it would tend to pulse a little when turning corners at higher speed. To describe that aspect of the issue more accurately would be to imagine the power assist would reduce and increase, reduce and increase in such a way that the steering would feel light then heavy, light then heavy, all in the space of a few seconds of turning.

First approach was to change the steering pump which eliminated the pulsating issue immediately. The somewhat vague feel remained, so on the advice of others I changed the front tow out a little, just the one turn on each side. This made for a nice change and also affected the way the car would turn in, it was a win on both fronts, steering felt better at lower speeds < 80klm per hour, but at high speed the vagueness remained.

In the course of time I had the opportunity to grab another rack from a vehicle I had known and driven and swapped it out for the t5 unit. That change brought the saga to a close. The steering feels far less vague at speeds in excess of 120klm now, providing a degree of driving confidence which was lacking. All is now well and I’m satisfied that this is about as good as I’m likely to get in a 20 year old car.

Air Intake Box/Pod filter and BOV – Until very recently I’d always run the standard airbox with a minor modification allowing for some additional airflow. I’d resisted the boy racer POD filter mod in an effort to keep the engine/airflow noise down and maintain the stock look under the bonnet. To add to that argument, the stock airbox is apparently good for up to 400hp so it was never really an issue from my perspective. However, in a fit of adventurous madness I decided to slap on a suitable Pod filter in place of the airbox for a bit of fun. Determined to refrain from presuming the car would perform any differently I drove her for a couple of weeks before drawing any conclusions on the matter.

Untidy looking pod filter installed makeshift fashion.

Conclusion 1 – With Pod filter installed you can now hear all of the coming and goings of the boost and blow off valve much better. This led me to suspect that the recirculating BOV was not performing as well as it should. The original aftermarket BOV was an Ebay cheap and cheerful unit with adjustable spring load and vacuum managed pressure release. With the POD filter now installed it sounded like the pressure release at low boost was too great, and at high boost, was not great enough. Sure, you could manage the high boost pressure release point by dialing out the adjustable spring tension, but the low boost pressure release is somewhat at the mercy of the vacuum pressure and BOV efficiency and design.

When driving at low throttle levels with boost pressure at close to 0 Psi the BOV piston could be heard baubling excessively, probably not the best word, effectively releasing boost pressure that could well do with staying in the system at such low levels. At high pressure, i.e shutting throttle at 15PSI +, too much air was remaining in the system causing turbo flutter. Turbo flutter sounds great but in reality may be indicative of inefficiencies in the setup. You are always going to get some flutter, but probably don’t want too much of it at higher rpm and boost levels. Nice write up on the issue here.

GFB – Go Fast Bits T9301

Anyway, at risk of rattling on about this issue until the reader is completely bored let me jump to the conclusion. I purchased myself a same style recirculating BOV from a company that seems to have some kudos when it comes to selling a decent BOV. GFB or Go Fast Bits obviously pride themselves on selling a product delivering levels of performance people like myself would hope for. The change in performance was immediately noticeable with a small improvement in low end pick up and a big improvement at the point of gear change at high boost. The actual process of releasing air through the BOV at high pressure sounds much cleaner, sharper and there is a nice level of boost maintained as we throw into another gear i.e. reduced turbo lag. Well done GFB, and these dudes are Aussies too.

Conclusion 2 – I’m convinced there is a performance improvement with the Pod filter installed. That improvement seems noticeably evident at a given point of throttle position, usually under heavy acceleration, commencing around 3,500rpm+. The reason I feel quite confident in saying that was an increase in the ease ability to spin up the front wheels in 2nd gear, and occasionally 3rd. Given that the Pod air intake is somewhat less restricted then perhaps this is the case, it certainly feels as though it breathes a little more freely now. Realistically I can’t prove the above but will stick with the Pod filter for a little longer. The big issue from my perspective is that Air Intake temperature will increase as a result of drawing hot air from the engine.  This issue may well counter any gains made from breathing easier. I’m told that the standard airbox airflow can be improved by replacing the front section of the intake pipe with something a little more substantial i.e. some 80mm flexible aluminium pipe will probably improve things a little.

Upper Engine Mount – After 6 years this was in very poor condition. I’m figuring that this was overdue for replacement anyway. If you are an 850 Volvo tragic living in Australia I can recommend the service and supply of parts from a local guy, Ash from DVS Performance. He is always a valuable source of information and very helpful.

Fuel Pump – This was a complete surprise, hopped in the car one hot afternoon and there was no fuel pressure at all. A quick change to an old OEM pump sorted the issue but given that I’d only covered 45,000klm since replacement was a little surprised. The failed unit was a Walbro GSS340 (Bigmouth) pump. Having tested the pump outside of the tank now it seems to run fine but I’m not willing to risk it. In haste I ordered a afford ably priced GSS342 Walbro pump from an Ebay supplier only to discover that the replacement unit, though labelled Walbro, may actually be a cheap Chinese imitation. The problem is that I can’t prove that statement. Apparently there are a bunch of pumps out there being marketed as Walbro but are in fact not. If you are interested to discover some further info on this issue you can read more here.

Rear Tail lights – Some months ago I picked up a ’96 NA 850 to use as a backup vehicle. The car was in nice condition overall, aside from the blown head gasket at the time. The tail lights on the earlier 850s are quite square in comparison to the later model 850s. The designers were obviously trying to soften the back end a little which I believe worked quite well. Most people would not likely notice much difference but when fitted on the silver t5 it definitely softens the tail end making it look a little less boxy. It’s an easy swap and I felt it was well worth the effort. The following pics show the differing styles.

Early Style Lights

Later Style Lights

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower Control Arm Bushes –

Given that I’d had so much fun with the recent track day and keeping in mind that I’ll be keen for more in the days ahead, I felt that it would be worth investing some sweat into this job. I was always a little reluctant to attempt this project and looked at replacing the complete lower control arm rather than the bushes alone. Only issue is that in Aus the cost of replacing the whole arm is prohibitive compared with the $40 to buy a set of bushes. I’m not going to go into too much detail but if you have a bench vice, a range of sockets, a hammer and a can of WD40, this job is not that hard. The process involves using a socket with a slightly smaller diameter than the bush to press the old bush out using a vice. I was pleasantly surprised and happy to know that she’s now sitting on a nice new tight set of control arm bushes.

Performance Brake Pads – Following the track day event it was clear the other issue to address besides lack of traction was the loss of braking performance as the day progressed. This vehicle presently has the 320mm Volvo front disks installed and as such should be more than adequate for some track work.  The diminished performance from the brakes felt a little like the pad bite was reduced requiring some additional braking effort. Interestingly after a few days of road driving the brake performance returned to normal. Easiest approach to this issue was to throw on a set of Project MU NS400 pads. We’ll find out soon how these hold up.

Hard to believe that I still have a wish list for this vehicle and am intending to replace a bunch of other parts in the near future. I’ve called it my Christmas Holiday Maintenance wishlist.

• Full aluminium radiator as supplied by d088se
• Front struts to be replaced with Bilstein B6 Sport shock absorbers
• Timing belt and serpentine belt
• Performance leads and distributor cap

I’ve also managed to get my hands on a real cheap set of 17″ wheels from an XC60. These are 7.5 inch rim and will work perfectly with a set of semi slicks for future track day events. The wheels require some minor modification to the hub diameter but nothing too hard. Will be very interested to see if I can improve front wheel traction with some slightly wider wheels and semi slick tyres.

Happy Holidays!

 

 

Track Day (video)

It’s been a long time coming but I finally took the opportunity to get this ol’ girl out for a track day at the local motorsport park, Wakefield Park Raceway.

She’s not a serious track day setup but I did invest a little time and effort in preparation.The big brake modification completed several months ago was the first of those changes. The fitting of some 17″ rims to allow the brake modification, some adjustable camber bolts and tinkering with camber and tow out would just about sum up the preparation for the outing. Oh, and I did change the brake fluids!

For a newbie like me the day was a serious learning curve in many ways. Not only coming to terms with driving this thing at high speed on an unknown surface but how vehicle setup affects the handling and performance in significant ways.

Everyone says that a track day is about fun and the personal challenge, but when the rubber hit’s the road it all of a sudden gets alot more competitive. Not such a good feeling watching a multitude of cars pass you by and it’s serious pain getting stuck behind someone that’s just a little slower than yourself. As I said, you tend to become quite competitive quite quickly and it invariably becomes a challenge to go faster than someone else on the track. By the end of the day you’ve established a wishlist of future mods to make this thing go harder and faster!

In the end I felt that the day was more about the experience than the car setup. I reckon a more accomplished driver could shave a bucket load off my lap times in this old girl. Developing some confidence in the braking performance, learning braking points, practicing corner approach and exit speeds were the focus for the day.

Overall the car handled great, considering that it has a set of very ordinary road tyres on 6.5 inch rims, I was impressed by the vehicle balance. There is a degree of under steer but overall it was very good. On the other side, there were only a couple of occasions where I thought I was going to lose the tail end through over steer.

The big issue for the car was traction, could not get enough of it and that was a significant frustration. I love the power and torque that this thing produces but 235Kw and 530Nm just doesn’t work that well without an limited slip diff or similar and unless I can improve the traction it’s going to be a frustrating activity. This would need to be the focus of future modifications.

I can do a couple of relatively easy things to help address this, wider rims and sticky track day tyres will help. Ultimately however she would require a gripper diff or Quaiffe to maximise improvements. One could also throw a bucket load of money at some further suspension modifications too but this is where I get nervous, as a daily drive I would like to retain a small amount of comfort in my suspension.

Other than this the engine performed faultlessly, the Owen Developments turbo is a super little unit for this kind of performance, the brakes did get a little spongey by the end of the day so I need to see what’s going on here, hopefully nothing significant. The one area I had been concerned about prior to the day was steering feel at high speeds, it often tended to lose some feel and was light at high speed. I’m guessing my camber and tow in adjustments were part of the resolution to this issue as it was not a concern at all.

The video below is 4 lap excerpt of one of the 15 minute sessions. In this video I get passed by my son in his R33 Skyline which is his track day car and significantly modified for such, the other vehicle which passes me is an R35 Skyline which as you know is a rocket ship on 4 wheels, that thing had so much grip it was ridiculous. No I don’t have Skyline envy, not yet anyway!

If you love the growl of the T5 engine you should definitely turn up the audio, that’s the best bit! Hard to gauge speed watching a video but generally reached 160kph+ at the end of the main straight. Lot’s of squealing from my skinny little road tyres too!

Wheels, Big Brakes and Stuff

Can’t tell you how much I love driving this car. Did a few hundred K’s this past couple of days and don’t seem to tire of the drive too easily. My only frustration would be the unfulfilled desire  to fang her a little more often, but the thought of losing one’s license, or worse still, a life, is enough to deter my enthusiasm, and especially so on long weekends when double demerit points apply.

In that light I’m in two minds as to whether to set her up for some track work, where I can release this frustration, or do I just keep lovin’ her as a daily drive, hmm!

My concern about track work would be the risk of significant damage if things go wrong. Not so much accident wise, but spinning a big end bearing, demolishing the gearbox, blowing a turbo, a head gasket etc. Having spent so much time working on her, repairing, modifying, maintaining, I’m really enjoying the fruit of that labour with limited tool time.

Inspite of my indecisiveness I’ve continued to make some small but meaningful changes to the vehicle as I ponder the above. In line with the direction of track setup I launched out and snapped up a real cheap set of used 17″ wheels from a 2010 Ford Focus, simply to use for track days. I need the 17″ rims to fit the 320mm brake setup from the later model Volvo’s.

Wheels, rims and hubs are a minefield of potential challenges, especially if you go for something that’s not a standard Volvo 850 wheel. In my case I figured I could make the Ford Focus rims fit quite easily. In hindsight, it wasn’t that easy.  A 5×108 rim is not necessarily going to bolt straight on to your 850. In this instance the Ford rims have a slightly smaller hub diameter which required some ingenuity on my part, to increase the diameter to 65.1mm, yes don’t forget that 0.1mm. What were they thinking! I managed to source a 65mm circular saw bit suitable for alloy. All I needed to do from that point was keep it centred.

Volvo 850 wheels are hub-centric, yes I learned a new word. Meaning that if you decide to machine out the hub of the rim, it needs to be done with a degree of accuracy. Cut the hole too big and you’ll end up with rims which may not centre properly, and the associated consequences of wheel vibration at high speed. Yes, I like many had thought that the chamfered wheel nuts were responsible for centering the rim, not so. The rim has to be a neat tight fit on the hub. Best advice, get your local machine shop to do the job.

The other issue with going for a non-standard rim relates to offset. The original 850 t5 16″ turbo rims are a 38mm positive offset. Want to know more about offset on Volvo’s, read this. The Ford Focus rims are a 52mm offset meaning they’ll locate quite differently in comparison to the Volvo rim. Specifically, narrowing the wheel base, i.e the 52mm offset wheel will sit closer to the chassis. This may or may not affect handling significantly, bottom line, it just doesn’t improve the look of the vehicle. How vain!

This issue is relatively easy to rectify, just throw on a set of 15mm wheel spacers and you’ve effectively reduced the positive offset to 37mm.

So after all of this tinkering, fiddling and messing around I ended up with a not bad looking set of wheels for a budget price + wheel spacers + 15mm extended wheel bolts/nuts. I went to the trouble of fabricating the 15mm longer wheel bolts myself using, wait for it, used 850 cylinder head bolts. Same thread and diameter and perfect length to be cut down a little, then jam on a suitable chamfered nut. Way cheaper than importing a set from US.

Wheel nut/bolt with headbolt thread

The reason for all this, was to fit an upgraded 320mm front brake kit. In this instance the brake upgrade came from a 2005 V50 t5 awd. This is a great improvement over the original 280mm disks but does also require some modification to the setup, namely some fabricated hanger brackets and enlargement of the centre hub of the V50 brake disc.

If you want more info about this brake upgrade then refer to DVS performance parts website who are able to provide valuable info and the associated accessories required to install this upgrade. If you’re up for a challenge as I often am, I fabricated the hanger brackets myself but I’m sure that you’ll find purchasing the kit much easier.

280mm Vs 320mm front brake assembly. Image thanks to Swedespeed forum.

Having changed the wheels, installed the big brake kit, and covered some significant klm’s, the additional braking capacity is noticeable, particularly under hard braking at high speed. Around town, you’re really not going to notice alot of difference. Stick this thing on a track and these bigger brakes are going to be a valuable investment.

17″ Ford Focus Wheels

 

The used brake kit came from a wrecker in Sydney who tells me that they are not meant to on sell used disks, wink wink! In this instance the V50 T5 calipers, pads and disks were in great serviceable condition. The only other thing to do was have the disks machined and increase the centre hub diameter to 68mm. The local brake shop did this for $60. If you want to get serious you can also purchase uprated performance pads to suit these calipers, to improve braking under more extreme conditions.

All said and done, I felt the time and effort invested into this part of the project to be worthwhile, inspite of a few challenges along the way. I’d still really like to get myself a set of 17″ Titans at some stage to finish it off.

I still think she’s pretty, for a 21 year old!

21 years young this year and she still scrubs up ok. The only cosmetic issue which needs to be attended to in the near future is a slightly sagging roof lining.

I’m aware that amongst the Volvo community the 850 series cars can be frowned upon for various reasons but I gotta say that if you look after them with regular maintenance and some tlc they will treat you well.

I own 2 850s, this T5 and a 96 wagon. I’ve also owned 2 V70s, a ’98 and a ’99 model. We still have all of these cars in the family so it’s been interesting to see how they compare.

Without a doubt the V70s are a more refined car to drive, a little quieter, improved ride and feel more stable on the road. In terms of build quality I’d rate the ’99 V70 the poorest, followed by the ’98 V70. Things like door upholstery, window switches, door hinges, door handles let the cars down, part of the reason for that was a poorer design standard and build quality, along with some mistreatment by previous owners. I’m fairly sure the 70 series vehicles also used a thinner and lighter sheetmetal for for body panels so they tend to get a bit loose and floppy around the qtr panel/bumper areas.

Other than this, whether by chance or not, but the oldest of the cars, the t5 has the softest and best condition leather seats compared to the ’99 V70 which has the hardest and least comfortable.

Rumour has it that build quality did further diminish in the early years of Ford’s ownership of the Volvo marque, commencing in 2000, leaving many unhappy customers who had bought a brand of vehicle synonymous with safety, build quality and vehicle longevity.

As a do-it-yourself kind of guy, I prefer to steer away from the 2000 onwards models for now, partly due to the woeful experience many had with the Auto transmissions. Be happy to grab a nice manual vehicle as the prices come down but these tend to be few and far between.

Anyway, this old girl now has 230,000ks and I’m looking forward to the next 100,000.

 

 

The Day of Reckoning – Dyno Day

It’s been quite a while since I posted and much has changed.

Several months back I had the urge to try a different turbo, an Owen Developments TD04 hybrid unit developed specifically for the 850 series Volvo’s. That process of supply, installation and fine tuning, I’ll call it fine tuning but in reality is more about things working properly, has taken til now to produce a result that I am satisfied with.

Having spent so much time and focus on the Kinugawa 19t and 20t turbos I guess some might be wondering why the change. Firstly, it’s worth mentioning that I think the Kinugawa 19t and 20t units are great bang for buck, and more importantly, reliable. I was always delighted by the performance of the vehicle when fitted.

If there was a noteworthy issue with the Kinugawa units it would relate to boost onset and air flow rates at higher RPM. The Kinugawa units would have provided an improved HP/torque curve if the boost onset was not as sudden and air flow was extended into the higher rev range. This can be altered at the turbo itself but requires the impeller to be clipped, not the sort of thing we can do in the home garage. Well, you can try if you like but I’m sure it will all end in tears.

In the case of the Owen Developments Hybrid unit, it is modified in such a way to create a small amount of lag through impeller clipping, supporting an increased air flow in the upper rev range with a larger compressor wheel. This evens out the power delivery significantly and though the vehicle may not feel as fast as a result of the Kinugawa’s massive surge of boost, I am satisfied that the car is significantly quicker as a result of holding boost better and improved air flow into the upper rev range.

The Owen unit also utilizes a couple of other noteworthy features, particularly the change from journal bearing to ball bearing. This affects low end pick up noticeably and the car is far happier to pull in some boost in the lower rev range making it feel just that bit more responsive.

I never did put the car on to a Dyno with the 19t or 20t which I’m a little dissapointed about, but at least I have now.  Any future changes to the performance of the vehicle can be noted and compared to current dyno charts.

The whole Dyno experience was great and ESP Racing in Queanbeyan have a great service where they will pop the thing on the dyno for you and provide a bunch of valuable information.

Having spent a considerable amount of time working on this car over the past 18 months I was quite excited at the prospect of seeing the results of my labour. Before I launch into some figures, I know that you can build faster, bigger HP Volvo’s; it was never about max HP, but restoring a car I love to a performance standard which would provide a spirited driving experience and I had to be able to do it all by myself in the backyard garage, no dyno tuners or mega fiddly upgraded ECU systems. Finally, the car had to remain economical enough to keep as a daily drive.

Dyno day was quite warm at 28 degrees C (82 F). For safety sake I turned the boost down a little to minimise a very small issue with detonation highlighted by the first dyno run, though I was assured that it was not significant and unlikely to be problematic. We reported on 2 runs and both around 230kw (310hp) at the wheels.  According to a trusty little crankshaft horsepower guesstimator for FWD manual gearbox vehicles, that’s around 265kw (360bhp) at the flywheel. The reason I explain it like that is to highlight the power increase over the standard T5 and for comparison with your average road going vehicle.

The 94 850t5 came standard with 166kw, that’s an increase of 100kw which puts the car into a nice performance category of vehicles producing in excess of 100kw per litre @ 115kw/litre.  For example the 2012 Nissan GTR Godzilla produces 106kw/l with it’s twin turbo v6 motor.

We can also now compare performance to other vehicles with the Kw/Tonne measure, giving it an effective value of 183kw per metric tonne. This is an AU measure but can be compared to vehicles like a 2014 GM Holden HSV E series R8 clubsport at 184kw per metric tonne. (AU car and AU measurements) Which has a whopping great 6.2 litre GM donk producing 325kw and 550nm of torque.

Not bad for a 20 year old Volvo t5 which you can build in your backyard.

Having said all of that it’s worth remembering the very wise words as quoted at auto-ware.com “Many people mistakenly think peak horsepower or peak torque is the primary objective of performance engine parts. However, a single number means very little. Your goals should be the shape and location of the power curve. Basically, these goals have to do with the working RPM range of the engine and how the torque curve fits within that range”

This statement sums up the reason for the switch to the Owen turbo…..we can hit a big HP number but where in the rev range is maximum hp achieved and how long is it maintained. Where in the rev range is max torque achieved and is it effective at that point.

Back to the dyno results; the big surprise for me on the day was the torque figure, which was 550nm (406 ft lbs) @ 4000 rpm. I’m aware that the T5 engines produce excellent torque but was genuinely surprised at that level of performance. 4000rpm is a nice point to achieve max torque, not too low, saving the engine from being too heavily loaded too early, and not too high, making it effective in terms of performance driving.

Other valuable info gained on the day –

• Duty cycle of the Bosch green injectors indicated that they were operating at 90%. This is I am told about as close as you want to push them to their limitations.
• Dyno results were obtained @22.5 psi manifold pressure peaking at 4,250rpm.
• AFR figures reported on the dyno were spot on with my AFR gauge which indicates that it’s running a little rich at WOT.
• A small amount of detonation was reported but it was felt that slightly better quality 98 octane fuel would be enough to resolve this issue; apparently not all 98 fuel is the same.

The target HP at the outset of this project was 300bhp so overall I am very happy with the result and particularly the lineal nature of the power curve allowing the vehicle to hold HP until rev limiter cuts in ; this would not have been evident with the Kinugawa units in their standard form.

For those interested I’m posting Dyno charts below.

Chart 1 Hp and Torque results – 300+ whp 5,000rpm to 6,500rpm,  550nm@4000rpm

Hp and Torque

Chart 2 Hp and Manifold Pressure – 22.5psi @ 4.250rpm drops to 18psi @ 6500rpm

Chart 3 Hp and Air Fuel Ratios – 10.5 to 11.0 from 4000rpm to 6,500rpm WOT

Chart 4 HP and Injector Duty Cycle – 90% between 4,500rpm and 6,500rpm

Video from my crappy Samsung phone, sorry about that! Anyway, it’s all about the noise.