onehundredoctane
05-09-2016, 01:34 PM
Well. . . as time goes we all grow up, or at least most of us do.
I still have my other Nissans, the V8 S14 and the SR20DET S13, but having a family now and car seats for babies usually means no more fun daily drivers.
I was slowly losing my soul driving my Accord V6, 4 door. . . I've long driven Hondas for daily drivers just for reliability, but the older I get the more plain old cars just don't do it for me.
Insert the Volvo, and I'm sure a lot of you stopped reading right there and picard.jpg'd. But hear me out. I needed space for my two son (18 months and 3 months), and our two lab mix pups :)
After helping a co-worker wrench on his Volvo XC70 that we've done quite a bit, the hunt began. Now, my co workers XC70 isn't your typical soccer mom station wagon. We've installed a 3" downpipe, cat back exhaust, Hilton Stage 2 Tune, Geograpplers, and a few other things I've already forgotten about. Oh, and it's Plastidipped lol, because he's not a soccer mom.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5650/23106519792_b898023d96.jpg
I started looking for an XC70, and instead found a 2006, Volvo V70R, one of 823 made in 2006. These are 5 cylinder, 2.5 liter, turbocharged, 15 psi, twin intercooled, all wheel drive, hot rods (if you can call a Volvo a hot rod). Stock they are rated 300hp and 295 lb-ft, not too bad for hauling the family around!
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1617/25840706852_9eb4f355c5.jpg
4 piston Brembos on all four corners
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/364/19063833826_67758cb8d4.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3759/18216906404_caf34915e1.jpg
Another difference between the V70R and the base V70 is that the V70R comes with 3 different suspension modes. The stock shocks are electro-magnetic, like many performance and exotics, and you would be surprised to know that a car this big, and this heavy can take most cloverleafs just a fast as my V8 S14 that has coilovers and thick ass sway bars.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5323/18839479715_6be509d76a.jpg
The car was originally purchased by a dentist in SC, the majority of the maintenance on it was done by one of two Volvo dealerships. After purchasing it I wasn't able to find records of the timing belt, so that was the first thing I knocked out. The car had 133k on it when I bought it, the service interval is 99k-105k :/
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/537/19081256329_d8b5186f26.jpg
After a switch to synthetic oil, a transmission flush, front diff flush, Haldex flush, and a rear diff flush I was rewarded with this, when these cars average 18-25 mpg.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/341/19525879441_3a17a85fef.jpg
Being a car guy, I can't just leave well enough alone. The car handles better than any daily driver I've ever owned, but there's still room for improvement, right? Caught a set of front and rear sways on sale, had to grab them. I ended up paying less for the pair than the front sales for by itself! The upgraded front sway bar is beefy and a mutha!
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/727/23375629306_d58b1f9ea7.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5701/23375634496_6f94f81fd6.jpg
3 way adjustable
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/727/23375629306_d58b1f9ea7.jpg
The sway bars have stiffened up the car more than I would've believed. That coupled with the electromagnetic shocks sets this car apart.
Recently while on a business trip for work I was in Cleveland, Ohio for two weeks. While driving around town the car suddenly lost power. Great. I'm 500 miles from home with no tools. Turned out to be a crappy plastic intercooler pipe that developed a tear. The hot pipe goes directly over the engine, which isn't the best design, but is the most direct route to the intercooler. I contacted Volvo, they wanted $260 for a plastic fucking pipe. Fuck that. A company called Do88 makes aftermarket parts for these cars, but they are a bit pricey. I was able to get a stainless over engine pipe by itself shipped to my hotel for less than the stock plastic piece. Of course I can't leave it alone either. . . I stopped by Summit Racing while in Ohio and picked up some Reflect-a-Gold.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1617/26515788105_695d1fe4b5.jpg
There are debates on the Volvo forum whether I'm helping or hurting here. Most seem to believe that this is insulation. However, this material is 3 mil thick and doesn't hold heat in, it actually reflects 80% of radiant heat. With it being directly over the engine it was kind of a no brainer for me.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1590/26423464072_198653f112.jpg
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1614/26550707975_45d7b29973.jpg
Had some left over, did the air box too, just to piss off the Volvo forum.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1604/26692606235_b01e1aea68.jpg
And because 300hp wasn't enough, it's time for a 3" downpipe :)
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1660/25969424760_6c1cdb601a.jpg
Updates to follow!
I still have my other Nissans, the V8 S14 and the SR20DET S13, but having a family now and car seats for babies usually means no more fun daily drivers.
I was slowly losing my soul driving my Accord V6, 4 door. . . I've long driven Hondas for daily drivers just for reliability, but the older I get the more plain old cars just don't do it for me.
Insert the Volvo, and I'm sure a lot of you stopped reading right there and picard.jpg'd. But hear me out. I needed space for my two son (18 months and 3 months), and our two lab mix pups :)
After helping a co-worker wrench on his Volvo XC70 that we've done quite a bit, the hunt began. Now, my co workers XC70 isn't your typical soccer mom station wagon. We've installed a 3" downpipe, cat back exhaust, Hilton Stage 2 Tune, Geograpplers, and a few other things I've already forgotten about. Oh, and it's Plastidipped lol, because he's not a soccer mom.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5650/23106519792_b898023d96.jpg
I started looking for an XC70, and instead found a 2006, Volvo V70R, one of 823 made in 2006. These are 5 cylinder, 2.5 liter, turbocharged, 15 psi, twin intercooled, all wheel drive, hot rods (if you can call a Volvo a hot rod). Stock they are rated 300hp and 295 lb-ft, not too bad for hauling the family around!
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1617/25840706852_9eb4f355c5.jpg
4 piston Brembos on all four corners
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/364/19063833826_67758cb8d4.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3759/18216906404_caf34915e1.jpg
Another difference between the V70R and the base V70 is that the V70R comes with 3 different suspension modes. The stock shocks are electro-magnetic, like many performance and exotics, and you would be surprised to know that a car this big, and this heavy can take most cloverleafs just a fast as my V8 S14 that has coilovers and thick ass sway bars.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5323/18839479715_6be509d76a.jpg
The car was originally purchased by a dentist in SC, the majority of the maintenance on it was done by one of two Volvo dealerships. After purchasing it I wasn't able to find records of the timing belt, so that was the first thing I knocked out. The car had 133k on it when I bought it, the service interval is 99k-105k :/
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/537/19081256329_d8b5186f26.jpg
After a switch to synthetic oil, a transmission flush, front diff flush, Haldex flush, and a rear diff flush I was rewarded with this, when these cars average 18-25 mpg.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/341/19525879441_3a17a85fef.jpg
Being a car guy, I can't just leave well enough alone. The car handles better than any daily driver I've ever owned, but there's still room for improvement, right? Caught a set of front and rear sways on sale, had to grab them. I ended up paying less for the pair than the front sales for by itself! The upgraded front sway bar is beefy and a mutha!
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/727/23375629306_d58b1f9ea7.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5701/23375634496_6f94f81fd6.jpg
3 way adjustable
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/727/23375629306_d58b1f9ea7.jpg
The sway bars have stiffened up the car more than I would've believed. That coupled with the electromagnetic shocks sets this car apart.
Recently while on a business trip for work I was in Cleveland, Ohio for two weeks. While driving around town the car suddenly lost power. Great. I'm 500 miles from home with no tools. Turned out to be a crappy plastic intercooler pipe that developed a tear. The hot pipe goes directly over the engine, which isn't the best design, but is the most direct route to the intercooler. I contacted Volvo, they wanted $260 for a plastic fucking pipe. Fuck that. A company called Do88 makes aftermarket parts for these cars, but they are a bit pricey. I was able to get a stainless over engine pipe by itself shipped to my hotel for less than the stock plastic piece. Of course I can't leave it alone either. . . I stopped by Summit Racing while in Ohio and picked up some Reflect-a-Gold.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1617/26515788105_695d1fe4b5.jpg
There are debates on the Volvo forum whether I'm helping or hurting here. Most seem to believe that this is insulation. However, this material is 3 mil thick and doesn't hold heat in, it actually reflects 80% of radiant heat. With it being directly over the engine it was kind of a no brainer for me.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1590/26423464072_198653f112.jpg
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1614/26550707975_45d7b29973.jpg
Had some left over, did the air box too, just to piss off the Volvo forum.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1604/26692606235_b01e1aea68.jpg
And because 300hp wasn't enough, it's time for a 3" downpipe :)
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1660/25969424760_6c1cdb601a.jpg
Updates to follow!