740TurboPerformance
New member
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2003
- Location
- California, USA
There is often this misconception, even from some current members on this board (not limited to newbies) that the only, cheap, easy way to get performance gains is to turn up the boost. I personally believe that there are many other things that should be done prior to bring a vehicle up to par before increasing the boost and that there are other ways to improve performance, some of them very inexpensive, some of them will cost you nothing, some just take a little effort. Hopefully, the example below will help clarify my theory to all.
Let's have a drag race between two identical Volvo 700 Turbos
Let?s put two identical Volvo 700?s together, one neglected (dirty grounds, dirty throttlebody, loose kickdown cable, soft turbo hoses, vacuum leaks (brittle and spongy vacuum hoses w/possible hairline cracks), plugged PCV system, weak ignition, weak charging system, dirty air filter, airbox restrictions or an intake with no heatsheild) or airbox with the preheated stuff removed while the inlet is still open allowing hot air from the engine compartment to enter. Well, OK, all this may sound a bit harsh (pretty unfair right?) so you don't have to necessarily take into account every single maintenance related issue mentioned, just combine a few. This is how you'll often get a typical used 12+ year old Volvo that hasn't had the best of maintenance. "It's a Volvo it'l just take care of itself right?"
Now, lets take one immaculately and thoroughly maintained, pretty much the opposite and the cool thing is that almost every maintenance related thing mentioned above has a very minimal cost if you do it yourself.
Now, let's race, picture both Volvos at the track about to drag race, identical, same turbo, transmission, fuel, weight, the only difference is the maintenance mentioned above. Honestly, do you really believe that these 700?s would tie in? Although, sure the first "poorly maintained" Volvo may drive ok, may seem to accelerate ok under full throttle, do you think that the first one even has a chance compared to the second one that has been maintained properly? Any reasonable person should know that the well maintained 700 is going to probably pull far ahead of the first example Volvo, and even more with some tweaks.
What's the quickest way to help the "poorly maintained" Volvo example to get even in this race, turn up the boost right? That's correct, however why should you have to turn up the boost to compensate for a poorly or improperly setup/maintained Volvo in the first place? Depending on the level of boost and the condition of your fuel system, there are also risks involved, such as the risk of "detonation" an event that occurs when the engine suddenly leans out, it can happen instantly without warning depending on the situation, which can put a rod through your block completely destroying your engine! Other potential drawbacks of running boost, depending on how much is also a risk of blowing a headgasket and decreased fuel economy. Some guys here may tell you, "I run 14PSI and my fuel economy is just fine", well sure, maybe lightfooting it like a Grandma a lot of the time but if you're like me, you'll want to use what you have quite often so it might be wise to limit how much boost is available, especially if this is your every day driver or your financial situation isn't that great. Back to fuel economy, I've seen as little as 100 miles per tank around 14PSI, hard driving. Additionally you'll have to allow for pretty extended turbo cooldown periods. For example, at just 8PSI after a hard drive at night, a section of the Exhaust Manifold where the Turbo meets can remain glowing red up to 7 minutes at idle! Think about having to let your Volvo idle down for 10 minutes or more so oil doesn't cook in the Turbo lines. Premium fuel is also very important for turbo vehicles, specified or not, not just for those guys that run 14PSI or more of boost either. Good quality fuel is also aways pretty important so try to avoid Valero or super generic fuels. I was cheap and was running Valero midgrade for a while, filled up the tank with 76 and there was a noticable difference! Definately not worth the decrease in performance, use good fuel and use premium, there is usually a difference you can feel in most older vehicles with premium fuel! Premium fuel also helps reduce the risk or pinging and can decrease risk of detonation and can sometimes yeild improved efficiency.
The story of the identical 700 Turbos in two different conditions
When I first bought my '88 745T with about 190K on it, I drove it for a while, always thought it was ok, it certainly wasn't the slowest car on the road and could still pull ahead of Civics and quite a few Integras, nearly 50,000 miles later it is significantly quicker than it was when I purchased it. I'd even bet the previous owner would feel very sorry for selling it if he seen how it runs and performs now! Almost every little thing, if you're doing it right, can make a small difference, and combined if done right with a couple of light upgrades can make a significant difference altogether. I tried 10PSI for a while and wasn't impressed so I turned it down to 8PSI (stock was 7PSI), thinking there has to be other things that can be done to gain a few extra HP out of this thing.
I started with a K&N Filter, didn't really notice a difference, wasn't really impressed. Then I finally figured out that there were easy to remove restrictions in the airbox, like the restrictor cone you can pull out of the side where the air inlet is to the fenderwell, the plastic restrictor piece inside the airbox, then figured I'd remove the AMM outlet screen, keeping the first screen to prevent debris from entering potentially damaging the wire. Went for a hard drive and what do you know, the engine sounds a bit throatier, is more responsive and feels a bit more powerful. Was I satisified, a little but it still felt like more could be done . . . . Next, working with trying to get the Mitsubishi TD05 to breathe better and spool faster, complimenting the free-er flowing intake, for $190 I professionally had the resonator removed with a pipe welded straight through and had the rear muffler replaced with a Dynomax Ultraflow straight through design muffler. Did this help, to be honest just a little. Later I unscrewed the Airbox Thermostat base, used a Dremel Tool and cut the Airbox Thermostat clean off it's base where it looked like it was never there, removed all of the preheated stuff and used a heavy duty plumbers cap to completely cap off the preheated inlet of the Airbox. and as nice looking as possible I removed some of the material from the Airbox Inlet from the fenderwell where the plastic tube becomes smaller.
Later I purchased a BOSCH Super Blue Coil, I was dissapointed, the car would start bucking and cutting out even though the wire was in there tight. I pulled it and replaced it with a real Coil, an MSD Blaster2, after installing it the Volvo seemed smoother under acceleration and seemed to maintain its power better at higher RPM's. Later I noticed the charging system seemed a little weak with the Voltmeter often registering pretty low. Strangely, it also seemed that every time it would get low, acceleration wasn't as quick and the Volvo didn't feel as powerful. I replaced the Battery with a DieHard 700CCA, cleaned the Battery Cable connectors, two months later the Voltmeter was registering pretty low output again. About ready to replace the Alternator, I decided to try a new Altnerator ground cable first. I purchased a revisied, slightly thicker (thicker, more heavy duty connectors also), Altnerator Ground Cable from an independeant Volvo dealer for $6.00, I also used some rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush to clean the contact surfaces for the cable. 2 weeks later my Voltmeter was registering pretty high and performance seemed to slightly pickup after that. Around this time I read in some import magazine at my buddies house, that better, thicker or reinforced grounds and a strong charging system can actually yeild up to a few HP increase which has been dyno proven. I seriously thought this was a joke and didn't put much stock into it then I started thinking about how acceleration seemed to sort of lag when the Voltmeter registered lower voltage. I added a secondary ground wire for the alternator and grounded it out on top of the single fuel injector ground toward the back of the engine. I also pulled the Engine Ground Strap that bolts into the firewall behind the engine, used rubbing alcohol to clean the connectors, contact bolt and recrimped the connectors so they were better attached to the wire. After doing this my Voltmeter registered 14.5 steadily all the time and about 13.5 even with the Headlights and Fog Lights on. The engine also felt more responsive with absolutely no hesitation whatsover. Around the same time I pulled the AMM connector cleaned it with a toothbrush and rubbing alcohol, other connectors under the hood, the ECU connector and grounds, it certainly didn't hurt and only seemed to make the Volvo run a little smoother.
Cleaning the entire PCV System, putting hose clamps on the PCV Turbo and Oil Trap Box hoses, replacing all the vacuum hoses, pulling, cleaning and resealing the Fuel Injectors, replacing the Fuel Filter also seemed to help the Volvo run significantly better, I also noticed the tone of the engine also slightly changed to being slightly deeper, after doing this I assumed this was because one or more of those hoses had a hairline crack or two in them. Cleaning the Throttlebody, replacing the Turbo Hoses with cheap replacements purchased online, pulling and flushing out the Intercooler also seemed to help a little. Around this time with replacing the Kickdown Cable, tightening it nearly all the way and playing with the Throttle Cable and lubricating them I was also able to get the AW71 Transmission to respond and shift exactly how I wanted it, shifts firm and defined, puts the power to the wheels never slipping anymore under full throttle, even high RPM shifts. Later, after experimenting with several different brands of plugs from copper to platimum, I decided to try some Autolite Double Platinum APP64 plugs, which are also designed for turbocharged, supercharged and high performance applications (not a typical v or u groove plug). Gapped at .028 ,especially when compared to copper you could feel a small difference in the amount of punch the Volvo had. I later decided to increase the gap taking it as high as .050, I found that the optimum gap seemed to be about .044. With this and installing a set of 8.5MM wires and advancing my ignition timing a little bit by rotating the Distributor a bit toward the passenger side (you can do this with LH2.2), that all of this seemed to work very well together, in all, with all of these things combined vehicle performed significantly better than when I first purchased it, you'd be very surprised. Later when I could afford it, for another $190 I had the factory kink (where the exhaust pipe becomes disgustingly small, replaced with a larger pipe, bent a bit more gradually before the rear Axle, also had a Carsound/Magnaflow High Flow Catalytic Converter installed, now we're talking, the turbo spools up significantly better and the Volvo feels like if it has gained a little more HP yet again, not bad at all.
Combined with some suspension upgrades (IPD Sway Bars, Cherry Turbos Chassis Brace, TME 1.25" Lowering Springs along with tires that actually stay glued to the road and some decent overall performance and smooth running), this Volvo has been a very fun car to drive. The funny thing is that I never, ever thought I'd get this Volvo to run so smooth, I was very simple minded at first thinking "this is just how it's supposed to run and drive, I mean there's nothing wrong with it". Sure there was nothing wrong with it, yes it drove, no it wasn't falling apart. It just wasn't the car I wanted, I was about to crank up the boost to try and get it to perform how I wanted to, to compensate for other things or was going to sell the choppy running, not impresively performing thing, which either would have been a big mistake. It performs so well now and runs so smooth even at 239,000 miles, that I wouldn't get rid of it for anything, not even if I was able to afford a new Volvo. Ive been thinking ever since, "man, this is how they are supposed to run, how come I didn't know this!" I'm not saying maintenance in itself is a performance upgrade, however, maintenance performed properly should be stage 0 for anyone that would like to see their Volvo run great and additionally perform well when combined with some light upgrades and a little bit more boost. Sure, it may be difficult for some to believe, which is fine, but if you do things properly, it can go a long way and I've proven that to myself!
Hopefully, this writeup will help a number of Volvo guys just starting out that might not be really sure where to go or what to do with their Volvo or where to begin.
Let's have a drag race between two identical Volvo 700 Turbos
Let?s put two identical Volvo 700?s together, one neglected (dirty grounds, dirty throttlebody, loose kickdown cable, soft turbo hoses, vacuum leaks (brittle and spongy vacuum hoses w/possible hairline cracks), plugged PCV system, weak ignition, weak charging system, dirty air filter, airbox restrictions or an intake with no heatsheild) or airbox with the preheated stuff removed while the inlet is still open allowing hot air from the engine compartment to enter. Well, OK, all this may sound a bit harsh (pretty unfair right?) so you don't have to necessarily take into account every single maintenance related issue mentioned, just combine a few. This is how you'll often get a typical used 12+ year old Volvo that hasn't had the best of maintenance. "It's a Volvo it'l just take care of itself right?"
Now, lets take one immaculately and thoroughly maintained, pretty much the opposite and the cool thing is that almost every maintenance related thing mentioned above has a very minimal cost if you do it yourself.
Now, let's race, picture both Volvos at the track about to drag race, identical, same turbo, transmission, fuel, weight, the only difference is the maintenance mentioned above. Honestly, do you really believe that these 700?s would tie in? Although, sure the first "poorly maintained" Volvo may drive ok, may seem to accelerate ok under full throttle, do you think that the first one even has a chance compared to the second one that has been maintained properly? Any reasonable person should know that the well maintained 700 is going to probably pull far ahead of the first example Volvo, and even more with some tweaks.
What's the quickest way to help the "poorly maintained" Volvo example to get even in this race, turn up the boost right? That's correct, however why should you have to turn up the boost to compensate for a poorly or improperly setup/maintained Volvo in the first place? Depending on the level of boost and the condition of your fuel system, there are also risks involved, such as the risk of "detonation" an event that occurs when the engine suddenly leans out, it can happen instantly without warning depending on the situation, which can put a rod through your block completely destroying your engine! Other potential drawbacks of running boost, depending on how much is also a risk of blowing a headgasket and decreased fuel economy. Some guys here may tell you, "I run 14PSI and my fuel economy is just fine", well sure, maybe lightfooting it like a Grandma a lot of the time but if you're like me, you'll want to use what you have quite often so it might be wise to limit how much boost is available, especially if this is your every day driver or your financial situation isn't that great. Back to fuel economy, I've seen as little as 100 miles per tank around 14PSI, hard driving. Additionally you'll have to allow for pretty extended turbo cooldown periods. For example, at just 8PSI after a hard drive at night, a section of the Exhaust Manifold where the Turbo meets can remain glowing red up to 7 minutes at idle! Think about having to let your Volvo idle down for 10 minutes or more so oil doesn't cook in the Turbo lines. Premium fuel is also very important for turbo vehicles, specified or not, not just for those guys that run 14PSI or more of boost either. Good quality fuel is also aways pretty important so try to avoid Valero or super generic fuels. I was cheap and was running Valero midgrade for a while, filled up the tank with 76 and there was a noticable difference! Definately not worth the decrease in performance, use good fuel and use premium, there is usually a difference you can feel in most older vehicles with premium fuel! Premium fuel also helps reduce the risk or pinging and can decrease risk of detonation and can sometimes yeild improved efficiency.
The story of the identical 700 Turbos in two different conditions
When I first bought my '88 745T with about 190K on it, I drove it for a while, always thought it was ok, it certainly wasn't the slowest car on the road and could still pull ahead of Civics and quite a few Integras, nearly 50,000 miles later it is significantly quicker than it was when I purchased it. I'd even bet the previous owner would feel very sorry for selling it if he seen how it runs and performs now! Almost every little thing, if you're doing it right, can make a small difference, and combined if done right with a couple of light upgrades can make a significant difference altogether. I tried 10PSI for a while and wasn't impressed so I turned it down to 8PSI (stock was 7PSI), thinking there has to be other things that can be done to gain a few extra HP out of this thing.
I started with a K&N Filter, didn't really notice a difference, wasn't really impressed. Then I finally figured out that there were easy to remove restrictions in the airbox, like the restrictor cone you can pull out of the side where the air inlet is to the fenderwell, the plastic restrictor piece inside the airbox, then figured I'd remove the AMM outlet screen, keeping the first screen to prevent debris from entering potentially damaging the wire. Went for a hard drive and what do you know, the engine sounds a bit throatier, is more responsive and feels a bit more powerful. Was I satisified, a little but it still felt like more could be done . . . . Next, working with trying to get the Mitsubishi TD05 to breathe better and spool faster, complimenting the free-er flowing intake, for $190 I professionally had the resonator removed with a pipe welded straight through and had the rear muffler replaced with a Dynomax Ultraflow straight through design muffler. Did this help, to be honest just a little. Later I unscrewed the Airbox Thermostat base, used a Dremel Tool and cut the Airbox Thermostat clean off it's base where it looked like it was never there, removed all of the preheated stuff and used a heavy duty plumbers cap to completely cap off the preheated inlet of the Airbox. and as nice looking as possible I removed some of the material from the Airbox Inlet from the fenderwell where the plastic tube becomes smaller.
Later I purchased a BOSCH Super Blue Coil, I was dissapointed, the car would start bucking and cutting out even though the wire was in there tight. I pulled it and replaced it with a real Coil, an MSD Blaster2, after installing it the Volvo seemed smoother under acceleration and seemed to maintain its power better at higher RPM's. Later I noticed the charging system seemed a little weak with the Voltmeter often registering pretty low. Strangely, it also seemed that every time it would get low, acceleration wasn't as quick and the Volvo didn't feel as powerful. I replaced the Battery with a DieHard 700CCA, cleaned the Battery Cable connectors, two months later the Voltmeter was registering pretty low output again. About ready to replace the Alternator, I decided to try a new Altnerator ground cable first. I purchased a revisied, slightly thicker (thicker, more heavy duty connectors also), Altnerator Ground Cable from an independeant Volvo dealer for $6.00, I also used some rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush to clean the contact surfaces for the cable. 2 weeks later my Voltmeter was registering pretty high and performance seemed to slightly pickup after that. Around this time I read in some import magazine at my buddies house, that better, thicker or reinforced grounds and a strong charging system can actually yeild up to a few HP increase which has been dyno proven. I seriously thought this was a joke and didn't put much stock into it then I started thinking about how acceleration seemed to sort of lag when the Voltmeter registered lower voltage. I added a secondary ground wire for the alternator and grounded it out on top of the single fuel injector ground toward the back of the engine. I also pulled the Engine Ground Strap that bolts into the firewall behind the engine, used rubbing alcohol to clean the connectors, contact bolt and recrimped the connectors so they were better attached to the wire. After doing this my Voltmeter registered 14.5 steadily all the time and about 13.5 even with the Headlights and Fog Lights on. The engine also felt more responsive with absolutely no hesitation whatsover. Around the same time I pulled the AMM connector cleaned it with a toothbrush and rubbing alcohol, other connectors under the hood, the ECU connector and grounds, it certainly didn't hurt and only seemed to make the Volvo run a little smoother.
Cleaning the entire PCV System, putting hose clamps on the PCV Turbo and Oil Trap Box hoses, replacing all the vacuum hoses, pulling, cleaning and resealing the Fuel Injectors, replacing the Fuel Filter also seemed to help the Volvo run significantly better, I also noticed the tone of the engine also slightly changed to being slightly deeper, after doing this I assumed this was because one or more of those hoses had a hairline crack or two in them. Cleaning the Throttlebody, replacing the Turbo Hoses with cheap replacements purchased online, pulling and flushing out the Intercooler also seemed to help a little. Around this time with replacing the Kickdown Cable, tightening it nearly all the way and playing with the Throttle Cable and lubricating them I was also able to get the AW71 Transmission to respond and shift exactly how I wanted it, shifts firm and defined, puts the power to the wheels never slipping anymore under full throttle, even high RPM shifts. Later, after experimenting with several different brands of plugs from copper to platimum, I decided to try some Autolite Double Platinum APP64 plugs, which are also designed for turbocharged, supercharged and high performance applications (not a typical v or u groove plug). Gapped at .028 ,especially when compared to copper you could feel a small difference in the amount of punch the Volvo had. I later decided to increase the gap taking it as high as .050, I found that the optimum gap seemed to be about .044. With this and installing a set of 8.5MM wires and advancing my ignition timing a little bit by rotating the Distributor a bit toward the passenger side (you can do this with LH2.2), that all of this seemed to work very well together, in all, with all of these things combined vehicle performed significantly better than when I first purchased it, you'd be very surprised. Later when I could afford it, for another $190 I had the factory kink (where the exhaust pipe becomes disgustingly small, replaced with a larger pipe, bent a bit more gradually before the rear Axle, also had a Carsound/Magnaflow High Flow Catalytic Converter installed, now we're talking, the turbo spools up significantly better and the Volvo feels like if it has gained a little more HP yet again, not bad at all.
Combined with some suspension upgrades (IPD Sway Bars, Cherry Turbos Chassis Brace, TME 1.25" Lowering Springs along with tires that actually stay glued to the road and some decent overall performance and smooth running), this Volvo has been a very fun car to drive. The funny thing is that I never, ever thought I'd get this Volvo to run so smooth, I was very simple minded at first thinking "this is just how it's supposed to run and drive, I mean there's nothing wrong with it". Sure there was nothing wrong with it, yes it drove, no it wasn't falling apart. It just wasn't the car I wanted, I was about to crank up the boost to try and get it to perform how I wanted to, to compensate for other things or was going to sell the choppy running, not impresively performing thing, which either would have been a big mistake. It performs so well now and runs so smooth even at 239,000 miles, that I wouldn't get rid of it for anything, not even if I was able to afford a new Volvo. Ive been thinking ever since, "man, this is how they are supposed to run, how come I didn't know this!" I'm not saying maintenance in itself is a performance upgrade, however, maintenance performed properly should be stage 0 for anyone that would like to see their Volvo run great and additionally perform well when combined with some light upgrades and a little bit more boost. Sure, it may be difficult for some to believe, which is fine, but if you do things properly, it can go a long way and I've proven that to myself!
Hopefully, this writeup will help a number of Volvo guys just starting out that might not be really sure where to go or what to do with their Volvo or where to begin.
