Exhaust manifold upgrade - '95 850 turbo

casual friday · Post by **casual friday** » 21 Feb 2012, 17:53

I'm looking into eventually upgrading the exhaust manifold on my '95 T-5R (already have a cold air intake and cat-back exhaust upgrade, so the manifold is now a weak link in the chain). I've been looking into the Volvo "R" manifold that's found on the S60, but according to IPD it's backwards-compatible with 850s from 1997 only.

Is this correct? (just out of curiosity, how is the '97 engine different from the '95? Or is it just a manifold-to-turbo issue?)

Are there any bolt-on upgrades out there that anyone knows about/has experience with?

Post by **JDS60R** » 21 Feb 2012, 19:13

Have you upgraded the downpipe? It is a great improvement especially with a tune

casual friday · Post by **casual friday** » 22 Feb 2012, 15:21

Not yet -- but that's definitely on the "to do" list. The previous owner (who installed the intake, cat-back, and had the ECU reflashed) had to replace the downpipe because it had rusted through completely, but EuroSport Tuning (where he sourced the aforementioned parts) didn't have an upgrade compatible with the conical flange turbo, so he just installed a stock replacement.

(if you're interested, there's an article about my car, written by the previous owner, here)

So since that downpipe is only a couple years old, I'll probably wait on an upgrade.