Volvo 850 (non turbo) top speed

felix_hoenikker · Post by **felix_hoenikker** » 15 Oct 2006, 19:09

Hello.

I read over the posts in this forum, as well as searched, and I did not see anything on whether the 850 (non turbo) has a limited top speed. I know very little about engines, however, this...

(bigger)

...makes me feel like it has something more to give. As seen in the picture, the approximate speed of the car is 123 MPH, and engine RPM is reported as a little under 5000. Shouldn't I be able to push up to ~6200 or so, and in turn, achieve a higher speed? My real question: Is this an artificial limitation, or is it physical?

Thanks.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 15 Oct 2006, 20:08

That's probably all a non-turbo will do. Even a turbo'ed car without an ECU flash to get rid of the speed limiter will only top out at around 52Krpm and not make it to red line. With an ECU upgrade it will go to redline and go much much faster than what you're showing. For instance, I've gotten my T5 to just over 140mph and felt it could do more...I just chickened out.

Post by **matthew1** » 15 Oct 2006, 21:54

if there was a speed governor on your 850, you would have felt the fuel cutoff. it's something you can't miss. i hit the limit in my '97 Honda Accord LX a few times on a lonely daylight stretch of New Mexico highway one Sunday in 1999, and the moment of cutoff is unmistakable (118 mph in the Accord). it's as if you simply let off the gas pedal. revs drop suddenly, momentum slows, etc.

[disregard the above if Volvo's 850 speed governor, if indeed they have one, is different than Honda's.]

felix_hoenikker · Post by **felix_hoenikker** » 16 Oct 2006, 04:41

Thanks for the responses.

I've been quoted at around $350 for a chip--considering the relatively minor horsepower/torque gain on a non turbo car, I may hold off and go for some eibach springs. There is definitely no fuel cutoff, but from what I do know, I feel that only comes when you've reached peak RPM's. It's not a particulary scientific observation, but if fuel cutoff was the only speed limiter (knowing that the engine has more to give), all these "autobahn crusiers" (faster BMWs, etc) would reach their 155 or so and turn off, which is obviously not desirable. I don't intend to suggest you're incorrect, however, I just don't know.

This may have been answered to some degree elsewhere, but granted an ECU does remove the speed governor, what are the real risks to the car? Obviously, you can't know the cars history/exact shape, but is a record of engines giving out (even with the minor (and questionable) hp/torque upgrade)?. If this is the case, is it possibly to create/purchase an ECU that does something like shift more aggressively and remove any limiter, but otherwise, does not effect engine integrity? (Not that cruising around at 5500 RPM is great for a car with almost 180,000 miles on it, but I do that anyway =p.) A lot of questions, I apologize, but these are the things I still wonder after doing a fair bit of reading. Thanks.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 16 Oct 2006, 07:48

felix,
These engines are very stong, but without properly being maintained, as you guessed- things can happen. Too much boost (wrong tuning) and bent rods...late on a Timing belt change and snapped belt and ruined engine which might not have happened if the ECU wasn't chipped. However, with proper maintenance and proper tuning, I hear very little horror stories.

Stage-0 is stressed first, here and on other Volvo forums. This stage is for all maitenance to be done and the car running at peak condition before Stage-1 which is a chipped ECU.

Good luck!

Post by **matthew1** » 16 Oct 2006, 13:49

felix_hoenikker wrote: It's not a particulary scientific observation, but if fuel cutoff was the only speed limiter (knowing that the engine has more to give), all these "autobahn crusiers" (faster BMWs, etc) would reach their 155 or so and turn off, which is obviously not desirable. I don't intend to suggest you're incorrect, however, I just don't know.

i have no idea what BMW uses to govern the top speed of their current cars. as you imply, and i agree with, it's probably something more technologically advanced than simple fuel cutoff.

we have to remember we're talking about 1990s Volvos, and i'm guessing that the governor on them -- if they have governors -- is akin to what other manufacturers of comparable cars were doing at the time. therefore, my anecdotal experience with my Accord is probably in the ballpark of what Volvo might have used on 850s. might.

i make the analogy between the Accord and 850 because both were non-performance sedans of the same era (with the 850 being a more expensive "near-luxury" sedan).

Post by **hausmeister** » 16 Oct 2006, 14:36

Hi

Don't know much on limiters, but I often have heard and also experienced that engines that have often been driven short sitances or are city cars gain more top speed the faster and longer you drive them. All the dirt and deposit in the engine gets blown out with time on long highway runs.

Don't know if that is it in your case. I got my old 440 to do about 195km/h which is about 120mph - thats not bad for a 95hp car with 4 people and loaded(ok, it was downhill

). But that was after about 12h drive, also it ran much better after the long trip.

felix_hoenikker · Post by **felix_hoenikker** » 17 Oct 2006, 08:11

I guess when the money rolls around I'll go ahead and get it chipped. Thanks for the input.