N/A V70 power and mileage improvements

Tankdog · Post by **Tankdog** » 07 Jan 2018, 13:12

Hi I'm new to Volvo world. I have 1999 V70 fwd auto naturally aspirated. I was wondering what some of.the base mods for improving mileage and power are. I have put a free flowing 2.25" exhaust on and new plugs and am pleased with the 25 mpg average in this hilly area and the power but I always want more. From what I've read a cheap turbo would not go well since these cars have such high compression but I'm sure there's a plethora of knowledge to be had. I searched but after 5 pages I didn't really gather much... Thanks in advance

Post by **theWIFES_S70** » 07 Jan 2018, 13:35

Hey Tankdog, the airbox thermostat mod is about the only thing you can do to really improve HP on an N/A. Especially if your thermostat is broken has cut off cold air completely. Other than that, your usual stage zero stuff helps, too.

Post by **jtp** » 07 Jan 2018, 22:22

25 mpg is awesome, stage zero and keeping up with the maintenance will hopefully keep that high.

For added HP I wouldn’t personally drop a lot of money on modding a NA V70 only cuz there isn’t much bang for your buck there. Just save up a bit and buy a turbo model.

A 98-00 Turbo V70 is about as much fun as you can legally have in 20 year old station wagon in my opinion. Nothing wrong with your NA though. On avg the NAs will be more dependable IMO, plus once you have both it will be easier to tinker with the turbo wagon since you’ll have a daily driver handy.

Post by **mecheng** » 08 Jan 2018, 07:16

I get 33 mpg on highway and 20 mpg in the city with my T5. Very good mileage for the power but it is an on and off type power, in the town it is gutless.

Post by **j-dawg** » 08 Jan 2018, 07:31

for what it's worth, the turbo system in my T5 has been super dependable. the maintenance and repair costs are negligibly higher, if at all.

Post by **shaker_chi** » 08 Jan 2018, 14:27

Welcome to the world of Volvo tankdog. I had a 1994 850 n/a 5 speed that was an absolute blast to drive. Here were a few of my mods:

1. Put in the 960 throttle plate. It's less restrictive.
2. As previously mentioned, I did the airbox mod and later I put in an open air intake.
3. I adjusted the cams with this tool:

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/7047/11 ... gJfcPD_BwE

I can't say how much power these mods added, but it definitely increased the torque.

Lastly, I did the following to my suspension to make it handle a bit better:

1. Put P205/55r16 tires with T5 rims on it.
2. Installed lowering springs on front and back.
3. Koni yellow adjustables shocks on the back and Bilstein blacks on the front.

I've had 2 S70 T5's since this car and even though the T5's pull like a freight train, the 850 was much more fun to drive.

Good luck