General questions and tuning help?

[MackN]

Hello!
I have some general and probably many questions about my 850 AWD.

1: I been thinking about tuning the engine but not to like 500+ HP levels, I've read and heard that the engine in the AWD cars are low pressure turbo variants and they have 0:5:1 plus the cylinderwall is 2 mm thinner.
Is this something to worry about? Is it worth swapping a T5 variant or can I tune it as I would and still go away with it?

2: Speaking of the engine it smokes alot more then a normal engine would and it smells funny too, my father claimed it's only condensation in the under the valve cover but I think it might be a head gasket leak, is this the case or am I just "overreacting"?

3: Also if I tune the engine, do I need to replace the clutch and reinforce the transmission? Plus is a lightened flywheel worth it?

4: The suspension on the front axle is wonky, I think the dampers are worn, so I need to replace them. But i was thinking instead of new/better used dampers I will go with coilovers/sport springs + dampers.
Now since this is a AWD variant I own there are not many known companies that build coilovers for the 850 AWD, sure it exist coilovers to my Volvo but they are made by some sketchy no-name brand. Or is it possible that sport springs + dampers are more common to my model rather than coilovers while being made by some well known brand (Öhlins, Koni, Einbach etc.)?

5: I've also heard that steelbraided brakelines are a cheap and good upgrade to the braking performance, is this worth the investment?

6: For some unknown reason VIDA isn't compatible with my car, is there any other way/software to read, check error codes, resetting service values etc?

7: I noticed that the car has quite alot of surface rust, luckly it's only to the body panels and not to the monocoque chassi. Now i've never done rust repair before so is this a hard job to do or is it easier to buy a for an example used, rust-free trunk and repaint it to the same colour as my car

8: With all theese things in mind, is it even worth it to buy all the upgrades? Or should I preserve it as a stock car? AWD 850's with manual transmission are rare since it overlapped production to the early V/S70 models.

I will appreciate all relevant comments to my questions.

Sincerely// Me

[WhatAmIDoing]

Get everything to stage 0 then we'll talk about tuning. I know Koni makes an aftermarket sports suspension. Stock single-mass flywheel and R clutch are all you need. Depending on how bad the rust is, you could clean and repaint, or find matching body panels in better shape.

Enjoy your AWD 850 5spd, I'm jealous.

[scot850]

Welcome to MVS!

Even over here the 850 AWD is rare as it was only sold in Canada and not the US.

I run a 2000 V70R and it uses a Rica Tune (software change) and it supposedly gives 312 bhp and 300 ft/lb torque with an automatic transmission.

Rust is the first concern, particularly the AWD. Not the body panels but the rear aluminum sub-frame. Check it very carefully for corrosion around the mounting bolts just inside the rear wheels. They can get bad enough over here that they eventually crack in that area. The body corrosion is the same as any other car to deal with, the one place to be very careful is around the top of the front windshield. If you have any rust at the top corners or along the top of the windshield it is time to walk away. This is a complex area of multi layers and requires specialist welding to repair = expensive.

AWD parts are getting rare and may are now obsolete at the rear of the car. Front suspension is the same as a FWD car. The differences are at the rear.

As to whether to tune or keep standard will depend on rarity of the car and potential value. Over here they are not considered a collector car (yet) so most end up in the junkyard as they are expensive to repair (my 'R' re-build cost me about $6500 and 7 months just finding some parts, including parts in Australia).

A friend of mine is a Volvo mechanic and he has an 850 AWD and it is his second. He loves the car as they drive nicely in stock tune.

Neil.

[erikv11]

VIDA won't work on your car, it is for 99+ vehicles. Use Vol-FCR or OBDII readers.

One VERY easy tuning change is to drop in the turbo, injectors and ECU from a T5. This is totally safe with an LPT engine, and pretty satisfying. However as stated with the "stage 0" comment, I'd first get the engine and exhaust in good working condition. There isn't much tuning you can do without a larger turbo.

[MackN]

Thank you all for the tips! I will tomorrow check thoose rust spots around the rear aluminium subframe and double check the rust on the bodypanels.
I'm lucky that there aren't any rust in the top corners of the windshield, I've only seen in the lower boot section (altough this is a common problem).
Hope VoL FCR works with Win 10, the software looks a fair bit dated compared to like VCDS for an example.

/Me