Volvo 850 T5 - Old chiptuning (SAM)

[madsking]

Hello all,

For my 2.3 850 T5 I am preparing a spare ECU for some chip tuning activities soon.
To my surprice I found that this extra ECU at hand has sometime in the past been across a Swedish tuning company named SAM / SAM Steffansson.
Attaching a few photos of the chip itself.
Can some of you based on your memory / experience tell me the expected output by installing this particular chip in an 850 T5 2.3?

And does W/DOG OFF ring a bell to anyone?

[scot850]

I have never heard of them, even when living in the UK 20+ years ago. One of my brothers lives in Sweden and had Volvos. He was a mechanic and knew some of the Volvo guys there. I will ask him if he has heard of this company. All I can find is a Russian guy complaining he was charged tax on parts he bought from this SAM Steffanson company.

https://www.volvoforum.com/threads/be-c ... eves.1078/

There is an address on the end of his rant above in Goteborg Sweden.

Looking at the lower picture, the lower 7th pin from the Left looks badly soldered. No idea on the W/DOG either.

Good luck finding out anything on that.

Neil

[Clemens]

SAM / Steffanson Automotive was the company assigned to build the first 855 racecar prototype. Rumor has it that when they arrived at the Volvo factory to pick up the car to be prepared only a wagon body was on hand and because of limited time they took that. I doubt this to be true, but SAM built a red 855 racecar prototype back in the day.
So this ECU might be a unicorn part.
Don't reflash it!

[madsking]

It's absolutely a good story, and I do believe it's true, at least parts of it. Linking to an article from a Danish newspaper years ago including a youtube clip from 94 as well. However in the clip the car isn't red but white/blue.
The article explains it in a way that Steffanson Automotive (SAM) was the former Polestar.

https://ekstrabladet.dk/biler/article5296346.ece

[Clemens]

This is where I got my info from back then:

https://www.volvotips.com/index.php/850-2/850-btcc/

The photos are gone, but I still found them online:

[MelvinSteffansson]

Hello, I'm really happy that you have one off those...
Actualy it was my father who created that chip and my grandfather who was the prototype designer for the btcc car.
So I would keep a tight hold on that.

I will take a look around and mabey I can find some old blueprints for the btcc car

Kind regards Melvin Steffansson, Grand son of Bernt Inge Steffansson

[madsking]

Hi Melvin,
That is indeed interesting news. Searching the web it is very limited what is written about S.A.M even though I recall older car magazines mention this as a "big thing" .. I have also been in possession of multiple ECUs with the red/blue SAM sticker on

Whatever you have to share will be much appreciated and a continuation of an awesome Volvo story refereing to the btcc!
Are you working in the car industry youself?

Currently I am running with such chip in my 850 T5 and I experience no issues with fuel cut whatsoever. It gives close to 300 hp with only minor mods to the stock engine.
In fact the mixture is quite rich as the car is backfiring at high rpm gearshifts Love it!

[MelvinSteffansson]

Ooo Nice, the 850 is a beast!

Im not in the car industry myself but my dad has continued in it and he is now the National Team Captean for the Swedish Automobile Federation.

I'll come back to the 850 btcc when Ive talked to my granddad. But I will add a couple of pictures of some of the blueprints we have here...
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 0d81061a67&
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 2a69472bc4&
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... bc49042ef6&

[abscate]

Melvin, thanks for joining us here ! It’s great to connect to the history of Volvo and those who make it special

[madsking]

Now that is the real deal

Amazing that still exists.. Hereby a picture of where at least one of the genuine markers went back in the 90's