How much power to add to LPT V70 AWD?

686 Sport · Post by **686 Sport** » 13 Jul 2013, 16:10

Recently bought an 04 V70 2.5T AWD with 120k miles and a solid service record. This is my "rainy day" DD and also the wife's dog hauler. Were it not for the dogs I'd have a BMW - but hey, bliss is bliss.

Engine performance is best described as "relaxed", but after a t-belt change we get around 30 mpg at 70+ on trips. Thus it would appear that the LPT is in good tune and simply lacks the power to keep this rather aggressive driver happy on two-lane roads. Since we live on a cattle farm, the car is called on to range off-road quite often; else we'd have an R model.

The angle gear shows no weepage, and the tranny was flushed by Don Beyer at sale. There are no complaints or bad manners associated with any driveline component. All this leads to the question: how much extra power can this vehicle produce without compromising the drivetrain?

As you'd expect, I've been in touch with Lucky at ARD and would like to order one of his performance upgrades in the near future. With no recent experience at Volvo tuning , I'm relying on the anecdotal knowledge of others to decide how far to take the upgrade.

Other pertinent facts: we live in the country, and just occasionally visit our children in their preferred cities. I put a hitch on but don't expect to haul any weight or distance without first installing an auxiliary trans cooler; my 500-pound motorcycle on a small trailer to the dealer an hour away is the maximum anticipated load.

Right now the choice is down to which turbo to buy with Lucky's tune: 16T or 19T. The prospect of adding 60-65 hp to this car with the 19T is most appealing, but there is some bandwidth out there that suggests takeoff with the auto may be affected. Further, the nearest recommended indie Volvo specialist - Paul's in Richmond, VA - advises that the LPT AWD drivetrain may not be up to any serious power increase.

All comments welcome - especially from those with personal experience adding power to this LPT drivetrain. tia,

686 Sport
Lexington, VA

Post by **precopster** » 14 Jul 2013, 07:27

Aisin rate the transmission at around 330hp so as long as new fluid and, as a preventative measure, a cooler is fitted you should be fine to add more horses.
As far as the AWD system is concerned the Haldex system after '02 on V70s is a much better system than the earlier ones. Perhaps the guy you spoke to had earlier experience.

Again fluids are crucial if the Haldex is expected to last so the angle gear fluid should be replaced.

Personally I'm skeptical that a 19T will maintain or increase bottom end horsepower. Have a close look at the performance curves with the tune offered by ARD and the 19T turbo if they're published.

If top end is what you need this may be a good combination.

The compression ratio of the LPT motor is 9:1 so fuel used should be high octane if using a tune.

billybobo · Post by **billybobo** » 17 Jul 2013, 18:02

I am in the same boat as you 686sport. I have a 01 V70xc that i just did alot of trans work to and a new

angle gear in anticipation of putting a HPT in.
For the time being i tightened the wastegate up a couple turns to get a little more spunk out of the LPT.
I personally am leaning towards the T16. Good low end and nice high end from what ive been reading in all the different forums. Ive also read that a tune isnt necessary to get higher PSI loads. Is that true??? I still want to get mine tuned but was curious.