Are the 850 turbo models drastically detuned?

chrisjm91 · Post by **chrisjm91** » 23 Jul 2014, 14:16

I was talking with another volvo 850 fan, and he claims that the 850's are dramatically detuned and that if you had it tweeked that you could gain an approximate 60-80hp. I dont know how much exaggeration was involved but I thought it was definitely worth looking into and possibly having my 850T5 tuned. Has anybody done this or have any expertise on the subject or how to go about tuning it?

Post by **rspi** » 23 Jul 2014, 14:24

I don't think I would call it detuned but you can put a little effort and a few hundred dollars and make the T5 cars a lot faster.

Post by **matthew1** » 23 Jul 2014, 14:25

The turbo inline-5 has loads of headroom.

I'd word it "the factory set the HPT output well under the mechanical safety threshold."

A $40 manual boost controller will give you up to around 40hp additional (40hp = purely my estimation). A tune will also do this, for more money.

More: Volvo 850 + MBC

Beware the blown intercooler on hot days.

ThommyKent · Post by **ThommyKent** » 23 Jul 2014, 16:09

IPD has an ECU upgrade that I bought for my '97 T5 8 years ago that gives something like 60 more hp. It`s been great!

Post by **j-dawg** » 23 Jul 2014, 16:57

matthew1 wrote:I'd word it "the factory set the HPT output well under the mechanical safety threshold."

at ~244 kilomiles, i heartily approve of that engineering decision. many older turbo models eat themselves with heat under the hood, convoluted fluid and intake/exhaust piping, and stress on the internals. these things hold together very well. one theory: T5s are so geared towards high-end power that 95% of your driving never gets into big boost, and the deleterious effects of the turbo are thus minimized. (another theory: volvos aren't necessarily all that much more durable than other cars, but volvo owners are more diligent about good maintenance. i think there might be something to that, considering how many of the ones without diligent owners end up trashed by 200k.)

as for making more power, i've read Very Scientific Analyses suggesting that the stock internals can handle at the high end 350-400hp with a good tune and boost control scheme. i wouldn't expect mine to hold together another 244k with that kind of setup, but i haven't heard of mildly upgraded turbo cars exploding all over the place. someday when i have more time and money i may be inclined to turn up the boost. until then i'm gonna be happy if it keeps running reliably.

Post by **mecheng** » 23 Jul 2014, 17:51

You can add extra hp to any car, with these cars the consensus is up to 300hp on the stock trans.
But as it has been noted already, any extra increase decreases the life of the engine. Depends what you value most. More boost = more heat = more stress. I think the HPT is plenty fast, especially on colder nights.