Could I turn my V70 into a touring car?
Discussion
I bought a W-reg V70 as a 'cheap car' and it's been great. Not sporty in the least but its virtues are many.
I may be in the position to buy a newer, more performance orientated car (thinking Octavia VRS), however, would I be mad if I spent the difference (let's call it £6k) on modding the V70 instead of buying something else? It's a N/A 2.4 petrol, apparently from the 'better' batch of engines (can't remember the code). I was thinking turbo, uprated brakes, coilover suspension, T5 alloys, etc.?
I may be in the position to buy a newer, more performance orientated car (thinking Octavia VRS), however, would I be mad if I spent the difference (let's call it £6k) on modding the V70 instead of buying something else? It's a N/A 2.4 petrol, apparently from the 'better' batch of engines (can't remember the code). I was thinking turbo, uprated brakes, coilover suspension, T5 alloys, etc.?
When you say touring car, I presume you don't actually mean a BTTC or WTC??
If you mean modded road car. Then yes, with time and money you can do anything. If it's worth it, well that's up to you though.
One thing I'd say, if you mod something and make it either unique, or achieve something that you couldn't normally buy. Then it would for most people be worthwhile.
If you simply make it faster, but no better or different to what you could have bought, then no it's probably not so worth it. As you won't really get anything better from it than you could have done by other means. And it won't really be worth much to sell on.
As for your exact car. Well I don't really know much about Volvo's to give you specifics. But I can offer up some generic advice.
£6k, while it sounds a lot, can be spent very quickly. Even more so if you are going to pay someone to do the work.
Turbo's can be fitted to most things (don't know if it's a common swap on these). But as a rule n/a engines run high CR. This means you will only be able to run low boost without the risk of pre-detonation, even on 99 RON fuel. You may have to upgrade the fuel system, ECU and other things to cater for it.
Then there's how strong the engine is. Again I don't know specifics, but most turbo engines have tougher internals compared to n/a engines. So running boost is more likely to break something, so budgeting for an engine rebuild and upgrade may well be a sensible thing. But this would depend on HP target and how strong a stock engine is.
Some other points that I'd note. Isn't the V70 FWD? If so, this may well limit how useful and how much fun such a car may become. There are quite a lot of AWD and RWD estates that would probably be better drives if speed and performance are what you are after.
Haven't Volvo sold turbo cars previously. Wouldn't buying one of these be a cheaper and better place to start with, if you were dedicated to sticking Volvo?
In short:
Yes! It is possible.
But only you can say if it's truly worth it or not. And £6k might not get you as far as you'd like/hope for.
If you mean modded road car. Then yes, with time and money you can do anything. If it's worth it, well that's up to you though.
One thing I'd say, if you mod something and make it either unique, or achieve something that you couldn't normally buy. Then it would for most people be worthwhile.
If you simply make it faster, but no better or different to what you could have bought, then no it's probably not so worth it. As you won't really get anything better from it than you could have done by other means. And it won't really be worth much to sell on.
As for your exact car. Well I don't really know much about Volvo's to give you specifics. But I can offer up some generic advice.
£6k, while it sounds a lot, can be spent very quickly. Even more so if you are going to pay someone to do the work.
Turbo's can be fitted to most things (don't know if it's a common swap on these). But as a rule n/a engines run high CR. This means you will only be able to run low boost without the risk of pre-detonation, even on 99 RON fuel. You may have to upgrade the fuel system, ECU and other things to cater for it.
Then there's how strong the engine is. Again I don't know specifics, but most turbo engines have tougher internals compared to n/a engines. So running boost is more likely to break something, so budgeting for an engine rebuild and upgrade may well be a sensible thing. But this would depend on HP target and how strong a stock engine is.
Some other points that I'd note. Isn't the V70 FWD? If so, this may well limit how useful and how much fun such a car may become. There are quite a lot of AWD and RWD estates that would probably be better drives if speed and performance are what you are after.
Haven't Volvo sold turbo cars previously. Wouldn't buying one of these be a cheaper and better place to start with, if you were dedicated to sticking Volvo?
In short:
Yes! It is possible.
But only you can say if it's truly worth it or not. And £6k might not get you as far as you'd like/hope for.
I'm under the impression that my engine is the same five-pot as a T5 except without the turbo. I may be mistaken, however.
Yes, I would consider buying a T5 from the off, but the thought of having something that is personal/a labour of love is quite tempting. And yeah, £6k isn't a huge amount but I could probably spend more over time (of course).
Not interested in a RWD estate, to be honest, I drive in inclement weather so much that I trust FWD/AWD. AWD seems to have huge bills attached to Volvos though if it goes wrong, Legacies are expensive to run, so on and so forth. There's not masses of choice.
Yes, I would consider buying a T5 from the off, but the thought of having something that is personal/a labour of love is quite tempting. And yeah, £6k isn't a huge amount but I could probably spend more over time (of course).
Not interested in a RWD estate, to be honest, I drive in inclement weather so much that I trust FWD/AWD. AWD seems to have huge bills attached to Volvos though if it goes wrong, Legacies are expensive to run, so on and so forth. There's not masses of choice.
LongLiveTazio said:
I'm under the impression that my engine is the same five-pot as a T5 except without the turbo. I may be mistaken, however.
I honestly don't know. But I'd suspect it might be the same block, maybe head but different internals.Most turbos' run a static CR of 7-8:1 while most n/a modern engines run more like 10:1 but I don't know for this engine as I've never looked. Forged pistons and rods are also common in turbo motors. It may also have a better fuel system too. But all things to check.
LongLiveTazio said:
Yes, I would consider buying a T5 from the off, but the thought of having something that is personal/a labour of love is quite tempting.
I agree, nearly all of my cars are modded to a greater or lesser degree so I understand fully. I jut know that after spending time and money on something and it still doesn't do what you want, then it becomes a little annoying.LongLiveTazio said:
Not interested in a RWD estate, to be honest, I drive in inclement weather so much that I trust FWD/AWD. AWD seems to have huge bills attached to Volvos though if it goes wrong, Legacies are expensive to run, so on and so forth. There's not masses of choice.
i doubt running a heavily modded car will be cheap as chips. But good luck! The smaller bore 2.3 t5 is the better engine. It would be much easier and cheaper to drop a whole turbo lump into yours rather than turbo charge the existing engine - yes it's the same head and block as the later t5s but you'll find cams, throttle body, ecu and in some cases valves are different in turbo models. Buy an engine from a smashed t5 and stick it in. Alternatively a naturally aspirated 20valve on throttle bodies and some hot cams would be interesting
Touring car - no. Nice quick Q car - YES! 
Personally i'd start with a T5, change the turbo from a 16T to a 18T (with an angled outlet).
Then change the downpipe, get a full cat-back exhaust, a later manifold ported (ME7), a 'Tim Williams' Throttle Body and methanol injection
Add a MTE Stage 2 remap in there, and you've got a high HP car. Now to start on the handling/steering and braking. Thre are some brilliant uprated anti roll bars on the market for what is actually a low price for what they are offering.
You must bear in mind that your car (if you do a engine swap or get a different car) will not be perfect from the start. Things like wishbone bushes, drop links, gaitors etc will be worn and need replacing so you have a good base to start with. Getting the injectors cleaned is often forgotten, so don't!
You could go and get a huge garrett and push 400+bhp...
Get onto t5d5 and have a look around, use the search function and introduce yourself.
Personally i'd start with a T5, change the turbo from a 16T to a 18T (with an angled outlet).
Then change the downpipe, get a full cat-back exhaust, a later manifold ported (ME7), a 'Tim Williams' Throttle Body and methanol injection
Add a MTE Stage 2 remap in there, and you've got a high HP car. Now to start on the handling/steering and braking. Thre are some brilliant uprated anti roll bars on the market for what is actually a low price for what they are offering.You must bear in mind that your car (if you do a engine swap or get a different car) will not be perfect from the start. Things like wishbone bushes, drop links, gaitors etc will be worn and need replacing so you have a good base to start with. Getting the injectors cleaned is often forgotten, so don't!
You could go and get a huge garrett and push 400+bhp...
Get onto t5d5 and have a look around, use the search function and introduce yourself.
- I must give Credit to Tim Wiliams for the list at the top on the engine side.
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