Wolf in sheep's clothing - 2007 S60 T5

[NateWM]

Volvos....great, aren't they?

I've had a number of them over the years, fond of the P2 generation in particular. I currently have this as one of the collection;


A 2007 S60 D5, with the 6 speed auto. It's a fantastic car and I adore it for it's waftiness, but I've always hankered after a manual T5. The problem is that unfortunately, they very rarely come up for sale in Ireland as they were never popular here due to the high road tax (€1200 p/a )....Alas, I kept my search alerts active and finally, after what felt like an eternity, THIS came up for sale.


This is the first picture I got of her after striking the deal with the seller. She's a 2007 facelift, 6 speed manual, 1 owner car and completely original other than a IDR remap bringing it from 260hp to 309hp. The performance is staggering! No car that looks this underwhelming has such a right to accelerate relentlessly the way it does!

After getting home;






The condition of the car is incredible, especially considering it has done nearly 170k miles! No rust, not even a single stonechip, even the interior is in fantastic fettle. I'm still in disbelief that I got such a car with such a high level of performance for under 2 grand!

First port of call was refurbing the headlights;


And painting those huge 309mm brakes;


Next up was a set of BBS optional 17 inch wheels which are currently awaiting a refurb;


And I also machine polished and ceramic coated the car, which really helps the pearl grey pop;


And some artsie ones;




You'll also see I fitted wind deflectors, tinted the foglights and indicators and put on some stickers from SwedishBoostMafia.
I've also given the car a full service, fitted an uprated airbox and BOV (cool turbo flutter noises!) and a full set of Bridgestone Turanzas.

The plan with this car is to turn it into my dream Volvo build, and keep it for life. I want it to be quick, but still look relatively unassuming. For those that don't know, this engine is the B5244T5 which is the pick of the bunch, due to its strength and large turbo. I've spoken with a well knwo Volvo/Focus ST tuner who has said my aim of 450hp is easily achievable, so I currently have a list of parts on their way. On top of that, I'll also be lowering the car a small bit and fitting some handling upgrades.

Overall, I've really fallen in love with this car and I'm excited to see how it turns out!

[col1983]

Yes! I’m in. Awesome project. I used to have an early 2.0T which was remapped and that was a great car, but the T5 and the R were the ones I hankered after. Like that colour combo too - it’ll look perfect after some light fettling. Enjoy!

[Macron]

Surprised this hasn't had more love, what a great car and find!

[redandwhite]

Will keep an eye on this, love a Volvo

[DOT2015]

Love this, I can’t resist a nice Volvo project as it brings back great memories of my Dad’s 740 turbo, and great to see an Irish car represented on here, keep us up to date!

[The Bearded Tit]

Honestly can't think of a more powerful car for less money. Always wanted a V70 T5, or an S80.

[NateWM]

The Bearded Tit said:

Honestly can't think of a more powerful car for less money. Always wanted a V70 T5, or an S80.

I was thinking about this earlier. The car market in Ireland right now is insane, but particularly towards anything performance or JDM related. For what cost me 2 bags of the finest European sand, I honestly can not think of any recent time that I have seen something available with such performance. I know it's only a smidge over 300bhp, yes it's a bit heavy at circa 1500kg and I've absolutely driven and owned faster cars....but the way this thing accelerates especially when it's just a remapped example, is staggering. It's almost as if pulls harder once into 3rd gear and above!

I'm currently in the airport off on my hols, but I've just got a message to say the flywheel and clutch kit has arrived as have the uprated injectors. For the clutch and flywheel, I went with a MK2 Ford Focus RS item. I was considering single mass flywheel, however I've heard some complain of gearbox chatter and it being harder to drive around town with such...as my missus will be occasionally driving this, I've decided to replace the DMF with the Focus RS item. It's a smidge lighter, but will still result in a smooth and easy drive.

Here's a pic from a recent cars and coffee to wet your appetite, old friend pictured leaning on it with his beloved prelude.

[jwwbowe]

Nice, real sleepers those. €1.2k tax we are lucky here in the UK in that respect (you have us beat in lots of others though!), think a pre 2005 would be circa £320 or something like that. Volvo seats are just the best to, only FFRR come close for comfort IMO. Enjoy

[Ian-8bdsj]

Does it still cost you €1200/year or does it decrease once cars get to a certain age? Sure is alot of money.

[J4CKO]

Cool, was just thinking the other day that these have become a rare sight.

[NateWM]

Ian-8bdsj said:

Does it still cost you €1200/year or does it decrease once cars get to a certain age? Sure is alot of money.

Yeah the motor tax here can be painful. Anything pre-2008 is based off of engine size, so a 2.4 Volvo pays the same tax rate as a 2.4 Diesel Mercedes for example, even if the Mercedes is 10 times more polluting than the Volvo. It goes upto 3000cc, paying €1800 p/a. Bare in mind as well, that the price goes up if paid quarterly or half yearly instead of yearly. So an €1800 p/a car turns into €2002 if paid half yearly, or €2080 if paid quarterly That's why most cars here tend to be of a small engine size, rarely over 2 litres. After 2008, it is emissions based so ranges from €0 (0g per KM) to €2350 (225g per KM) p/a. This Volvo T5 for example would be around €700 p/a if it was registered just 3 months later on the logbook - Once 30 years old, cars hit "vintage" status and regardless of engine size or emissions, cost €56 p/a to tax. Vintage cars can demand a hefty premium here for that.

P.S I currently have 7 cars all over 2 litre, and the cheapest one by far to tax is a 3.5 V6 petrol hybrid which is far from efficient and drinks petrol I always find that amusing...and painful on my bank balance

Edited by NateWM on Tuesday 27th September 05:34

[NateWM]

Had a day off today, so called into my buddies place to give the car a well needed machine polish, then locked it in with ceramic coating.

Before:




After:






I don't have much experience machine polishing, but I'm happy with the results! Being up and close with the car did lead to me noticing some small lacquer peel on the side skirts, and with me intending the have the rear bumper resprayed anyway, I've now decided to take the plunge and will be calling into a friend this weekend for him to price it all up for me. Other than that the paintwork is actually in really good condition, just a few parking dings to get done.

In more exciting news, I have nearly everything I need to make my 450hp target. So far I have;

1. Bosch 966cc Injectors with uprated fuel rail
2. Forge Motorsport Intake Manifold
3. Stainless Decat Downpipe
4. Forge Motorsport charge pipe
5. PRC Intake Kit

I'm now waiting on the Focus RS clutch kit and flywheel (decided to keep it DMF so that it's still nice to drive) and large front mount intercooler and hardpipes. Once that's all arrived, it will then be time to find someone to do the mapping. I'm also researching someone who can fabricate a twin exit exhaust system, nothing too OTT but I've seen S60s with a dual exhaust and it really suits them!

I've also got 4 brand new shock absorbers and top mounts, lowering springs and spacers to go on, but these will wait until the BBS wheels I purchased in a recent post have been refurbished.

Very madly in love with this car, as embarrassing as that might be to say!

[errolauch]

Really interesting to see this, my Dad was the original owner of this car, his 4th T5, kept it 7 years.
Great to see it gone to someone with an appreciation for such a car.

[bargeista]

Surprised I haven't spotted this thread before but I have a very similar facelift 05 s60 t5 with the 6 speed.

Mine has been 'improved' since I bought it in 2016. Some would say ruined but its how I want it!

They are such comfortable and well made cars and as you say quite quick (when you can put the power down.)

Mine is lunar gold. I'd much prefer the colour of yours but choice is slim as you say.

Mine has a few bits and bobs...

S60r blue interior including instrument cluster and carpets etc
S60r 17 inch pegs wheels. These are wider than the stock s60 wheels. I avoided 18s as they don't ride the best!
Removed the sport boot spoiler and fitted the small lip spoiler which I prefer the look of.
Otherwise stock looking which is important to me!

Hardware wise:

big intercooler and charge pipes
New turbo with billet compressor wheel
3 inch downpipe and exhaust with decat
bigger injectors.. 550cc I think
Shemtek stage 2 remap
s60r clutch
xc90 338mm front brakes
powerflex from wishbone and rear traimg arm bushes
Solid aluminium front subframe mounts
S4 3.5" maf with snabb airbox and turbo inlet
Uprated fuel pump

I've not had it dynod but It should be somewhere between 350 and 400hp.. feels fast thats for sure!

450hp will be brutal. following with interest!