Alright chaps!

Post 3723 by turbofreak on 2004-12-09 18:59:28

I'm in the market for a cheapish turbocharged car to use as a weekend-only project. Have been browsing eBay for some while and there have been several decent looking T5 saloons going for £1500-£2000 which is about the right sort of price i'm looking to pay for a project car. From what I can gather they come as standard with 225bhp, not bad :) However, how much would it cost to get 300bhp, 350bhp, 400bhp? (Is 400bhp possible without blowing the engine?) The idea is to keep it looking standard on the outside as much as possible, and spend money on the power :dgrin: I'm not too worried about long-term reliability, the car will be used for about 3-4k miles per year only on nice sunny days and i'd probably have it 3-4 years, so if the mods last 20k miles I'll be happy :sinner: Look forward to hearing some advice !

Post 3724 by Mrsmopp on 2004-12-09 19:04:15

And laydee!!! (you forgot me in your title!) Right for the money you are looking at you could get an explod T5. will need quite a bit of work before you can start modding but 300bhp is relatively easy with the ECU upgrade most of us on here has! Company called RICA do an upgrade that can produce 304bhp - total cost for pre me7 cars (ie 850's) £470 (i think) After that you can do a 19T turbo conversion with a downpipe and new ecu upgrade which will take you to 340bhp. Any more than that without making adjustments elsewhere will have you bending rods. The longevity of a T5 it top....the have miles of smiles!!! We know of them with well over 200k and still going strong!! Hope this helps! x

Post 3725 by turbofreak on 2004-12-09 19:10:28

Hi laydeee :worship: Found one on the bay which went for £1550 which was dark gray I think, had new turbo, new cambelt, new air-conditioning system, full history (volvo) recent service and 120k miles. was manual too (i notise that the autos dont fetch as much??) thought that one looked good but I missed it :mad: loink:- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=9872&item=4506319842 That is the sort of car I would want for a project. does that seem a good deal to you?

Post 3726 by turbofreak on 2004-12-09 19:13:29

[QUOTE=Mrsmopp]which will take you to 340bhp. Any more than that without making adjustments elsewhere will have you bending rods. x[/QUOTE] What adjustments elsewhere? I'm not afraid of spending money if it yields good results :wink:

Post 3727 by Mrsmopp on 2004-12-09 19:15:54

Seems like a good deal at that price! I would always make sure you go and see a T5 before you buy......a dog will cost you a fortune to get to a reasonable state to start modding from (i know this from experience sadly). Get a good one and 300horses will be easy enough to achieve!! :wink: Keep us updated with your progress!!! x

Post 3728 by Mrsmopp on 2004-12-09 19:18:12

[QUOTE=turbofreak]What adjustments elsewhere? I'm not afraid of spending money if it yields good results :wink:[/QUOTE] Thats where the boys come in ... My knowledge is fairly basic (I have an excuse - I'm a girl LOL) They'll be sure to point you in the right direction tho! x

Post 3729 by Justin on 2004-12-09 19:24:05

Hi Turbo freak and :welcome: Firstly that link to ebay is rare, that car was a gift at that money, to the extent that if i had seen it i would have bought it, i have one already but that was too good to miss. As mophead said, you can have a remap that takes you over 300bhp, providing the car is running 99% well and has no faults, even the smallest air leak in a vac hose can cost you 50 horse power :eek: The 19T conversion costs about 1600 quid, but gives you 340-350hp, after that you start talking big money.... The internals will bend after 350 bhp+, con rods, pistons and liners etc. Major work and major money, but then how many cars have 350hp and look like they should be parked outside a church ? You could always buy mine http://www.volvot5.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=13 Although high miles its superbly maintained ;) But really if you have the money and you have time to look there are loads out there. Take your pick mate Cheers

Post 3738 by Bracer on 2004-12-10 08:27:41

Hi there Turbofreak, one thing I think needs to be mentioned is that even thou 304 / 310 or 340hp dont sound like loads in today modified car circles this is real usable power as proved at the pod by many members here, and considering 0-60 aren’t the T5's forte (expect sub 6 sec's still) its there mid range which is just making overtaking and from a roll kills of much more powerful cars a piece of cake. Previous to the Volvo I owned a 380whp Nissan 200SX :worship: And still my T5 now with around 355hp would tramp the 200SX from 30 in any gear ! If you like your bolt on bits thou and want more like 400hp then you mainly need to replace the rods and get a muther blower, but to be honest unless you want 12 sec 1/4's bearing in mind you'll probably never get one of these cars to do a sub 5 sec 0-60 which is where other 12 sec cars have the edge you'd still whip them on the road with sub 350hp Here is some vids of some modded Volvos, enjoy. [COLOR=Red]850 @ the famous Nordschleife (Nürburgring)[/COLOR] [COLOR=Red]Autotech's 850R[/COLOR] Here is a 550hp one owned by a guy in Sweden [COLOR=Red]Overloaded 1[/COLOR] [COLOR=Red]Overloaded 2[/COLOR] I have another one of this car probably the best vid ever, and one of his mates too. So if you would like me to email them to you just say the word, I also can send you some of mine if you like :wink: Regards Steve

Post 3768 by Markzx on 2004-12-10 13:18:48

[QUOTE=turbofreak]I'm in the market for a cheapish turbocharged car to use as a weekend-only project. Have been browsing eBay for some while and there have been several decent looking T5 saloons going for £1500-£2000 which is about the right sort of price i'm looking to pay for a project car. From what I can gather they come as standard with 225bhp, not bad :) However, how much would it cost to get 300bhp, 350bhp, 400bhp? (Is 400bhp possible without blowing the engine?) The idea is to keep it looking standard on the outside as much as possible, and spend money on the power :dgrin: I'm not too worried about long-term reliability, the car will be used for about 3-4k miles per year only on nice sunny days and i'd probably have it 3-4 years, so if the mods last 20k miles I'll be happy :sinner: Look forward to hearing some advice ![/QUOTE] Hi Turbofreak As my sig suggests I have different Toys to spend my money on and thats the only reason I don't spend money on my C70. I have had 3 T5's now and have to say you will not get more power for your money. I have spent nearly £30K on my Z and I hear guys talking about 600bhp skylines and Supras etc. Well 99.9% is bull. We're talking 300bhp for less than three Grand. + generally reliable. You arn't going to get that anywhere unless you pay around £10K.