To mod or not to mod...that is the question

[outlaw118]

As some of you are aware, my daily is a 1999 Volvo V40 T4, aka The Moose. She's done 120k ish, and is in, as far as I'm aware, perfect working order, mechanically.

Whilst 197bhp is nice, i'd quite like a little more. I have already removed the T4 badge from the back, so as far as the boy racers are concerned, I'm just a fat old man in a Volvo estate, which causes me MEGALOLZ when I hand them their arses on a plate on regular occasions!

I've already upgraded the brakes, with grooved and drilled discs and harder pads, and have a K&N 57i filter kit waiting to go on, and I went to AMD Motorsport (they run the VW Goof in the BTCC) at the weekend to see what could be done.

They will re-chip it for an extra 50-60bhp at a cost of £399 inclusive of rolling road set up, and make a cat-back exhaust in stainless steel with a lifetime guarantee for another £400. So I'd be weighing out £800 to them

Before they play with it, I reckon a cambelt would be a good idea, so I reckon £200 should cover that at my friendly local garage.

The bonnet has a previously been repaired with what appears to be a whole tub of plod, and this has cracked, so I reckon another £250 should sort that out.

So, I've theoretically spent £1250 on a car thats worth about £1250. Obviously I'm not daft enough to suppose that this will make the car worth £2500, bit the main questions are:

Does any of this sound like a good idea, or should I keep it standard, and put the money back in my pocket, and keep an eye out for something else? Will the new chip affect the Mot? I'm assuming not, I know Wuvvum esq has a gadget on the Rover Of Doom, which is like a switchy/dial type thing - should i get one of those?

Anyone got any experience of such things?

[ashmicro]

The Rover of doom is a diseasel, so while it's a turbo, I'm led to believe there's other trickery required for canal boat engines. FWIW, if you like the car, why not? I know a guy who spent nearly £10k getting a 205 GTi (for which he paid about 800 bills) the way he wanted it. It's now a blinding car, and he's a happy bunny.

[Cavcraft]

Can't see the chip making any odds to emissions for MOT, Mr Bob. Be worth asking the company first though and getting any response by email. Would it be worth getting a rolling road and/or healthcheck done on the engine first to make sure it's fit for more power? Also you'd then get an idea of real world figures if you check it again after having the chip fitted.

 

If you like the car and have the money then why not get it done? Sounds like it'd be a right laugh to drive afterwards and you know you'd enjoy it.

[Guest]

I'm suspect of any performance chip thing on a turbo car which claims to increase power by that much yet doesn't require upgrades to any other part of the system. I don't think the standard intercooler will really appreciate it for one thing. I'd press them on whether it would need anything else to be reliable long-term and see what they say.

[Pete-M]

Turn it up. If it goes bang at least it will have been fun.

[Guest]

Do it if you're happy with the car. You seem very happy with it.

 

I've spent £censored on my Amazon when loads of people said it was pointless. I didn't care that much. It's my car and that was all the mattered at the time.

I'll probably have spent about £800 cumulatively on the 460 to get it how I want it. Does that make it worth £1100? No. Am I selling it? No.

[Ross_K]

If you like the car, why not?

 

Stick some steels on it. And a 1.6i badge on the back.

[CreepingJesus]

Like Billy says, check it out properly before you go ahead; do a compression test, and if possible check oil and water pressure/temperature properly. The 'before' dyno run's a good idea too, as not all chip jobs are equal, and it would be better to know where it was to start with. A couple of steel wheels with disposable tyres on, ain't a bad idea, 'cos the rollers can murder tyres.

Personally, I'd have the cambelt, oil and water pump renewed, just to be sure (unless they're recent of course), if it was a keeper. If it was a sacrificial victim for trackday fun, I probly wouldn't. If all's well, then a bit of moderate tuning like you're aiming for, ought to be fine on these. Big numbers are possible, but not cheap.

Have you had a nose around some of the Volvo performance forums? There's some handy tricks involving bits of Mitsubishis, which can lead to some good and reliable gains. If you're going to do all that, then a turbo and intercooler swap would make it sweeter! I wonder if a Lancer Evo engine would go straight in?

Good luck with it, be interested to see how you get on. Go on, do it; you know you want to. G'wan g'wan g'wan etc.

[Split_Pin]

I wouldn't bother with the k and n, open cone filters are shite.

 

Timing belt, full service, bigger turbo and intercooler, injectors and a remap to suit should see some gains.

 

As said though, I'd go on the Volvo forums for the tricks!

[dollywobbler]

I'm a little wary of these remaps and 'supachip' things. Some of them just seem to over-fuel to get you a performance kick, but a chap on the BX forum tested one on a rolling road and found that at one point in the rev range, it was actually dangerously lean. Then there's whether other components cope. I worked with an idiot who sold superchips and he let me have a blast in his 200+bhp VW Golf turbo diesel. Very exciting, but 2nd gear sychromesh was utterly banjaxed. I know those aren't the strongest of gearboxes anyway, but asking it to deal with that sort of power seemed a bit silly.

[Barry Cade]

Mate has a RICA chip on his 850 T5- been in nearly 3 years now and no issues at all- takes the power up to near 300 bhp, which is really a bit much for the front tyres. Was set up properly with a rolling road session to make sure fuelling was correct all the way through the range- this is the important bit.

[outlaw118]

Thanks for the advice and comments chaps, I do love the car as some of you have guessed; and Ross_K, I have thought about the steels and 1.6 badge combo, glad I'm not the only one.

Will deffo get the waterpump done while the cambelt is being changed, as far as I'm aware it's still the original, couldn't find anything in it's history file to indicate otherwise. Fuel pump let me down last year, (was solved by "percussive maintainence") possibly because of running it on fumes, and standard unleaded, so I'll get that changed too. Oil change - at last something I can do myself - will happen too.

Will take a gander at Volvo forum, shall bear in mind not to criticise anyone or swear, or I'll be suspended (mentioning no names ).

As enny fule no, it shares a lot of DNA with a Mitsubushi Nocharisma, so I would imagine there will be interchangeable bits....bigger turbot and intercooler? Yes please!!

[Alexg]

Just bare in mind that beginning to modify a car for better performance can be a slippery slope into huge amounts of expenditure. The more you research the more you find out that you want/need!

[Pillock]

A guy I worked with had his 150bhp Golf TDI chipped to 195bhp or something daft.

After he shelled out for his third clutch in six months, he had the chip wound down to about 170bhp. There's always going to be a limit where the rest of the car starts to complain, your task is to find that limit before you do something expensive. Clutches are cheap, gearboxes and engines less so.

 

It should be fun though, there is something amusing about a car going faster than it was meant to - especially when it looks standard.

[dieselnutjob]

I have spent near to the value of the 604 repairing it, and it will need quite a bit more. It's a hobby so doesn't have to be economically justifiable.

[Craig the Princess]

I have spent near to the value of the 604 repairing it, and it will need quite a bit more. It's a hobby so doesn't have to be economically justifiable.

 

I quite often spend almost the value of my 200 Coupe putting petrol into it!