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Gingineer's V70R

24K views 73 replies 25 participants last post by  slickfast 
#1 ·
Hello!

Recently I've been doing a lot of lurking and occasional commenting on here, and now I think it's time to formally introduce myself. My name is Colin, I'm an aircraft designer/wantrepreneur, and I come from the world of rallycross and E36 M3s! Super happy to be here.

So I've been trying to quell my interest in rallycross (I'd rather invest in my ideas at this point but it's SO MUCH FUN), and I've always thought that a fast AWD manual wagon is one of the best all arounders a person can drive. I was looking at B6 S4 wagons, Subaru WRX wagons, STi hatchbacks, and a car I've always had in the back of my mind, the Volvo V70R. My requirements were manual gearbox, AWD, refined interior (I drive about 65 miles a day), some good power, and obviously AWD.

I currently own a 1999.5 VW Jetta TDI 5MT that was awful for everything except for the 10,228 mile road trip I took it on, as well as a 1999 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS Coupe which I absolutely adore. I'm certainly getting rid of the Jetta after I put the intake manifold back on, and I would LIKE to get rid of the subie. But I'm not sure that's gonna happen. Car love.

Anyway, so I've been idly searching for V70Rs for a couple months now, and stumbled upon the Craigslist Finds thread on swedespeed. Loved it, but be careful because they don't have everything. In fact they didn't have the best car I had found in the area for quite a while: a 2006 V70R 6MT in Sapphire/Nordkap with 100k on it... the one I ended up buying.



The PO had it since 39k just off lease, and it was dealer serviced until a couple days ago when I picked it up. Luckily I had a Pre-Purchase Inspection done at a different Volvo dealer though, because they found the angle gear to be not working at all. I was completely ready to walk away when the PO said that he would have the job done on his dime and keep the sale price as is! SO STOKED. One of the rear dampers has been replaced because it was leaking, and appears to work perfectly. It's amazing the difference in connectedness to the road!

So: while it's not a perfect example, it still makes me very happy to drive something so civilized/capable/fast/spacious after either driving a boring slow car (TDI) or a loud unrefined-but-hilariously-fun car (my beloved subie).

Some issues I discovered right off the bat (that weren't picked up by the PPI oddly?)

- Cruise control doesn't engage. There is no message being shown. The word "cruise" appears on the dash, but when I hit the + button nothing happens. A friend recommended the clutch position sensor. Ideas? Another piece of info that the emissions inspector discovered: it starts up without your foot on the clutch. Does that mean my clutch position sensor is definitely kaput? Most cars have a safety interlock that keeps you from starting until your foot is on the clutch.

-Low oil level light comes on every once in a while. I of course checked the oil level, and it's fine. Is the sensor known to fail?

-Some slightly buzzing speakers in the back when I crank it. I'll have to look for some replacements. I had a BSW audio kit in my M3 which are basically Rainbow speakers in the stock locations with the stock amp and I LOVED the sound.

Until I get more pictures up I just wanted to say Hello R Forum! I hope I'm here for a good while. :D
 
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#46 ·
Haven't done too much too it recently... I sold my Subaru so that should free up some time/funds for other things I want to do to the R.

Updates:
-Purchased 2 Monroe rear struts, haven't gotten around to installing them yet.
-New OEM battery in an attempt to get rid of my MAF code. It went away for a day, but then came back. I took out and cleaned the MAF, that didn't do it. Next step is to remove the throttle body, and hopefully that will do it. It only stumbles when at light load near idle RPM, so I'm thinking the butterfly is gunked up and sticking. Can't hurt to clean it, and I bought the gasket so I'm all ready.
-Snow tires are amazing. With the traction control on it's very good at keeping everything in line, and with anti-skid off it's very predictable and fun. Feels surprisingly light on its feet for how heavy it is.
-Oil level light came on again. I put on the Viton oil seal and that seamed to slow it, but I guess its still leaking somewhere so I'll have to check that common gasket on the turbo.

Hopefully with the rear struts and a cleared up TB I can declare my car stage 0. After that is where it gets fun... projector retrofits while keeping a stock look, strut bar inserts, subframe bushing inserts, and probably time for control arm bushings.

I'm also wanting to do some breathing mods... bigger inlet pipe and DP mainly.
 
#49 ·
Just looked at that tire picture you had there - thats pretty irregular to get wear in one spot. How has it been with new tires? Have you had it aligned and camber set between -.5 and 0.0? Wheel and tires road force balanced to ensure they're balanced and not bent? To get one area of tire wearing something that rotates would have to be eccentric/ not round...
 
#50 ·
Very nice ride indeed. I also own a 2006 V70R with a 6spd. Can't imagine driving a slushbox. (sorry auto tranny owners, no knock on you personally) Curious, how is the stock exhaust holding out? Mine is just about rotted off, and I've seen very little winter driving....
 
#56 ·
Definitely get a spacer cuz, I have the EST dp and I am getting the CEL every 3 weeks or so.
 
#68 ·
Ipd is considering selling just the exhaist tips. May want to contact them.. I think they wanted 120bux each.
 
#73 · (Edited)
NEW REAR SHOCKS ARE IN. And I have no idea why it took me all winter because I had an easy time getting them out! Probably due to my lanky hands haha. Even was able to push out the christmas tree clip for the 4C connector underneath so I didn't break it! Major caveat: WORK WITH A BUDDY ON THIS ONE. Have him pry the lower control arm down while you jiggle the strut out. I put a block of wood on top of the brake caliper and control arm to use as leverage.

My rears were absolutely toast. It feels like it used to now: going 75 on the highway feels just as composed as going 25 on a B road. Can't wait to throw my summer tires on to really bring out the handling!

If anyone wants a buddy to do their rear shocks and live in CT or the surrounding area, I'm totally willing to help out!
 
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