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to upgrade or not to upgrade?

2K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  V50_T5 
#1 ·
It's been a long time I've been tempted to mod/ upgrade the performance of my car but I'm not sure it's the smart decision for my situation.
What triggers my request to the group is that as many of you know Viva performance is coming out with this new RICA iSoftloader with a pretty good introductory price (about $800) that makes me think maybe it's the time.

Pros:
- Affordable software tune
- Better gas mileage
- Added fun to a car I still very much enjoy driving after 5 years of ownership.
- I'd be quite happy to boost the power of this T5 engine. The T5 engine is nice but sometime I feel under powered due the car curb weight.
- I've done some wheels and audio upgrade so I don't see this as a waste of money.

Cons:
- This car must last me for another 5 to 7 years and I'm concerned of mods affecting the longevity of the car especially as it relates to the engine.
As anyone had serious engine or transmission problems after such upgrade?
- If I go down this path I feel I'll have to at least upgrade my intake, exhaust, and lower the car. I love this car and take great care of it but at the same time I'm not a hardcore mod activist or by far a street racer and I'm not sure I can justify financially all these other mods on top of it with other house financial responsibilities.
- I don't know if this would affect my car insurance and what I'll have to do there.
- I have a good relationship with my dealer and I don't know how they would deal with me with these mods (not that is so important in my decision).
- We'll need to replace our second car in two years which I supposedly could do better then, though I know how it goes.

At a risk I might sound a bit lame to some on this forum I'm hoping some others have had this dilemma so any suggestion would be much appreciated… Thanks


Greg
 
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#3 ·
Re: to upgrade or not to upgrade? (TG)

I caved in and order the rica tune from viva. I still have CPO until the end of the year. I'm not sure insurance needs to come into play here. Yes, you will want to do a few more mods, but it's not bad. You LIVE in steel city, so I can't imagine its going to be hard to fab your own 3" exhaust system, if you so choose.
 
#4 ·
Re: to upgrade or not to upgrade? (stealth)

Yep, I'll gotta get down to the mills and see where the steel is at.
Seriously thanks for the few replies so far… keep them on coming.
 
#5 ·
I'll get the most important advice out of the way first, once you start modding your car, there will always be just one more thing, you'll never really be done lol.
The longevity of your drive train is going to be determined by only one thing after tuning, your right foot. How you drive will be the biggest factor, not the tune.
I would get your Volvo dealer to flash your car with the latest and greatest firmware for your car first. Before you install your tune, you have to read your car, and send it to the tuner before you get your tuned file. You want the latest file for this as it will give the tuner the best there is to work with.
Do all your intake and exhaust mods first and whatever else you might be planning.
Do the tune last.
My car is also 5 years old and I plan on keeping it for at least 5 more years, once my car was out of warranty I had no hesitation about modding my car, because these things in themselves won't affect longevity, but they would make warranty claims more difficult.
My car is paid for and I was seriously debating buying a new car, modding my car was cheaper, even though I dumped about 6K into it. Now I'll be happy with it for another 5 years. Hope this helps.
 
#6 ·
Re: (madden23)

Thanks Maden! That helps... I had the feeling that perhaps intake and exhaust might be better to do first.

One thing that also makes me reluctant is installing a K&N typhoon. How noisy is the intake upgrade (I'm guessing that's what you might have).
For many noise is good. On my end I'm not so thrilled especially on the intake side of things.

I also remember reading some had issues with that particular typhoon mod and some board somewhere that needs relocated and risks for it to fry. True/ False / completely a side issue?

Greg
 
#7 ·
A drop in filter will be fine for now, K&N or equivalent. If you put in a Typhoon , BSR
opti flow or something similiar, the ecu needs relocating, it's inside the factory air box. You will hear a fairly loud "sucking" sound in the car if you install one of the above, I think it's nice to hear. One advantage to the ecu's stock location is that it takes advantage of airflow to help with cooling. You could fabricate a heat shield, or put in a fan if your concerned. Since money is an issue I'd skip this, save money by using a drop in, do the things that will make a bigger impact first.
I have a drop in currently, I have an intake system, but I have not installed yet, I have not had time to fabricate the bracket and heat shield I plan on using. Viva EST and IPD all sell drop in filters.
 
#9 ·
Re: to upgrade or not to upgrade? (TG)

Quote, originally posted by TG »

- If I go down this path I feel I'll have to at least upgrade my intake, exhaust, and lower the car. I love this car and take great care of it but at the same time I'm not a hardcore mod activist or by far a street racer and I'm not sure I can justify financially all these other mods on top of it with other house financial responsibilities.

 
#11 ·
Re: to upgrade or not to upgrade? (TG)

5 years ...and no serious mods? that's patience http://********************/smile/emthup.gif , I had springs and wheels waiting 3 weeks before I even had the car...by the time my car was a year old...I had about 90% of the stuff in my signiture (moose air freshner came later)


but I can totally understand those who wait a bit...because of warrenties , the problems I did encounter "under warrenty" were a bit difficult to resolve at times because of the mods... I was lucky for the most part, but it was still a hassle.

my tune...didnt improve gas mileage, but it didnt get much worse either. Id say under normal driving its got to be within 5% of stock.

its definately more fun to drive....

to get the most out of your tune...you'd want to upgrade at the very least Down pipe and exhaust.....then perhaps the intercooler, and air intake.

lowering the car ...getting a larger rear sway bar will improve the handling a bit.

the dealer relationship issue...all depends on the dealer, however there were several occasions where I had to argue my point ....like the typhoon intake doesnt have anything to do with the mirror cover falling off
...

wish ALL dealers were mod friendly....especailly for bolt-ons... at least dont look for reasons to void our warrenty...if the mod really was related to failure...then OK thats fair, but other wise, just look at the odometer and fix it.

OK ...that said, my car is just over 5 years old with 98k miles...I had a tune, down pipe, exhaust , typhoon on the car for about 4 years and 80k+ miles....no big issues..
 
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