Rep Power: 307

ok...so this guy I work with drives a beatup 82 volvo that took some type of front end damage and is missing a grill. The headlights are like taped to the various front supports and the car is primer black. Somehow, we got on the subject of turbos and he said he had a "turbotronic" t5......not a clue what that is. He says that he is running about 23 psi on the stock block (i4) and that he puts down somewhere about 220-240ish to the wheels.....I was very quick to call bs cuz 23 psi seems a bit much for a return of 240 to the wheels. To make his case worse....we were messin around on highway 83 and I smoked him....couldnt even see him in the rearview and Im driving a solara 2.4. Well, I called BS and he told me to go and look at it. We went out and he popped his hood. The first thing I noticed was the intercooler right in front of the radiator. I found the turbo pretty quick mounted to the manifold on the passenger side of the block. It wasnt a very clean setup considering he had flex tube extending his intake to the front under the intercooler. I couldnt even see a wastegate..

Well, does anyone know about early volvo's? I still find it odd that he is running 23 psi (his boost guage has no numbers....only colors) and only able to produce 240whp. Am I the one on crack? We were playing around again after work today and he was eating me alive! Im confused and my ego is sore.....Someone help me out. I will take pictures of his setup tomorrow so I can post them.

 
Rep Power: 0

I don't know much on what you're talking about but my gf's dad told me his old 86 volvo wagon had a turbo and I floored it.. and it didn't really move.

 
Rep Power: 307

Well, he definitely kept up with my car in lower gears.....by no means is my solara a competant sports car but it should be quite a bit quicker than a car that weighs about 700 lbs more than mine

 
Rep Power: 289

hmmm... sounds weird. time to investigate.

 
Rep Power: 307

Ill bring in pictures tomorrow.....

 
Rep Power: 0

volvo inline 4s are INSANE (the stock turbo ones), they hold so much boost, and they will run for a long *** time.

 
Rep Power: 307

k thanks

 
Rep Power: 328

Just because a car has a turbo doesnt mean its fast. It could have 30 HP before the turbo spools and at 10 psi that would only give it approx. 130 hp total. So at 20 PSI the same car would have around 260...this is NOT wheel HP. So its quite possible for him to be at 23 PSI and only have 240 HP. Not saying thats the case for this particular car, but it is possible.

 
Rep Power: 331

that's one pathetic engine.

 
Rep Power: 301

i say the same thing to myself every day

 
Rep Power: 328

He could have a vacuum leak in one of his lines, think he's running higher boost, and be losing it all...

 
Rep Power: 0

As I recall from the olden days, Volvo is responsible for the current widespread use of intercoolers. Prior to that most folks just blew hot air into their intake.

Their motors back then were also seriously understressed and it doesn't surprise me that they could handle decent boost. I think it was in '83 or '84 that a intercooled Volvo wagon had a faster time than a stock corvette (I think that was from Motor Trend). That's not to say that those Volvo's are still fast 20 years and a few hundred thousand miles later.

 
Rep Power: 0

yes is it a volvo 240? it has the inline 4 (B21FT engine) 2127cc 2.1L SOHC K-Jetronic fuel injection intercooled