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New S70 T5A In the Family! S70 1998

I have just aquired a 1998 S70 T5 Automatic. 236p/244tor. Ive drove it about 50 miles and can say now that I really love the performance. My wife as many of you know has a 1998 S70 GLT with the low pressure turbo 190hp/199tor. We have done numerous modifications to hers which made me become a Volvo lover. I cant wait to start personalizing the new addition to our volvo family. The car is light turquoise with tan leather interior. It has the 16" factory directional twist wheels with 205/55hr/16 fulda tires which leads me to belive it has the bigger brakes up front 11 7/8" instead of the 11" my wifes has. if anyone knows how to tell without measuring let me know. The car does not have a rear wing like my wifes has which I may add. Only other diffrence is mine has the info switch which tells you temp avg mpg/mph and 2 trip odometers. Hers only tells time and temp. The brakes will be the first thing I address. I drove a T5 a month ago that had the bigger brakes (11 7/8" instead of 11") and it stopped alot better than the factory ones my wifes came with. The debate with me is to Replace mine with the Cross Drilled Zimmerman/Mintex Combo my wife has that we have been so happy with or Buy a big brake kit for my front? Kalmar Union has a AP performance kit they sell which looks awesome and really scrubs off speed quick. Price is a big diffrence $500 F/R VS. $2500 F. but I plan keeping this car for a good while so it might be worth the extra money? This car has alot of miles 120,000 but has been recently completly serviced.New spark plugs,wires coil, battery, synthetic oil change & filter in the engine & transmission cleaned fuel injectors, new fuel filter, all new belts, Flush & fill radiator, new K&N air filter and a pollen filter for heater and air conditioning I almost bought a 1998 T5 5speed my true dream machine. I love a manual transmission. It was in San Diego California and im in Indianapolis, Indiana so the drive was a big issue. In all im very pleased about the new addition to our volvo family Ill keep you posted on the new mods I do on this vehicle. God Bless!








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New S70 T5A In the Family! S70 1998

I have a 98 S70 T5M and the brakes are the same as my wifes 95 855GLT
(except the 95 has better brake "feel"). I think only the police
package (available in Canada) came with the larger brakes in 98 and
the AWD models. I don't know how to tell other then measuring, though.

As far as upgrading, I'm not sure of the overall benefits. A recent
European Car magazine had an article about a large brake kit
replacement on a BMW 3 series. They had temperature numbers and
stopping distances. I recall it did not seem to be all that much
of an improvement for the $2500 investment (maybe if you were racing
the cost would be worth it where you look for every bit of performance).
We are talking 2 feet shorter from 70 mph difference, here. If I could
fix anything it would be the "feel" of the brakes (maybe stainless
brake lines is something I should look at).

I have not seen any actual measurments of various brake parts and
performance for Volvos (they just don't make the car mag tuner
articles very often). It would be nice to see real numbers under
controlled testing if anyone knows of them.









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New S70 T5A In the Family! S70 1998

Well Ive done a little research and found out that the only 70 Series Volvos that came with the 11 7/8" Front rotors were the V70 "Special" with the T5 Engine. It also had had vented rear rotors. No other Volvos had the big brakes period. When you stated that Volvo might of put on bigger brakes on the Police Package S70 I went to the Lawrence Police department which has a 2000 S70 police package and checked theres out. Sorry there just like our 11" ones. Im a police officer in Indianapolis also. The Police Volvo is avalible in the USA but many police angencies dont get them because Volvo on Leases then for $600 a month and refuses to let agencies purchase them. I will say that the Volvo S70 Police Package is alot faster than anything issued to us other than the Camaro Police Package. Another complaint is that the shifter is on the floor where most Police Departments put the console with the sirens and other items in at. The problem with the factory 11" front brakes is that the brakes fade real easy and intial bite is very weak. As I stated before we replaced my wife's S70 GLT with cross drilled Zimmerman rotors and Mintex red-box pads. I then called IPD and ordered a set of Stainless Steel brake lines and rear shims. I took the items to my local Midas and had all of the above installed with dot4 synthetic fluid. The brakes were a dramatic improvement over the facory set up. Fade was almost none and intial bite was very aggressive. The only pads better than the ones that came with the Rotors are also made by Mintex and are there C-tech pads. Bar none the most aggressive pads avalible for our S70'S there avalible at CFI Motorsports. I noticed that you have a S70 T5 Manual Transmission. Must be fun! I love stick shifts. The benifts other than the obvious is that you can install a limited slip front differential and a short throw shifter and a agressive clutch. The shifter is avalible at IPD and the limited slip is avalible from Kalmar Union both site are accessible from volvospeed.com. Since Ive posted my orginal ad Ive installed a set of factory 17x7" Volvo Volan Wheels from an 850 T5R model. They're refeurbished ones from collsion wheel specialists. The tire are Kuhmo 712's 225/45WR/17 very reasonably priced and handle very well. I called Stillen Motorsports and they have a hot set of Front Brembo brakes for the 850/S70 the kit includes 320-330mm about 13" and 4 pistion brembo calipers painted ferrari red or Porsche black, Stainless Steel lines, Ferrodo pads (very good pads also) all hardware for $2200 to your door. After that monumental purchase and alot of off-duty security work Ill buy some IPD f/r sway bars H&R progressive rate springs and a HD set of bilstiens. oh and a IPD strut tower brace. Give me an email back and let me know what you think. enfrank@iupui.edu God Bless!







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