All right folks, I've done some homework but now it's time to poll the masses to make sure I don't have my head up my butt. I got my '99 C70 HPT 5 speed a few months ago. the PO took care of most of the mods in the suspension department, the IPD cat-back exhaust, and HID high beams. I've got around $500 kicking around from the sale of my last volvo (no, that's not what I got for it in entirety, the rest was my IRA contribution for this year) that my wife has approved for current-vehicle-enhancement products :) Here are some of the recommendations I'm considering. Bear in mind, the vehicle is still under warranty for another 10K miles and I'm considering extending it.

APEXI AUTO TIMER- $100
I don't like the fact that the car has no voltage gauge and no boost gauge. I also like having an A/F meter and a turbo timer (will it work with factory alarm? a side note- can you set the factory alarm to passively arm? How about getting it to honk, beep, or chirp when I arm/disarm it?), so I'm considering the APEXI AUTO TIMER, $100. That would take care of the Voltage meter, the A/F meter, and the turbo timer part of things. It is also nice and skinny so I'd probably mount it on the steering column or maybe even out of the way in the center console or glovebox, since I don't really need to reference any of that info during daily driving. I don't need to look at a boost gauge during regular driving either, but it's handy when making modifications so I can make sure I don't muck things up... I suppose I could just run a line in under the driver's side and tee a handheld boost gauge to it whenever I need to tweak something.

E-Code lenses- $230?
I think they're around that much from volvospeed.com... anyone checked any other prices or have any info on whether or not they are worth it? I wish the HID was on the low beams and not the high... can you switch that around?

Cool air intake- $200?
I saw that Eastern Aerospace has something to this effect, as well as BSR (there was talk of a group buy, is that still open?). I hate the thought of paying EAS prices though, they are ABSURD! Is there one intake better than another out there for these cars, maybe one that takes in cool air from the fender or the grille area or the air dam or something, rather than just sticking a cone filter behind a sheet metal heat shield? Hell, I can do that with $50 at home depot.

3" downpipe / race cat- $700?
Again, something I think offered by the BSR group buy, but I'm not sure I need the race cat. I was thinking more along the lines of a 3" downpipe to a selectable Y pipe like a dump, but one side goes to my current stock cat w/ IPD catback, and the other to straight 3" pipe all the way back for off road use. Maybe I should get the 3" downpipe with the 3" cat and put the Y after it? Any opinions?

Any other ideas? Thanks much for all your help in advance for a new FWD guy.

-Jon
--
1LT Jonathan T. Belmont-- '91 Coupe 166K 'Gustaf' **FOR SALE!!!**

If you haven't got a strut brace, this is essential - the standard 850 brace will fit the C70 (I've just seen a C70 with the same brace part no. as mine, so this is definite).

I've heard about turbo timers; however, if you're parking the car at low revs or looking for a space ditto, surely the turbo will have spun down anyway?

We've just had a rolling road session and a C70 was the most powerful turbocharged engine (bar one heavily modified 850 T5-R and a racing S70) on the day - he had a large bore exhaust, so that may well be the way to go.

Be warned about chipping though, the chipped cars didn't have the claimed improvement (no surprises there) and some had problems which may or may not have been due to chipping.

Incidentally, my stock (apart from handling mods) 850R delivered an absolutely "on-the-book" reading; it's fast enough for me anyway!

Hi,
Can you provide more details of the rolling road day? Is that dyno? Very curious what year C70 was, what mod, and output. I have a 2000 C70.

Kindest Regards,
Carl


Can send additional info to abdj1@mindspring.com too....

Carl