June 2008 Newsletter for Front Wheel Drive Models

Customer Feature: Juan Valdez

By: Juan Valdez - ipd customer

It started with a wink from the sun off the silver body, then the smooth lines and the bold sharp curves. I knew I had just fallen in love! It was January 20th 2005 and my flight from Houston to San Francisco had brought me to my soul mate.

Coming from a line of 5cyl turbo Volvos, an 850TLA and 850R, I knew I had to step it up and get a V70R to add to the lineup. So, for my birthday in January I took the flight that made my dream come true and bought a Silver 2000 V70R. There he was sitting at 67k, two owners, and parked in a climate controlled garage. Oh boy! I realized how much love the car had received by its previous owners and I had just been knighted to keep the TLC coming.

Before starting my long drive back to Houston, I felt that an oil change and transmission flush were in order before the road trip. Unfortunately, the trip ended up being cancelled due to a mishap at the car shop that caused the transmission to go berserk.

Three months later, after all the fighting with lawyers and negotiating for the new transmission for the car, he was back on the road. A car transport company brought him home that Saturday night. A bruised ego and replaced transmission later, the car still looked amazing! As I started to drive the car, I noticed a difference in the AWD and FWD cars when, once again, the transmission started to show signs of malfunctioning and left me stranded a couple of times. Then it happened. That fateful morning on my way to work, the transmission decided to call it quits. I was absolutely furious and ready to give the car away! After expressing my anger and dissatisfaction all over the boards, Brian, a member of V70R.com, SwedeSpeed, and VolvoSpeed, opened a thread and started to raise questions about ME7 5sp manual swaps. Well DUH Juan! BINGO! My prayers had finally been answered, but from my understanding of ME7’s and how 99+ Volvos were married to their ECU’s, it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

Eventually, I decided to contact Lucky at Ipd, and explained what we had in mind. He said, “I don’t see why not,” then explained, however, that his tuner in Sweden would most likely have the last word, but the optimism in his voice was undeniable. Later that week, I received an e-mail that I won’t soon forget, if ever. Big, bold, blinking words exclaimed, “YES WE CAN DO IT!” at least, that’s how it looked to me. Needless to say, no one else offered that tune and I was excited!

The swap went very smoothly under Aaron’s (Racing Lab Fabrication) expertise. He took care of all the mechanical worries and the car was successfully converted from a AWD automatic car to a FWD M56H 5sp. The car drove fine, except for a 4k RPM cutout and a 4 psi fuel cut. I proceeded to order the Ipd Softloader since ipd was the only company to provide this ‘one off’ tune for MY00 V70R with manual swaps. After sending the readout, Lucky and Ken kept me updated on the progress of the tune. It just took a little waiting and the tune finally arrived. Loading the tune and making sure that the car was running 100%, stage 0 and all, were number 1 and 2 on my list of important to-dos for the car. I could barely contain my anticipation as the tune loaded and I hopped in for a short cruise. Two words. HOLY SMOKES!!! Ipd just turned my car into a monster releasing power throughout the entire RPM range and boost levels reached about 18 psi. One step on this car’s throttle at 3500 RPM and the Sumitomos were in a tire spinning frenzy until the shift into third gear. From inside the cabin, the deep growl that erupts from under the hood sounds anything but gentle and unlike any other Turbo or R I’ve ever owned. That shift into second gear at 35mph then letting it rip, will make that speedo zing past 60 in a tire-smoking instant. Throw it into third gear, mash the throttle, your back is pressed against the seat and you’re gone. My suspension was definitely getting a work out. I was left speechless, not to mention breathless!

From Ipd’s chip on my 850TLA to every Ipd upgrade on my V70R, the Softloader is the one that gives me a huge grin from ear to ear. It is an absolute pleasure to drive a car given a second chance having amazing performance without compromising safety. It drives like it just left Volvo’s factory with a hint of steroids.

I definitely have to give a special thanks to Jon Ng (parts donor), John Melcon (M56H donor), Aaron and Bruce (Race lab Fabrication) and last but unquestionably not least, Lucky. He dealt with me from the first day and never seemed to be bothered, even when “the questions sounded a bit confusing.” He very patiently explained, in detail, all the features of the Softloader and promptly responded to all my e-mails and calls. Truly, a big thank you goes out to everyone who worked hard on getting my car to where it needs to be. The fact that it’s the first of what I’m sure will be many, is just a BIG added bonus. For now, I’m back on the road and enjoying the car more and more every day!