The Passing Lane Newsletter - May 2011

2002 Volvo S60 2.4T AWD

by Brandon Kuhl - ipd customer

I bought this car in the summer of 2006 with only 28,000 miles with one previous owner. I had been looking into various euro four doors for a while. I knew the car I was buying was going to be something with a turbocharged engine, all wheel drive and leather interior. The S60 was the last car I test drove, it was a clear winner over the BMW and Audi for similar prices.

I really liked the car from the start, very smooth power and a refined driving characteristic makes for enjoyable driving. The Swedes have built a great car and noticeable in so many instances. From the vault door like sound of the doors closing, the wicked traction of the Haldex AWD system to heated leather seats this car rarely disappoints.

Great car to start with in a stock configuration but like my other cars I can't seem to leave well enough alone. It always starts out slow with just regular maintenance and small changes like a K&N drop in air filter. It's all too easy to add some performance when keeping up with the scheduled service when you have the support of a great company like IPD. With the large inventory of OEM replace parts, wide selection of aftermarket products and Volvo specific tools/supplies they can take care of you and your car.

I began to gradually improve both the handling and power of the car with some lowering springs, 18" ipd VMS wheels and catback exhaust. Then tinted the windows and added the front spoilers for a bit of more aggressive look. Taking full advantage of the turbocharged inline 5 cylinder's potential for power I had RICA Engineering retune the ECU. Matched the software with a free flowing 3" downpipe, high flow intake, IPD HD TCV, etc... and started to realize the huge gains that can be made on these LPT cars.

With the help of forum members on Sweedspeed.com and Volvospeed.com, as well as the helpful staff at IPD USA and ViVA Performance the S60 was better than ever. But still not good enough. So the only logical thing to do was to swap in a bigger turbocharger from a late T5 model and upgrade the intercooler to a more efficient and better flowing unit. Around this time I got the IPD VMS wheels and upgraded the rest of the suspension with Bilstein and IPD R Track Spec Sway Bar Kit.

This is my daily driver, 110 mile round trip 6 days a week. Current mileage is almost 150,000 and it's running great @ 18psi boost. The car feels more stable at speed and seems more alive overall. Like it's senses have been awakened and the car can run at it's true performance level. I am getting about 26mpg and it sticks to the road like glue even in the icy NJ winter. It's been a learning experience doing all of the work in my garage but I have enjoyed the whole process. Thanks to the Volvo community in general for the help over the years and thank you to IPD in specific for your ongoing support.

Increasing the Power

• TDO4HL-16T Turbo Upgrade
• ECU Software by RICA Engineering
• High Flow Air Intake
• Snaab Turbo Inlet Pipe
• ViVA Compressor Bypass Valve Kit
• IPD Heavy Duty Turbo Control Valve
• Custom 2.5" Front Mount Intercooler
• OBX 3" Downpipe
• Euro Sport Tuning 'R' Catback

Stayin on the Road

• IPD VMS Hyper Silver Wheel in 18x8 +38
• Falken FK452 235-40-18
• Bilstein Sport Shocks
• Eibach Lowering Spring Pro Kit
• IPD Heavy Duty Spring Seats
• IPD Heavy Duty Sway Bar Endlinks
• IPD R Track Spec Sway Bar Kit
• ViVA Performance Strut Bar Conversion Kit

Changing the Look

• Llumar High Performance Series Window Tint 20%
• +2005 Headlight Swap
• 55w 8000K HID Low Beam
• 100w Halogen High Beam
• Hella 500FF 100w Driving Lights w/ Lamin X
• 55w Fogs w/ Lamin-X
• Badgeless Front Grill
• CarbonFiberWorks Front Spoilers
• Evolve Rear Spoiler and Taillight Trim
• Moose, IPD, OBX Decals
• Vinyl Headlight Brows

Wanted: Your Volvo Story

We’ve increased our customer features lately and we’ve had great responses from our readers because of it. We’d like to continue to provide the Volvo community with interesting reader content so we are pleading, yes, even begging for articles. If you have a souped up 850 wagon that you want the world to know about or even if you’re in the middle of your S70 series project and want to show off your progress, let us know and we’d love to feature you and your ride. If you own a S60 series and have a great trick or tech tip you’ve discovered, send it on over and we’ll share it with our readers.

If one of the items on your bucket list is to be published in one of ipd’s famous newsletters, here’s your chance. Don’t deny it, you know it’s there; if it’s not, add it now and send in your story so you can check it off your list. Even if you think it’s not print worthy, that’s okay, let us be the judge of that because we still want to hear your story. Tell us about how you caught the Volvo bug, the remedies you’ve tried to get rid of it and what finally put you over the edge to finally just give up and let the bug take it’s hold.

Some pictures of you and your Volvo would be great to include along with how your experience with ipd went. It would be great to also include any ipd upgrades you’ve added and how our customer service staff treated you.

We look forward to hearing your story and the opportunity to share it with other sick Volvo lovers who have caught the same bug.

Send submissions to bryan@ipdusa.com