January 2008 Newsletter for Front Wheel Drive Models
Page 1: Hot Toasted Buns

“Heated Seats” my wife says. The most important feature to her in a car is heated seats. Now living in the Northwest I can’t say this isn’t an unreasonable request but certainly there’s more to a car than heated seats. Fortunately, my wife’s 1995 850 came with heated seats and third row seating, the second most important feature in a car to her. When I bought this car it was in a reasonable state of repair but being the ever thoughtful fellow I proceeded to complete what we refer to as “stage 0”. This refers to bringing the car into a good state of tune through maintenance before beginning with any performance upgrades. So I replaced all the vacuum lines, filters, fluids, ignition components and replaced the brake pads front and rear. Now onto the fun stuff! I started by installing a set of ipd sway bars and also replaced the shocks and struts. I found that the upper strut mounts had failed in my car and this is frequent to the FWD Volvo models. I also found that the XC90 front strut mount (ipd part# 30683637) fits my 850 and is a heavier duty unit so it will generally last longer and perform better. So I replaced the upper strut mounts in the front with the XC90 units and I installed factory fi rmness Boge turbo gas shocks and struts at the same time. Now in the rear I installed the ipd overload coils since the back of the car would sag a touch when it was loaded with all 7 passengers. This made for an added benefit of making the car perfectly neutral for my taste but didn’t upset the general ride quality of the vehicle which my wife thought was a bit ‘crashy’ to begin with. With my first step in suspension upgrades complete I was on to engine upgrades. I had to be careful though, since this is my spouse’s car I have to build it the way she wants it, not the way I think she wants it. So on with the ipd RIP kit to quicken the throttle response and a stage I ECU upgrade from TME to increase the total power for those critical freeway merging needs. I was reluctant to put ipd’s Short Ram intake kit on due to the increased compressor bypass noise (which I love) but did it anyway figuring if the misses didn’t like it I could put it on my S70! After the install I let her drive it for a couple days to see if there were any objections to the noise and since the Short Ram is only noticeable when you are getting into the throttle, she had no complaints! Finally I finished by installing the new ipd Polyurethane lower transmission mount (ipd part #8K0140) and a top engine bushing. At this point I am very happy with the performance and driveability of the car and still have some room for further improvements like strut braces, TME exhaust, and that alluring 18T Turbo Stage III kit. Of course all this is pending approval from the driver, since that’s who this car is for, right?

1995 VOLVO 855 - UPGRADES LIST

• ipd stage 0 maintenance kit
• ipd sway bars
• Strut mounts (XC90)
• Boge turbo shocks/struts
• ipd overload coils
• ipd reverse intercooler piping kit
• ipd SR5T short ram intake
• ipd poly trans mount
• ipd top engine bushing
• TME ECU stage 1 upgrade

Believe it or not, we here at ipd spend a lot of time thinking about how to serve our customers better. We try a lot of different things – some work great and some don’t pan out as well as we’d hoped. The bottom line is that we’re here for you and feel privileged to be able to help you keep your Volvo in tip top shape! As part of our continued effort to serve you and your Volvo’s needs better we’re separating our newsletters similar to how we separate our annual catalogs. That is, we’ll be focusing this newsletter exclusively on the front wheel drive and all wheel drive models. The goal is to bring you just the products that most pertain to you. Another advantage of switching to this format is that it allows us more space for enriched content and helpful tech tips. To help us in this venture we want to hear from you! Tell us what kind of products you’d like us to carry, what projects you’re currently working on (send us pictures too!), your favorite Volvo links on the web, or anything else Volvo! You can email us directly at rarnold@ipdusa.com or you can write us as well at PO Box 20339 Portland, OR 97294. Do you own a vintage Volvo or a rear wheel drive model Volvo as well? Make sure to tell us what model Volvo(s) you currently own so we can ensure we send you the correct mailers for your cars! Be sure to send us your feedback on how you like the new layout.