Hey all -

Wow is it nice to see this board is BUSY. I am a Volvo newbie who's already begun mods on a 1997 850R wagon we bought in Feb.

I'll be around with more questions of specifics involved in raising HP and throttle response soon!

- Bill

I'm glad to see someone else in CT has an 850R wagon. I was beginning to think I was the only one ;-). I know you said "don't ask" but what's the story with the wing? I ordered one for mine like 3 weeks ago from IPD and it's still back ordered. Same story for you?

Keep up the good work... sleeper vehicles are the best, don't make it cheesy!

-Kyle

Kyle -

where in CT? we should hook up sometime if you're not too far away. email private and let me know where you are.

The wing.... well it did finally arrive after a zillion phone calls and 6-7 weeks. The wait was worth it though because it was discounted well under advertised cost.

Hey guys,

As an owner of a white 1997 855R in connecticut, i am also glad to see other R owners around the area. The car has served me well for the past 5 years but it's starting to show some problems here and there. I am also thinking of some modifications since at this point, i don't have to worry about warranty issues ;-) keep in touch!

NC

Three questions:

1. Where did you get the mounting pod? I know IPD sells one but, it is black.

2. Did you put on the SS exhaust with our without the resonator?

3. How loud is the exhaust?

94 850 Turbo, 90K miles, IPD ECU, owned since day one (10/93).

It is the IPD pod. I found the paint at a autobody wholesale shop - they had a nice selection of colors, I matched as close as possible with the caps but took two shades home. I then tested both colors on black plastic trim scrap from my old VW. Then did 6 or so coats of the closest match on the IPD pod.

I did have resonator put on.

At idle it's quiet - under normal driving it rumbles - when you romp on it it howls and sounds awesome.

HTH-

Bill

Hey, that SAP boost & temp. gauge looks very cool--I wish I had stumbled upon it last week. I just installed a conventional, analog boost gauge in my 850 turbo this past weekend. I ended up squeezing it into the upper driver side air-vent and had a custom ABS panel made to fit around it--looks like it belongs there. Just curious, how much did the SAP boost gauge cost you?

The gauge was $250 and was ordered direct from spa design US

The backlight is neat but it looks good turned off too.

Did you buy the gauge pod from iPd and the guage from SPA Technique? i.e. SPA Technique does NOT sell the gauge pod?

I didn't know iPd sold the gauge pod in any other colour than black. iPd's site shows only one part number for the gauge pod alone, and considering the picture is of a black gauge pod, I assumed they only sold it in black. Man, if I knew they sold it in beige (my interior colour), I would have bought it a long time ago.

I am assuming by $250, you meant US dollars. DAMN! That's an expensive gauge!!! Looks awesome though. If I had money to play with, I'd probably get one. If they had one with boost and air, fuel ratio, I'd definetly get it.

Pod was purchased from IPD. Gauge from SPA Technique USA

http://www.spatechnique.com/

I painted it with special auto interior spray paint.

I had a HALMETER air fuel ratio gauge in my GLI. Shown just to the top right of steering wheel in the attached pic. That thing helped get the car properly set up and then was reasuring to see it go full rich at WOT.