Anyone have any times they can reference for the ECU Motronic upgrade (at IPD)? I plan on getting one very, very soon, and look forward to the nearly 50 hp increase in my V70R AWD (will then go as fast as it looks - metallic saffron) but wonder, since it is indeed a hefty car, how much acceleration will increase, particularly on the low end, as I feel there is ample acceleration and power passing at highway speeds - just would like to have a little more (what the heck, a LOT more) oomph from standstill.

Any reports??

Also, why is it that these motronic upgrades for Volvo are so much more expensive than chip upgrades for BMW and Audi, among others?

should be slightly improved...on automatics, the torque limiter in 1st gear is removed....to really improve on low end power/launch, u'd probably have to get a higher stall setting on the automatic....

Steve - how does one get a higher stall setting on the automatic? I don't want to have a huge hp upgrade with only a little low end power increase, because this car has plenty of upper end torque, I just want the 0-60 improvements.

i can't seem to find the site (coulda swore it was on eastern aerospace's site)...but i think u'r supposed to swap out the torque converter or something, forgot. the torque limiter is set at around 2100 rpm, right before your torque is maximum, which kinda gives it this "weak" feel when trying to launch from a stop. if u set the torque limiter higher, say 3000 rpm...then, when you brake start (hold down brakes and press gas pedal at same time), you will be able to put down maximum power to the wheels. wish sin was still around, he'd probably be able to find a site about it...


funny...searched on google and found some stuff on torque converter but can't seem to see it once i'm in eastern aerospace....then i hit the cache button on google's page and there it is, in the engine section of ea's website...weird...

On a front wheel drive model, in order to power brake(brake start), I would think you would hold on to the handbrake (holds the rear wheels) with button in while pushing the accelerator. This way full power is at the front wheels. In rear drive, you would want to hold the foot brake(holds the front wheels) down since the power is to the rear wheels.

I have done the power brake on front drive with the brake pedal vs the handbrake and the handbrake gets better results.

Just a thought.:)