just wanted to revisit...

This test was done by a company that built/owned BOTH cars.

Hello- Ipd built a pretty incredible Stage III 2004 V70R to test the drive train and power train potential as well as gauge market interest in high level upgrades that would not require the engine to be opened up. It was a great experience building a car that produced a reliable 425hp with excellent road manners. The kit included key components... Front mount intercooler, Modified GT30R turbocharger, Downpipe, Exhaust, Aquamist water injection, etc- read about it here : ipd's Stage III 425 HP V70R . We also worked with MTE SWEDEN to develop a custom tune to make the car perform the way we needed it to for Prime Media "Press" Our car was featured in European Car Magazine, including a cover shot. That particular piece brought a bunch of calls asking about the specific components on our V70R. At the time the kit would have retailed for around 12-14K... it was a one off kit we had built for our V70. I can already hear you screaming at the cost!!!!!!





Rumor? We are revisiting the Stage III kit for the R models this summer. Lucky, Scott and I will be researching ways to cut costs on the kit w/o sacrificing quality or performance. The kit contents will be the same: Intercooler, Downpipe/Exhaust system, ECU Reflash, and Upgraded turbo..... We would like to offer this kit for around $6 to $8K, but it’s a challenging task due to the small market. We do not have any ETA date at this time and it all hinges on whether or not the kit can be put together at the quality level we want and still be affordable. We’d love to have a kit ready to go by summer, but that’s not likely. I understand the cost being around the 5-6K mark would be outstanding, all I can say is we will do the best we can. We will keep you posted on the development to manufacture this kit. We appreciate any input / feedback you have, please send it to [email protected] or post it here in this thread. You are the enthusiasts that will help bring this kit to life. So let’s roll... get it... lets roll, I roll "VOLVO" whatever!

BTW-
Our V70R Stage III project was built using all bolt on a components and I can vouch that the quality was incredible (basically Nuclear Powerplant grade materials!). At the time I was in the process of building a 2005 STI project vehicle for our Subaru Division. It was pushing the 425 mark, there were a few posts that were on SS that discussed Scott and I going at each other during this process Here's the old R vs WRX thread from SS archives. A friendly competition between best friends never hurts anyone right. Well, it was a little discouraging when a heavier V70R pulls away from you at.......wooops, almost gave away the speeds that should never be discussed in a forum!



I have to say that Scott's an amazing driver, he will kill me once he finds out I even posted this, but its all in fun right! This story I'm about to tell you just gives props the quality of Volvo R models in general. One day Scott and I were out on a secluded private road where there were no animals, cars, guard rails, natural habitat of any kind- We were doing top speed tests in both of our vehicles, now remember the top speed of a V70R and STI is only 75mph right ....... Well hitting that top speed I had both hands white knuckled on the steering wheel looking strait ahead, boost, rpm and speedo gauge needle buried, all sorts of funky sounds were emanating from my STI, the rear wing looked as if it was going to bust off it was vibrating down so much! I see this red blur in my peripheral, I glance over really quick and there is Scott on his cell phone!!!!! Yes, one handed driving while calling me on his cell phone! I was doing everything I could to keep the car strait! He made it look to easy; well I think the car was doing all the work!

Even though my STI was sub 4 seconds 0-60mph... The V70R would pull once moving 40mph and above. Torque rules! I think it would be great to have a bunch of R's running around with reliable 400 plus HP don’t you? I will do my best to keep you posted and included throughout this process. Have a great day!!!!!!