Well after four different revisions of our Volvo turbo manifold and almost 6 months of on-car testing we are now ready for production.  This will be limited prototyping of the manifold that will be sent out to a few select Beta testers.  We are going to do this with volunteers only so if you want to become a beta tester and have the means to work on your own car or have access to a shop then please contact us.  We are still developing the correct heat shielding to safeguard components near the firewall but otherwise we believe we are ready!

We have made some revisions to the hardware for the kit.  As of now we are modifying to fit the GT series of turbos, specifically we are going to use the GT28 and 28RS for our performance kit and we are planning on preparing for GT2540 on a race version.

Thanks to all those who are following our progress and showing such patience.  Sorry for the long delay in posts.

It's been a little while since I've updated but that is mainly because I've moved to Texas now.  This move gave the perfect opportunity to do a bit more comprehensive long-term durability testing and the results are good.  No issues with the engine performance or the added components.  No check engine lights have appeared at all since after first install, and gas mileage has remained about stock.  290 miles on about 2/3 to 3/4 of a tank each fillup on a loaded car going between 65-70mph.  286 miles on 9 gallons of gas comes out to about 31mpg, very good for an AWD car.   As compared to the last road trip I took it is up about 1.5-2mpg but some of that could just be that the car is more broke-in now.  What we do know is that the performance can be increased without sacrificing the driveability and economy just by providing a turbo kit that operates at stock boost levels using just the factory tune.

Our next step will be to continue the integration of the internal wastegate, then more dyno testing to see what an aftermarket exhaust can do on the stock tune.  Finally, we will then move to the next stage where we attempt to partner up with a tuning company and produce a safe tune to allow the engine to go well above stock boost pressures. 

So far we have good news to report that we have had no problems at all with the upgraded hardware running in our test volvo.
We have focused our attention on engine management, heat and mechanical reliability.
We did initially have a leak on the oil drain tube due to an o-ring not seating correctly but it seems a small change in angle solved that nicely and there has been no further signs.

Gas mileage seems to be about the same under normal driving but the tendency to want to go a lot faster now has reared its ugly head and consequently we are consuming a bit more.  The fuel economy average on commutes without spirited driving is about the same as one would expect with the bulk of the driving in the lower rpm ranges and exact same boost settings as stock.

We are going to revise the manifold one last time and finish integrating the internal wastegate over the next few weeks and then we should be complete.
Thanks for your interest and check back soon.

We have officially proven our claims.  Today's dyno day was a complete success showing an increase to 224/228 wHP/wTQ still using the stock intake, exhaust, and stock Volvo ECM with no additional tuning.

This was at the stock 10psi boost.  1st run at 9psi put down about 215wHP and we turned up the boost incrementally until on the fourth run the ECM shut down the boost by opening the bypass valve. The Bosche 9.0 system is in complete control of the air fuel and the boost limits. This engine is ULEV, ultra low emission vehicle and apparently uses wideband O2 sensors stock.  It keeps the air fuel ratio at 14.6:1  at almost all times, at cuise, idle, or even under 10psi boost.  The only time we got the computer to richen up the A/F was when we tried to exceed the 10psi factory limit.  Apparently it does have the capability to add even more fuel because we did runs from 6psi boost up to 10psi boost and the air fuel stayed exactly 14.6:1 throughout every run at every point.

In any case we are extremely excited because we bested the stock wheel horsepower of around 165 by almost 60 additional wHP!  This is exactly in line with our calculated estimates.

Time to celebrate! 

So far so good. The car is running well and is extremely fast. Anything over 4000 rpm and the car is very quick.  Actually it is kind of behaving like a very big Naturally aspirated motor that breaths well in the top end.   I'm comftable enough with the miles I've put on it now, about 200 or so and now I'm going to run it on the dyno as soon as today if they'll take me as a walk-in appointment or by this weekend for sure!

Based on my comments earlier and the first responses of the Volvo forums people are worried about loss of low-end torque.  Listening to these issues I'm ordering in a new turbo at this time.I'm trying to find a T3 Super 60 from turbonetics at a reasonable price so I can try it out next and if that doesn't work then I'm looking at a GT2540.

When the kit was first installed and started I had a vacuum leak and it threw a check engine light. I found it and fixed it but the light wouldn't go out.  I reset the ECM by pulling the related fuses and then restarted the engine and verified the light was out.  There was a huge difference in the way the engine performed before and after I reset the ECM.  It pulled much harder and I'm guessing when the check engine light came on it was in some sort of limp-mode or at least limited mode.  So far there has been no check engine light from operations,  A Big Plus indicating everything is sealed.

I've had a bunch of questions about tuning.  One person has implied that it is foolish to run a new turbo on a car without a tune.  Well a turbo is just an air pump.  Even if I change the pump as long as it pushes air in the same way and I constrain it to operating in the same way as the original then it shouldn't matter.  Then what about the stock engine code?  I have a perfectly good engine management system that has been working the car since new.  Again, as long as the pressure is limited then it should operate exactly as designed and keeping the air fuel perfectly in line.  If the air fuel were NOT in line and going lean there would have been a check engine light for a lean condition....and loss of power, and maybe engine damage.

When I get to the dyno and I can watch the air fuel, I'll increase the pressure slowly and observe any changes in air fuel to identify a lean condition.  Then I'll measure the pressure and RPM where the A/F is starting to go lean and calculate out the amount of fuel delivered in order to get an idea of what the stock fuel system can take.

Wish me luck!