What can be done to help a Volvo breath better.....

[Marajin]

(11-29-2016 )mkmac Wrote:  

(11-28-2016 )mrseas Wrote:  Ok guys here goes....I have a 2005 Volvo with a CM870 and would like some ideas to help the engine and engine compartment "breathe" better. Rawze and others have mentioned the restrictive aspects of the Volvo's engine compartment design in addition to some "engine" related design flaws. All ideas and comments welcomed.

They breath just fine, they intake from both sides of the hood, Next time don't just believe what some says ask for some backup,instead of asking here why ask Volvo what the cfm of the system is then ask prostar then ask any other mfg and compare for yourself....

Test driven and tuned a LOT of trucks.

Compared to other ->

Volvo's ARE more restrictive intake.

Run hotter under the hood because of less ambient air flow.

Have more restrictive exhaust. Other say it look like toilet bowl that traps heat.


If a custom tuner don't see these problems and can't tell it during test drive and dyno, then you are doing something wrong.


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I see guys reduce turbo temps by 100- 150 degrees + increase fuel mileage simply because they remove that "Toilet-Bowl" -looking bad design exhaust crap under passenger side.

Seen guys reduce average turbo/exhaust manifold temps by 75 degrees cutting away the side-walls of that tire-hugging plastic junk that restricts air from coming up around the outside of the engine on passenger side.

Seen guys cut away the rubber seal that surrounds the radiator on the passenger side to reduce turbo temps too.

Speaking of Prostar, - A Prostar even with its pint sized CAC unit is a more fuel efficient than any of the Volvo truck I have test driven. Some brand of trucks come really close if you tune + dial in just right like the Columbia, Cascadia, evolution, T700, T680, but all the tuning in the world cannot make up for exhaust restriction, under-sized intake pipe, and a hotter than normal turbocharger/manifold temps. -> Many throw that same argument against this but i can remove the intake pipe between the CAC and engine then go slide it completely inside the piping of a prostar or cascadia.


Those openings on either side of the hood are not to let air flow around the engine. They are there to direct air to the intake filter only. For anyone to say that they help engine compartment breathe better is someone who has not looked under the hood at where they go. Everything on front end of a Volvo seems to be designed to trap heat for extreme cold climate or something. Maybe do well on the north pole?. -- Even the bumper is designed to "knife" the air flow under the front end down away from the engine compartment instead of cooling the oil pan. Maybe attempt to improve areo?. A trade-off where one gain hurts another.

The heat buildup in passenger side is so bad that many a Volvo truck melt the plastic at the air cleaner when guys turn up the HP on them when they don't take extra step to reduce exhaust temp or improve flow.

So go ahead and brag about how good Volvo trucks are with their restrictive intake/exhaust, their heat-trapping engine compartment and their toothpick-sized drive-shafts. Whole engine compartment looks like it was designed for a 13-litre engine only. Stick a 15-litre cummins in one and it becomes obvious.

No one on the planet is going to convince me of anything else because I have spend huge amounts of time tuning, test drive, dyno, and doing everything possible to squeeze every last drop of efficiency many truck brands. You test drive that many that often and you can just feel the difference right away. -- Those things simply have a slightly less efficient design for an aero truck and I would bet that the maker knows this too.