Volvos don’t all the time get a number of respect in fanatic circles. They’re protected, sane, snug and smart, and people issues don’t usually jive with drivin’ quick and kickin’ ass. That isn’t to say, although, that Volvos can’t supply stunning pace and tremendous succesful dealing with in the event that they’re tweaked just a bit, and the proof of this lies within the firm’s racing efforts all through the years.
No racing Volvo is as well-known or beloved as the British Touring Automobile Championship wagon campaigned by the legendary Tom Walkinshaw Racing. Regardless of not being wildly profitable in-period, it was burned into our collective consciousness the primary time it hit a curb and went on two wheels. Now, the high quality people at FCP Euro have accomplished a tribute to these vehicles, and whereas the entire video collection has been nice, this video, specifically, completely takes the cake. Why? As a result of they discovered methods to slap one half of the person throttle our bodies from a BMW S85 V10 (of E60 M5 fame) on the naturally aspirated inline-5 cylinder Volvo.
I’ll let that sink in for a second.
So, now that we’re residing in a world the place this sort of mad science has been accomplished, how did they do it, and was it price it? To reply the primary query, they employed an engineer (who occurs to be constructing a Z3 M Coupe that’s truly an E92 M3) to do a complete lot of 3D scanning of the Volvo, its engine, and its engine bay. From there, he used CAD and speedy prototyping by way of 3D printing to iterate on the design and make sure fitment, and when that was accomplished, he had the trumpets and different assorted bits 3D printed in metallic. Oh, and he made a customized airbox, too.
To reply the second query, I’ve to say that the sound would make it definitely worth the mods alone, however the automobile truly responded very well to this modification, gaining round 25 peak horsepower however a complete bunch extra torque, and the world below the curve was considerably improved. Ultimately, the automobile made round 175 hp on the wheels, which is fairly good for a mildly constructed Volvo engine. The limiting issue for energy now appears to be the camshafts, however who is aware of if or when these will get swapped out.
This entire construct collection is price a watch, however the actually wild stuff occurs in season two, which, along with the ITBs, sees the automobile get a customized set of long-tube high-rise headers, which additionally add significantly to the beautiful racket that this very offended wagon produces. You owe it to your self to slack off at work and examine the collection out.