Tunnig a 1996 Volvo 850R

Hey there,

I am looking to tune a 1996 Volvo 850R. I am looking into what ECU to use to tune it with. Is there flash software? Should I go stand alone, and if so what one would you recommend?

Thanks,

Justin

Hi Justin,

I'm not personally familiar with the 850%. In general anything pre about 2000 will not be flash tuneable. You are however also pre CAN so your options for a standalone are pretty wide ranging. The answer as to which ECU is the same answer as your other thread. The only warning I would give is that if the car runs an automatic transmission you will probably need to retain some of the factory ECU functionality to keep the auto running properly.

Out of interest do you run a tuning shop or are these just personal projects?

Hey Andre,

I started off just tuning my car years ago and a few friends. Last year one of those friends reached out to me and asked if I want to tune a few more cars. I said sure why not. He works at a shop here in town that takes in EVO's for repair and upgrades, and they wanted a tuner in house. I don't work for them , I'm a free lancer if you will. Since, I've tuned almost 40 Evo's in the past 6 months. Mine is the only one that I have tuned with Methanol injection tho.

To answer your question. I am tuning very part time, maybe 1-3 cars a week, 98% EVO's. Most of the tunes are done on the road. There are around maybe 4 dyno's in the area and I let the customers decide if they want to pay for the dyno or just road tune.

Had a few requests for the Volvo and for a older Starion, and that's why I reached out to you.