General: - Just bought an S60, need advice

melmac · Aug 29th, 2007, 11:48

Hi All,

I found this forum a few days ago and joined up. I am from Ireland and I have just purchased a 01 S60 2.0T. It's my first Volvo and I really like it. I just want to make a few improvements and to ask you all out there advice on a few things. I am a complete idiot when it comes to anything mechanical and I know nothing much about cars.
I hope you don't mind the long post and all the various questions.

My first question is about tyres. after reading through most of the 115 pages here it seems like the Goodyear Eagle F1's are the best out there. How many miles roughly will I get off them? Another set I was looking at were the michelin premacy Hp's. They seem to last for ever!! anyone recommend them?

what is the right tyre pressure for my tyres? I currently have this tyre size on my car 225/45/ ZR17 94W.

My second question is about PPC upgrades. I don't really want the extra power because I am a fairly sedate driver, but I keep reading that you get more mpg's if you get the upgrade done. Is this true? Is it worth doing anyway?

Last question (for the moment lol) I see a few people have converted their engines to LPG. I was thinking of converting my engine to Bio-ethanol. Using the system from Fullfllex international. Has anyone done this? I know you get less miles per gallon and its not available everywhere, but it is much better for your engine and much cheaper too. Anyone got any thoughts?

Anyway, this forum is great :-) Lots of good advice and friendly people. I hope some of you can throw some of that good advice my way :-)

Mel.

neek · Aug 29th, 2007, 11:58

The goodyear F1 tyres are very very very soft, I certainly wont be buying any more. If you drive hard they will wear in 4-5k miles, if you drive soft then you probably don't really need the extra grip. I replaced mine with some made by michalin and they are lasting much better and grip fine.

Alpha206 · Aug 29th, 2007, 13:36

I've swapped the factory-fit P6000s (which only gave about 15k miles - I've only got the 2.0T and I'm not exactly heavy-footed) for Michelin Pilot Sports which are wearing well so far.

The fuel flap data suggests 32 (I think..or it may be 30...I'd check but the car's parked about 5 miles away from the office today

) or 36 dependent on speed - I run mine at 36 as it gives me a bit better fuel economy (or at least that's what I've convinced myself!)

melmac · Aug 29th, 2007, 22:53

Thanks guys. I must actually measure my tyre pressure and see what it is!! lol. I might try a michelin set when I have to change them.

anyone have any ideas for my other questions? I snet questions to some of the places that do ecu upgrading like BSR and chiptuning.com to see what they say about fuel economy increases, but I am sure they will say it will save me lots of fuel of course :-) I was hoping somebodu here would give me real world figures. I know if you are heavy on the trottle then it will actually cost more. Heck I keep changing my mind about getting it done or not!!

TJMurphy · Aug 30th, 2007, 08:19

I would say on my T5 with an MTE Stage 1 remap the fuel economy is not any worse. If I had the discipline to drive for economy I'm pretty sure the remap is slightly more economical than stock (but only 1 / 2 mpg I reckon). The improvement is merely because you don't need to use all the throttle for a given increase in speed (IMHO). On my remap though the extra torque / power aren't noticeable much below 3,000 rpm so if you're a really sedate driver you may not notice any difference at all (power or fuel economy) I guess.

However, the remap is optimised for 98 octane fuel which, last time I was over, was not very available in Ireland (certainly around the South East). I've never run the car on 95, even pre-map. I've always consider 98 octane pays for itself anyway but if you had to switch from 95 to 98 plus the remap, whether the cost would offset the benefit I don't know. You might want to just stick a few tanks of VPower in and see what that does to your fuel economy, you might find that pays for itself and it's not an insurance problem.

I know nothing about fuel conversions but I'd lay money that this is an either / or decision with any remap - you couldn't / shouldn't have both.

On tyres, I had Goodyear F1's and was getting 15 / 16k out of them pre remap. The rubbing on the sidewalls was actually what put me of them eventually (every day getting out of my driveway!). Now running on Pilot Sport 2's which are giving me a bit less but that's post remap as well. My normal route though is main road and motorway. Inflated to about 35 all round (fitter's book actually says 29 - they look flat at 29!).

Tony

CTCNetwork · Aug 30th, 2007, 08:48

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by neek

The goodyear F1 tyres are very very very soft, I certainly wont be buying any more. If you drive hard they will wear in 4-5k miles, if you drive soft then you probably don't really need the extra grip. I replaced mine with some made by michalin and they are lasting much better and grip fine.

Strange, They are made from a similar hard compound to the Toyo Proxies T1-R.
Should get you about 15 to 20k miles of motoring.

Mitchlin are overpriced in my opinion. But whatever you get, avoid pirelli like plague!!

Des. . .

melmac · Aug 30th, 2007, 10:55

lol, well after reading through all 115 pages of this forum, that's the one thing I have learned, stay the hell away from the P6000's. Every other tyre on the forums have got fans and haters. Like the F1's

In Ireland You can only get 95 octane in stations now. But as I am considering converting to Ethanol this shouldn't be an issue. E85 is 104 octane or something like that so It should work well with any ecu upgrade I get. And yes,

it is easier to get ethanol than super unleaded here.

Frostbite · Aug 30th, 2007, 11:58

All I can add to this is to say that I run my S60's tyres at 32-35 psi all round and I will be changing my P6000's to Michelin as they become ready for replacement.

I had a full set of Michelin Pilot Primacy on my Rover 75 a few years back and they made the world of difference. I no longer had to worry if the roads were wet or dry, I got the same performance throughout.

Yes they are more expensive than most tyres but the improved handling, noise reduction and almost care free motoring (tyres wise) more than made up for the cost. I found them to be very hard wearing too.

I shopped around and got them fitted for £75 each.

Interesting to note that these tyres are also recommended by blackcirles.com ( http://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/volvo )

JIM C · Aug 30th, 2007, 13:20

My s60 is running on P6000 all round and are a vast improvement on the budget tyres that were on the car when I bought. Wet weather grip and tyre noise are better.

Alpha206 · Aug 30th, 2007, 13:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by JIM C

My s60 is running on P6000 all round and are a vast improvement on the budget tyres that were on the car when I bought. Wet weather grip and tyre noise are better.

Are you running 16" or 17" rims? The popular opinion is that the P6000s are fine on 16" (which I can agree with as my dad's S60 has 16s) but on 17" the car has a tendency to tramline. My change to Michelin Pilot Sports cured the tramlining (and they were cheaper than the P6000s too!)

Aug 29th, 2007, 11:48	#1
melmac New Member Last Online: Jan 18th, 2010 13:10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Longford	Just bought an S60, need advice Hi All, I found this forum a few days ago and joined up. I am from Ireland and I have just purchased a 01 S60 2.0T. It's my first Volvo and I really like it. I just want to make a few improvements and to ask you all out there advice on a few things. I am a complete idiot when it comes to anything mechanical and I know nothing much about cars. I hope you don't mind the long post and all the various questions. My first question is about tyres. after reading through most of the 115 pages here it seems like the Goodyear Eagle F1's are the best out there. How many miles roughly will I get off them? Another set I was looking at were the michelin premacy Hp's. They seem to last for ever!! anyone recommend them? what is the right tyre pressure for my tyres? I currently have this tyre size on my car 225/45/ ZR17 94W. My second question is about PPC upgrades. I don't really want the extra power because I am a fairly sedate driver, but I keep reading that you get more mpg's if you get the upgrade done. Is this true? Is it worth doing anyway? Last question (for the moment lol) I see a few people have converted their engines to LPG. I was thinking of converting my engine to Bio-ethanol. Using the system from Fullfllex international. Has anyone done this? I know you get less miles per gallon and its not available everywhere, but it is much better for your engine and much cheaper too. Anyone got any thoughts? Anyway, this forum is great :-) Lots of good advice and friendly people. I hope some of you can throw some of that good advice my way :-) Mel.

Aug 29th, 2007, 13:36	#3
Alpha206 S60 Reg Keeper (Retired) Last Online: Jun 10th, 2023 11:03 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Raxocoricofallipatorious	I've swapped the factory-fit P6000s (which only gave about 15k miles - I've only got the 2.0T and I'm not exactly heavy-footed) for Michelin Pilot Sports which are wearing well so far. The fuel flap data suggests 32 (I think..or it may be 30...I'd check but the car's parked about 5 miles away from the office today) or 36 dependent on speed - I run mine at 36 as it gives me a bit better fuel economy (or at least that's what I've convinced myself!) __________________ MY05 S60 2.0T SE...no more MY16 V60 T6 Polestar MY71 H.S.121-3B-101 http://www.savethetrident.co.uk/ Campaign to save G-ARPO, the last surviving Trident 1C

Aug 30th, 2007, 13:20	#9
JIM C Forum Support Team Last Online: Jul 4th, 2021 16:28 Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Scotland View Photos By: JIM C	My s60 is running on P6000 all round and are a vast improvement on the budget tyres that were on the car when I bought. Wet weather grip and tyre noise are better. __________________

Aug 29th, 2007, 11:58	#2
neek Junior Member Last Online: Sep 3rd, 2007 12:06 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: sheffield	The goodyear F1 tyres are very very very soft, I certainly wont be buying any more. If you drive hard they will wear in 4-5k miles, if you drive soft then you probably don't really need the extra grip. I replaced mine with some made by michalin and they are lasting much better and grip fine.

Aug 29th, 2007, 22:53	#4
melmac New Member Last Online: Jan 18th, 2010 13:10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Longford	Thanks guys. I must actually measure my tyre pressure and see what it is!! lol. I might try a michelin set when I have to change them. anyone have any ideas for my other questions? I snet questions to some of the places that do ecu upgrading like BSR and chiptuning.com to see what they say about fuel economy increases, but I am sure they will say it will save me lots of fuel of course :-) I was hoping somebodu here would give me real world figures. I know if you are heavy on the trottle then it will actually cost more. Heck I keep changing my mind about getting it done or not!!

Aug 30th, 2007, 08:19	#5
TJMurphy VOC Member Last Online: Jan 14th, 2024 11:15 Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Windsor	I would say on my T5 with an MTE Stage 1 remap the fuel economy is not any worse. If I had the discipline to drive for economy I'm pretty sure the remap is slightly more economical than stock (but only 1 / 2 mpg I reckon). The improvement is merely because you don't need to use all the throttle for a given increase in speed (IMHO). On my remap though the extra torque / power aren't noticeable much below 3,000 rpm so if you're a really sedate driver you may not notice any difference at all (power or fuel economy) I guess. However, the remap is optimised for 98 octane fuel which, last time I was over, was not very available in Ireland (certainly around the South East). I've never run the car on 95, even pre-map. I've always consider 98 octane pays for itself anyway but if you had to switch from 95 to 98 plus the remap, whether the cost would offset the benefit I don't know. You might want to just stick a few tanks of VPower in and see what that does to your fuel economy, you might find that pays for itself and it's not an insurance problem. I know nothing about fuel conversions but I'd lay money that this is an either / or decision with any remap - you couldn't / shouldn't have both. On tyres, I had Goodyear F1's and was getting 15 / 16k out of them pre remap. The rubbing on the sidewalls was actually what put me of them eventually (every day getting out of my driveway!). Now running on Pilot Sport 2's which are giving me a bit less but that's post remap as well. My normal route though is main road and motorway. Inflated to about 35 all round (fitter's book actually says 29 - they look flat at 29!). Tony

Aug 30th, 2007, 10:55	#7
melmac New Member Last Online: Jan 18th, 2010 13:10 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Longford	lol, well after reading through all 115 pages of this forum, that's the one thing I have learned, stay the hell away from the P6000's. Every other tyre on the forums have got fans and haters. Like the F1's In Ireland You can only get 95 octane in stations now. But as I am considering converting to Ethanol this shouldn't be an issue. E85 is 104 octane or something like that so It should work well with any ecu upgrade I get. And yes, it is easier to get ethanol than super unleaded here.

Aug 30th, 2007, 11:58	#8
Frostbite S60 S 2.0T Auto (Sep2003) Last Online: May 28th, 2022 18:31 Join Date: May 2007 Location: UK	All I can add to this is to say that I run my S60's tyres at 32-35 psi all round and I will be changing my P6000's to Michelin as they become ready for replacement. I had a full set of Michelin Pilot Primacy on my Rover 75 a few years back and they made the world of difference. I no longer had to worry if the roads were wet or dry, I got the same performance throughout. Yes they are more expensive than most tyres but the improved handling, noise reduction and almost care free motoring (tyres wise) more than made up for the cost. I found them to be very hard wearing too. I shopped around and got them fitted for £75 each. Interesting to note that these tyres are also recommended by blackcirles.com ( http://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/volvo )

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