Hi im new here im in tallahassee florida and we are considering a new car. hers the storie.

my wife started reading the twilight series(I have too now) and one of the main characters drives a silver volvo. I found the car kind of odd compared to the other cars in the book. s55 amg, m3, s600 gaurdian v12 vanguish etc. She then informed me that theres a section of the authors website dedicated to the familys cars. upon inspection i noticed the car in question was a silver s60r.

I knew nothing about this car and it caught my eye I don't follow cars like and autophile should i actual obstain to not spend money( build racing 4 wheelers instead, sometimes cheaper).

so past the useless dribble i started looking into s60r's. I think its a very attractive car and i found a 2004 a couple citys away. she really likes the charcoil/graphite color. I found one s60r in orlando in this color. I find some with body kits and some without why is that? I actually like the non body kit version better. As a result im considering a t5. Being an over indulgent husband I'm thinking of trading her tsx in on one there real close in value and i can pick up a slightly lower millaige version.

what are the exact differences between the t5 and s60r, im looking more motor specifics. In my searching i found generals like suspension, brakes, exhaust but specifically whats different I could not find. I build motors and race bikes so im pretty handy with wrenches.

I ask for specifically the above becuase being her car it will never be pushed hard, so i think the technology of the suspension would be wasted it will always be in comfort. but being me i have to hotrod whatever i can so if the differneces are smaller things like intakes exhaust downpipe and more boost i could add that latter. It also seems the maintenance is alot more on the R. we had a tourage with electronic suspension and it had so many bugs we sold it.

from what i could get from IPB's site the boost is definately at different levels but they run 19LB's on there R program and only 18LB on there t5 program any one know why?

sorry for the novel but i figured the more i got out of the way now the less bandwidth i would use and the less i would clog up the forum.

I love the R but all the electronics and suspension will be wasted on us id rather an enthusiast get them. I would like to get to R hp( or alittle more) easily(intake, downpipe, ecu/boost control) and get some R rims for whatever we get though.

Also lower maintenance is good specifically dealer only type of maintenance i would like to avoid.

Do some more research but I think the T5 is a LPT (Low Pressure Turbo) not intercooled and it has 247 HP. The R is a HPT, intercooled, that puts out 300 HP. The body kits are strictly a personal preference. If you don't prefer the kit then look for one without. My S60 is NA and it does fine for me. Not saying I wouldn't like to have an R but for everyday the NA moter is fine. Get what you think will serve you best. You wont go wrong with any of them.

hey thanks for the reply man.

i found one good write up about 15minutes ago(page 35 of my google results) that gave me some info for 2007 atleast the t5 used the r turbo. from what i can tell programming and intercoolers may be whats different but im still hunting.

go for the R, if you get the t5 you will need to replace all to get the power levels of the R. as a rodder, you know that with any increase of power you will need to upgrade the suspension, etal. just easier with the R, since it has it all. as to bodykits, jks2 is correct. just a preference. personally, i'd get the R and keep it in comfort mode, with the sport when you need to blow off steam.

volvo didn't cheap out and not paint under the kit did they? or not have some type of strip so the kit wouldn;t rub lines in the underpaint. if i went r i would mostlikly pull the kit off.

I'm pretty sure the kit was dealer installed, meaning the car was fully painted from the factory.

However, I believe there are still enough R's around to find the right one without the body kit.

As for which one, the R is special stuff. I don't think you would regret it.

this is the one i like.
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?...leadExists=true

this is the one she likes, mainly i beleive its colors.
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?...leadExists=true


she doesn;t like the black rub rails but the graphite one has them too they just blend in better i assume paint them.

im still wary of the R we had a tourag that had constant computer problems to the point we sold it in a huge loss having tried to fix it. also think its somewhat a waste she's going to drive it around with a baby seat in the back and ultimately never use the power. ill be the one that does that on occasion. she actually likes her tsx if you can beleive that. lol.

i do like this T5. how indepth do these programers go do they do custom tunes? if i went t5 id most likly do a test pipe and would not want to through a mil, a large downpipe and would want the boost turned up.
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?...leadExists=true

as for the rub strip, a good paint shop should be able to color match it. i would just keep looking until i found the one i wanted. as to the computer programs, besides the ecu, the turbo would need to be replaced as the t5 is a lpt (i think, and that is dangerous, just ask the forum :grin: ) replacing the turbo, downpipe, injectors, cat, exhaust, plumbing, etc.......i would just get the R. i owned a 200 audi RS4 and had the engine grenade itself after 5 years with under 20K. all servicng was down by audi and their techs couldn't explain the situation to me. so i ended up parting it out and donating the rest. that hurt. big time. so i understand you trepidation. just carfax it and get the newest model that you can afford. the later editions usually have all the bugs worked out of them. good luck.

the newer t5 does use the hpt from what i have read. ill drive both and go from there. i would not get a 2.5t for the lpt reason but the t5 seems to be ok.

http://www.automotive.com/2005/43/volvo/s6...ions/index.html

Buy the T5. I will list here why. All this info you can find and read yourself here:
http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index.php?s...=102990&hl=s60r

- R is AWD, therefore will be more expensive to repair and much harder. Do not try yourself. T5 is FWD, much easier. Handling difference? Negligible.

- R has Brembo brakes - hands down the best brakes in the world. They are expensive, but you can put them on yourself to your T5 if you please.

- R has the body kit, which you mentioned you don't care for. This is the biggest difference between the T5 and R - looks.

- if you spend time tuning the car and working on it, you can easily build a T5that will destroy an R any day.

- Both the R and T5 are HPT, and both have intercoolers.

- 2005+ models of the T5 are almost exactly the same engine as R. pre-2005 slight differences, but still you can tune well.

- You will find tons of aftermarket parts for the T5, so tuning will be easy. You wll find very little, and will be more expensive, for the R and you will not see the same levels of gains.
- you will pay a pretty penny for an R because are more rare.

Best advice seirously test drive them both. Figure out what you really want, and look at the price tag. Look which one is in better condition. Any repairs on the R will be much more expensive then the T5.

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I quickly looked at the 3 cars your considering. All look like they're in good shape, about similar mileage and condition.

T5 about $3-4000 cheaper.
For that you could get: rear sway bar, HD endlinks all around, h&r springs, ecu upgrade (0-60 in 6.2s -> same speed as r @280hp), downpipe upgrade (10-15hp), and still have about $500 left over if you get it all from IPD and do it yourself.

Just saying.

good call rbodor. but he might also like the exclusivity if and when he decides he ever wants to sell. selling a modded t5 is going to be harder than selling a modded R. half of one, six of the other. hundred members, hundred different opinions. good luck and keep us posted.

I agree with what has been said so far, but keep something in mind if you want to tune. How much more power do you want to put into a FWD car? Granted they both have traction control, but do you want to put more power into FWD or AWD?

Try this....If you test drive an R, pull the emergency brake up one click. This should disable the AWD, then let 'er rip and see what you think. This will give some insight into a tuned FWD. Also, (with the brake back down) push the DSTC button five times quickly, this will disable the traction control and let 'er rip again. Then you'll see the difference.

Irregardless of that, do you really need AWD for Florida? Personally, if I didn't need AWD for winter, I would not have bought a Volvo.

I'm not trying to swade you either way, hopefully giving you info to make the right choice for you.

+1

I think the key here:
Test drive the cars. I remember you saying the ones you picked out were at far locations, so go to your local CarMax or Volvo dealership and hop in the same/similar year model R and T5 and figure out which you like. That's the best way to get a feel.