Due to my own stupidity, I duffed the side skirt on the passenger side of my car. While I wait for my car to get back from the wrap shop, here are some pictures of the sideskirt, freshly painted in sapphire black metallic.
Driveability and Performance Report: December 2018
While my process of working on the S60 has been slowed down by a lack of good weather and funding, I have had time to really feel out the car in its current state and get used to the performance. On the track the car is still proper, obviously understeer is a problem given the weight and AWD system. At a track like VIR, you have a good amount of speed to really get your brakes hot during a more aggressive run. The stock braking system, while great for daily use, is not suited to stop such a heavy car with the speeds the S60 can reach. Other than these two issues, the car had no other issues out on the track. The transmission was on point the entire time, never getting stuck in a gear or holding back the torque. The suspension, for what I paid, has been doing amazing as well. The progressive lowering springs, in combination with the thicker sway bar, has seriously planted this car in corners, even with is meager 235 wide tires. With coil-overs, this car would definitely handle like it was on rails through many corners that other (mid level, performance) AWD sedans would struggle with. The turbo held up great as well, and the cool weather meant I wasn’t suffering from major power loss from heat soak. An upgraded intercooler is high on my list as well for upgrades to the car.
I have a few other ideas for upgrades such as the Viva Performance upgraded TCV, and obviously a set of Polestar winter wheels. I found some knock-off Polestar summer wheels on AliExpress, they are still a decent chunk of change but they might be a good buy just to test the quality and sell them.
I just wanted this post to be a quick update, just to show that I am still around and updating the site. Hopefully once I am working full time I can spend more time on my car and on writing here. Happy holidays everyone!
Audio Modules & The Return to Boostmoose
Its been 3 months since the 850R officially left the parking lot, off to its new owner. Since then there have been 0 posts here, and its not in any particular reason. However since then, the S60 has achieved a new status. The S60 has slowly turned itself into the “Built Daily Driver” category.
I know have to explain why this is a bad thing.
“Jack, how could a a ‘project’ daily driver be an issue?"‘‘
Well here is why, its because once your car that you drive every day becomes your new project, it will never perfect. Making your daily a project also means that it slowly, over time, loses its ability to be a daily. It goes from your winter beater to “I cant take this is the rain / snow, these coils are too nice!” This situation is slowly where I am going with the S60, and to be honest, its not worth it. While I do love my S60, its not the platform I want to continue working on. In the near future I would like to go to a V90 or a V60 (R-Design of course), but that is still about a year off.
Currently, the S60 has been having a slew of audio issues. It has had a bunch of issues with the audio cutting out and popping, under all conditions. I tried using normal radio, CD, and bluetooth but it didnt make a difference. The first attempt at a repair was the dealership updating the software on the car. After a few days I noticed the issue was back and returned to the dealership. The second attempt at a fix was to replace the amplifier. Now on the P3 this is a pretty easy swap as the part is directly under the passenger seat. Unfortunately, after a few days the issue still persisted.
So at this point I was pretty pissed off, like how can they not fix this?
Well finally, after 2 days in the shop, and having the car diagnosed by techs in Sweden, they determined that it was the IAM in the head unit. I guess the high heat of this summer here in North Carolina finally fried some of the electronics in the headunit. All I can say is; thank god for the CPO warranty.
The question is, where do I go from here? I know that as I sneak up on 100k miles, it may be time to start looking at replacements for this car. I do really love it, but the wrap is already starting to peel badly in many places, and the usability of the rear seats and trunk leave much to be desired. The only thing that really matters is if I go with the V90 R-Design, a V60 R-Design, or bump myself up to a V60 Polestar.
The Final Report: 850R Beauty Shots
As the 850R project draws to a close, and blog posts have still yet to be written, I figured I would post some of the "work in progress shots".
Mid-July Summer Update
As you may have noticed there has not been much activity on my site as of late. Currently things are winding down with the 850R. I do have many images for the paint restoration and other work being done. My S60 has had a lot done to it as well, and images and a write up are coming for that as well.
My work and life during this summer means I have less time for the site at the moment. Thanks for visiting and checking the updates!