We bought the car when we relocated to Australia in 2000 as a daily driver for Wayne. It was in great condition (5-speed, silver with charcoal interior – only issue is it is not a wagon!) but needed a little more oomph for overtaking and maintaining highway cruising speeds with the cruise control engaged. I decided to fit a supercharger to it instead of retrofitting a B230FT engine as I thought I needed more of a challenge – wanted something a little different.

The end result is quite pleasing. It is still no race car, but with a mild 3-4 psi of boost (no intercooler, and still running 9.5:1 compression ratio) it’s more like a V6 than a 4-cylinder, and easily keeps up with traffic. No need to downshift on the hills – just put your foot down. For full details of the supercharger project, go to “downloads” and “articles” and you’ll be able to see the 7-chapter saga I wrote for the Volvo Club of Victoria magazine “Rolling Australia”.

Regards,
Greg