Tuning the Volvo B62

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Volvo B62 engine!"

We are regularly getting emails asking about the premier B62 mods that work. So let us look into Volvo B62 modifications and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some potential pitfalls along the way.

Now we will outline options for your B62 tuning and point out the premier mods that work. Volvo B62 make a good tuning project and with the optimum modified enhancements like ECU maps, turbo kits and camshafts you will noticeably maximise your driving pleasure.

The greatest B62 mods on an engine are typically the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular B62 mods, they need to be cost effective.

Altering your B62 cam will make a dramatic difference to the engine bhp. Choosing a higher performance cam profile raises the bhp accordingly.

NB: Fast road cams tend to boost the performance throughout the rev band, you might lose a little low down power but higher rpm power will be better.

Race cams, boost the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Motorsport and race camshaft will just annoy you whilst in heavy traffic.

You should ideally match your torque band to your usage of the car so for a car used daily stick with a fast road B62 camshaft

Different B62 engines respond better to mild cam durations so view each engine as unique.

The ECU mapping and fuelling also have a large bearing on the torque gains you'll achieve.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

B62 Tuning Stages

Stage 1 B62 modifications: Fast road camshaft, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Intake headers, Sports exhaust manifold, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters.

Stage 2 B62 modifications: Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, induction kit, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust.

Stage 3 B62 modifications: Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Competition cam.

Carefully think through your options and then source your mods and set yourself a power target to void expensive mistakes.

Remaps allows a tuner to to establish the full potential of all the tuning mods you've done to your B62.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but the end result may depend much on the tuning mods you've carried out and the condition of your engine.

It is the whole point to any engine performance tuning task to pull fuel and air into the B62 engine

Intake manifold flow the air from the filter and allow it to be sucked into the engine cylinders.

Structure and rate of flow of the Headers can make a large effect on to fuel engine efficiency on the B62.

Most intake headers are in desperate need of motorsport parts, although a few car makers provide fairly well optimized intake headers.

Larger B62 valves, carrying out 3 or 5 angle valve jobs and porting and head flowing will also boost bhp, the fantastic side effect is it will raise potential for a better bhp increase on other parts.

Turbo upgrades for the B62

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your B62

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes significant power gains.

When the engine has a turbo already fitted parts are simpler to install and you'll see that turbocharged engines use more solid components.

There are reliable limits for every engine, with some being very over engineered and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power

Discover these restrictions and upgrade to more solid crank and pistons to utilize the power.

It's not unheard of people spending a lots of money on turbocharger upgrades on the B62 only to see the motor go up in smoke when it's been enthusiastically driven.

Bigger turbos commonly experience a bottom end lag, and smaller turbos spool up more quickly but do not have the top end engines power gains.

In the last 10 years the world of turbo chargers is always moving on and we now see variable vane turbo chargers, allowing the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end torque.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust flow into a couple of channels and feed these at differently angled vanes in the turbo. They also boost the scavenging effect of the engine.

You'll commonly see there is a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAF on the B62 when loads more air is being pulled into the engine.

Going up you'll find 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped bhp at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large torque gains, although more complex to setup. We have this article on twincharging if you want to read more.

Uprating B62 fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to increase the fuelling when you start going beyond 20% of a torque increase.Most tuners we speak with say to be generous with your injector capacity.

The rule of thumb is to add 20% to the flow rate when specifying an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and allows some spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Best B62 performance exhausts

Only look to improve your exhaust if the existing exhaust is actually creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you should find that your flow rate is fine even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts increase the flow of air through the engine.

But if your exhaust is too large, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a great deal of the exhaust flow rate and end up losing power and torque.

Typically exhaust restrictions are traced to the filters installed, so adding a freer flowing race alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the B62

The B62 engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the B62, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your B62 engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our B62 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which tuning parts were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our B62 guides and tips are kept up to date.

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