MENUVolvo B5254 T7 T3 Tuning
"All you need to know about tuning and performance parts on the Volvo B5254 engine!"
TorqueCars will detail the best approach to B5254 tuning and show the best modifications for your car. Volvo B5254 are fantastic to work on and with the optimum enhancements like a remap, turbo improvements and camshafts you will enhance your driving fun.
History, Power & Specs of the B5254 Engine
- 2.5 L T5 turbocharged I5 (227 hp) B5254T7
- 2.5 L T5 turbocharged I5 (217 hp) B5254T3
Tuning the Volvo B5254 and best B5254 performance parts.
Best B5254 tuning mods
The top B5254 upgrades on an engine are in our opinion the ones that give the best power gain for you spend.
We won't be swayed by popular B5254 upgrades, they need to be cost effective.
Significant gains on the B5254 can be made from cam upgrades. Altering the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the bhp and power output.
Fast road cams commonly push up the bhp and torque through the rpm range, you may sacrifice a little bottom end torque but top end will improve.
Motorsport and race cams, push up the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.
On a typical daily driver you need to match your power band to your typical driving style.
I'd be gobsmacked if you have found a B5254 Competition cam is a pleasure to live with when in heavy traffic because low end power will be very lumpy. Competition cams are designed for maximum power at the top end of the RPM range, a place that most daily commutes will not permit!
Some B5254 engines respond better to less aggressive cam durations check your engine on a rolling road.
The ecu map and fuel pump and injectors also have a large bearing on the torque gains you'll hit.
A longer valve duration 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.
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Best Engine Mods for your car
- Engine Tunes - engine tuning/remapping provides the most advantage in terms of cost savings, aftermarket ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
- Fast road cams are one of the most significant mechanical changes, but they must be installed by someone who knows what they're doing and they are not always easy to source but you might find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft.
- Intake and Exhaust - Note that on their own these mods will NOT ADD POWER in most cases, but they can help enhance power after other mods by removing the restriction.
- Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - forced induction is the most efficient approach to increase air supply, allowing you to burn more fuel and make more power. It is one of the most costly upgrades but provides the best gains.
- Head work - The goals of porting and flowing the head are to get air flowing into the engine while removing flow restrictions and turbulence.
- 58 PSI 273cc/min 200hp
- 58 PSI 409cc/min 300hp
- 58 PSI 545cc/min 400hp
- 58 PSI 818cc/min 600hp
Typical stage 1 mods often include:
drilled & smoothed airbox, Intake manifolds, Panel air filters, Fast road camshaft, Sports exhaust header/manifold, Remaps/piggy back ECU.
Typical stage 2 mods often include:
Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injectors, induction kit, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam.
Typical stage 3 mods often include:
Engine balancing & blueprinting, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Twin charging conversions, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam.
ECU flashing will help release the full potential of all the modifications you've done to your B5254.
(In some cases, as the factory ECU is locked flashing is not an option, so an aftermarket ECU is the route to take, and many of these will outperform factory ECU's but make sure it has knock protection and that you get it setup properly.)
It will usually give you around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NA (naturally aspirated) engines, but the outcome usually vary depending on the modifications you've done and the condition of your engine.
It is the whole point to any engine upgrade project to force air into your B5254
The intake plenum flow the air during the suck phase from the air cleaner and allow it to be drawn into the engine and mixed with fuel.
The size of bore and shape and flow rate of the Intake can make a big effect on to fuel engine efficiency on the B5254.
Commonly we find the intake manifold are begging for a performance upgrade, although some makers provide decently flowing intake manifold.
Adding a B5254 larger valve kit, doing some 3 or 5 angle valve jobs and porting and head flowing will also improve power, this will make space for a greater power increase on other upgrades.
B5254 Turbo upgrades
NA (naturally aspirated) 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 B5254
The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes massive power gains.
When your car is turbo charged upgrades are relatively easy and you'll see that turbocharged engines will have more solid components.
However you'll find engines will need better parts at higher power limits.Discover these restrictions and install more solid crank and pistons to utilize the power.
We see many people spending a lot of money on turbocharger upgrades on the B5254 only to suffer the humiliation of seeing the engine block literally blow up soon after it's been finished.
Large capacity turbochargers commonly suffer low end lag, and little turbochargers spool up more quickly but do not have the peak end torque gains.
In recent times the selection of turbos is always improving and we commonly find variable vane turbos, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end torque.
Twin scroll turbos divert the exhaust gases into two channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbo. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.
It is common that there is a limit in the air flow sensor (AFM/MAF/MAP) on the B5254 when loads more air is being drawn into the engine.
We note 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped torque at a much lower level.
Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large bhp gains, although more complex to setup. We have this article covering twinchargers if you want to read more.
Fuelling
When you raise the bhp and torque you will need to pay attention to the fuel delivery.
More bhp and torque needs more fuel. 
We would recommend you to be generous with your flow rate on the injectors.
The rule of thumb is to add 20% to the flow rate when specifying an injector, this allows for injector deterioration and gives some spare capacity should the engine require 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.
All the following flywheel power targets will assume an injector duty cycle of 80% and a base of 58psi of fuel pressure at idle.
5 Cylinder turbocharged engines
B5254 Performance Exhausts
You may need to replace your exhaust if the existing exhaust is actually creating a restriction in flow.
On most factory exhausts you'll find your flow rate is still 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 pipe is too large, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose much of the exhaust flow rate and end up lacking power and torque.
Common exhaust restrictions are in the catalysts installed, so adding a higher flowing performance catalyst removes the restriction. We note that performance cats perform similarly to decats and have the added benefit of keeping your car street legal, as decats or catalyst removal is illegal in most territories for road going cars.
Weak spots, Issues & problem areas on the B5254
The B5254 engines are generally reliable and solid units, as long as you follow the manufacturers service schedules, and use a good quality oil to ensure longevity. Few problems should happen as long as they are regularly serviced and maintained.
Carbon build up in the head, particularly around the valves which will sap power or create flat spots, this is a larger issue on direct injection engines but should be looked out for on all engines. We have tips on removing carbon build up.
Some of our members have had issues with flat spots or glitches after applying mods and upgrades or tuning, this is not usually related to this engines design, so instead see our article on diagnosing flat spots and problems after tuning which should help you get the bottom of this issue.
Regular oil changes are vital on the B5254, especially when tuned and will help extend the life and reliability of the engine.
If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your B5254 engine please join us in our car forums where you can discuss B5254 tuning options in more detail with our B5254 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Volvo tuning articles to get insights into each modification and how effective they will be for your car.
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