Jondevieon’s Budget RS Build II | SwedeSpeed

The T5 engine, in my experience, has been easy to work on and modify with the exception for two things, limited options for upgrades and cost. While a P1 car can be purchased for relatively cheap, the performance parts are as expensive as what you would expect for the higher end tuner cars, with the return in horsepower failing in comparison without a larger turbo. That being said I have set out to find the cheapest options for upgrades and still feel a difference. The main areas I focused on was intake, charge pipe and intercooler, as these seem to be the most common upgrades, and I sold the ones I had on my car and still had the tune for them .
RS Intercooler Install

Materials Used/Cost
•RS Intercooler (P/N G1FY6K775RC)($150)
•Mounting brackets ($1.78/ea) x2
•Screws, washers and nuts (license plate kit)($2.48)
Total cost: $156.04

I have owned aftermarket versions of these parts in the past but recently sold them because of some personal circumstances. Things turned around, so I found myself with some extra time and money to experiment with rather than just buy new parts. The intercoolers make a difference in performance, the problem is the price, the Elevate IC has a core size of 22.5×6.5×3 with a tube and fin design (8 rows) for the low price of $700, the charge pipe which is FWD specific, over $200. While the do88 seems like the obvious choice because of the price, it still comes in at a little over $500 with shipping for the set. After sorting through all of my options, I decided to try something that – at least to my knowledge – had not been done yet. At first, I looked at universal options for under $100 but that would need fabrication which meant more materials and more cost. With no welder, and the entire purpose of the project to be as cheap and easy as possible, I re-evaluated my options looking for something that would be easy to install and stay under $200.
The larger IC out of newer S60’s (PN 31338236), cost around $50-150 (core dims 25.8×5.7×2.5), and seems like one of the easiest modifications as it may be available at a local scrap yard and, is a direct swap with one exception. Depending on the model of S60, the Sensor plug may be on the wrong side, which means fabrication, albeit very basic, would still be needed.

I began looking into other cars that shared our platform. I found someone had fit an ST intercooler as a direct swap on our S40, with the sensor location being on the same side and everything. I started visiting ST/RS forums to see if the RS IC was interchangeable, and I was able to find that it was! So using very delicate country math I surmised that an RS intercooler should fit our Volvos! I began to see what core size we had been experimenting with and found this –
“7.8” is about the tallest you are going to be able to go and still fit underneath the stock bumper, you could probably make the 24″ wide work however 22″ is about the perfect size for our air dam so you can just barely see the endtanks.5.8″ is pretty thick, 3.5″ is what I am using and it fits just right.” –
The RS OEM IC for Ford Focus Mk RS 2.3,(P/N G1FY6K775RC), has a Core size of 7.75×24.25×3.25 and eleven (11) fins. The Boys on the ST/RS forums even compared the ST and RS units where ST, (PN 97392VN), has a core size of 26×6.25×2.5, and a Vol% of 406.25 in^3, the RS IC has a vol% of 610.79^3. I am not completely sure what this means, but I like it.

ST vs RS Intercooler

RS vs OEM Volvo Intercooler

INSTALLATION
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