Volvo Built more than 2.8 million 200 series volvos. They are a very popular car as a primary driver and what many do not realize is how popular they are for tuning. In the United States a popular tuner car is the Subaru WRX or a Honda Civic. These are both pricey cars to buy. An inexpensive car to modify is the volvo 240. It is a great car for a variety of reasons. First of all a 240 is very cheap. I have seen many 240s sell on ebay for about $1500 with very low mileage, like 75,000 miles type of low mileage. That is a bargain for a car. Volvo 240s are also rear wheel drive which is preferred by many drivers when looking for a car. The engine is a very powerful inline 4 cylinder. These engines are not making honda power, they are making volvo power which is full of torque. Aftermarket parts are also very inexpensive for a 240, due to its popularity. It is a long lasting car and a buyer certainly gets their moneysworth.
Stock Volvo 240 Specifications: http://www.hyperocity.com/volvo240/volvospecs.htm
Popular aftermarket accessories for this car and where you can find them:
Carbon Fiber Hood - Decreases the Weight of Your Car, Carbon Fiber Hoods weigh less than Factory Steel Hoods, Decreasing the Car weight means less overall weight, this equates to better acceleration. http://www.geminicomposites.com/products/volvo_carbon_fiber_hood.html
Cat back Exhaust System: Decreases exhaust gas resistance, and increases flow rate of exhaust leaving engine. Also adds a sporty aggressive tone and a few horsepower. http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-200/Exhaust-System/Turbo-Sport-Exhaust-for-non-turbo-models/p-69-464-408/
Sway Bars, Bilstein Shock Absorbers, Poly Bushings, Lowering Springs:
Sway bars distribute the force of a turn between both sides of the suspension, a thicker sway bar equates into better cornering ability by stiffening suspension.
Bilstein shock absorbers are twin tube gas shocks which are signifcantly stiffer than a stock shock absorber. They stiffen suspension and increase cornering ability signifcantly.
Lowering Springs are shorter springs than the factory springs installed in your car, they are stiffer and have a much higher spring rate. It lowers the center of gravity of the car and add a very aggresive sporty look.
Poly Bushings are made from polyurethane rather than rubber. Rubber bushings are soft and wear out. Poly Bushings last longer and are stiffer.
Camshafts: changing out your camshaft allows a modified powerband of the engine. It changes the times when the exhaust and intake valves open and close, therefore affecting the amount of torque and horspower output of the engine. Higher torque and horspower equals better acceleration and topspeed.
Alloy Wheels: Alloy wheels are lighter weight than factory steel wheels. This equates into less rotating force required to turn each wheel, and also a larger wheel covers more ground per rotation. It takes less power to spin and it covers more ground. Do the math, aftermarket wheels are a no brainer when it comes to performance.
High Performance Brakes: Addding power to speed up your car requires adding power the the brakes to allow you to be able to slow down from all the speed. Factory brakes are not up to the task and upgrading brakes should always be kept in mind when upgrading the engine. What good is all the power without being able to control it? Cross drilled brake rotors allow brakes to cool off faster and release gases which are created when the pad rubs the rotor. Volvo 240's already have twin piston brake calipers on the front wheels which I think are quite good. However a good set of ceramic brake pads and cross drilled rotors really seem to help.
Stainless Steel Headers: Increase exhaust gas flow and create less backpressure these really increase effieciency and increase power. http://www.r-sportinternational.com/headers.htm
PolyUrethane Engine mounts: allow you to harness every ounce of power from your engine, keeps a higher power engine secured. http://www.r-sportinternational.com/polymounts.htm
Forged Piston Rods: These are a must have for a high power turbo application, they prevent your engine from blowing up under heavy boost. http://www.r-sportinternational.com/rods.htm
Gauges: Although gauges do not have any specific performance gain, they allow monitoring of the engine, such as oil pressure, oil temperature, fuel mixture, vacuum pressure, boost pressure... http://www.hyperocity.com/volvo240/volvoaccessories.htm
Aftermarket Headlights: Availible on ebay. US volvo 240's came with plastic headlights to conform with US headlight specifications. The European models came with glass, yes real glass headlights. This means better visibility, no more fogging over of the lenses, no more cracking plastic, and much much better range. This website explains it all: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~ridgely/e-code.htm#wiring
Everything Else: This is where I buy all of my parts for both of my volvo 240's http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-200/c-1-69/
Looking to Add some free ponies to your engine? Check out this website, it has little tricks that actually work, Ive tried them myself. Its pretty helpful. http://www.ultimateresourceguides.com/content/freemods/acura-nsx-freemods.html
Inline 6 Modification for Volvo 240's
Volvo's Inline 6 engine comes out of volvo 960's, V90's, S90's and is called a b6304. This video shows a 240 with an inline 6: http://videos.streetfire.net/video/6a8e2f38-6f85-4212-8d18-99ff01608f51.htm
Here are some pics from turbo bricks of the upgrade: http://www.turbobricks.net/forums/showthread.php?t=41789
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