Ok, so I'm new to the forum world and to the car world as well. I honestly don't know much about them but I've always been interested in them so for my birthday this year like 2 weeks ago I bought a Volvo 242DL. I would eventually like to make this car a drifter and like I said with no experience I have no clue where to start but hey I'm here to learn. The first thing I would like to do to it is lower it, and I've been lookig everywhere about more info on this. I don't know if the right choice would be just cutting the springs which is what I don't want to do because everyone keeps saying it's a ****ty ride but I also see that a lot of people with 240s just cut the springs, I was gonna buy just new springs and take it from there because I heard I'd also need new shocks and struts but I was wondering if anyone can tell me some good coilover kits for this model I've searched a few like RSI short strut coilovers and kalphenke 240 coilovers. But I'm honestly lost and need some help on this.
Thanks!

 

for road handling, I'd suggest an IPD sport spring and bilstein HD shock setup, with the IPD swaybars. probably want to replace the control arm bushings, steering tie rod tips, and ball joints while you're in there. this would lower the car around 1-1.5" while still maintaining control. The ride will be stiffer and harsher, of course, that goes with the territory.

for drifting? can't help you there, I believe in keeping all 4 tires firmly planted on the road. you'll probably need 2-3 times more horsepower than the B21 will give you, a new transmission to handle that, a new rear axle to handle that, etc etc etc. basically a whole new car with the volvo shell on top.

 

OK, lets start with each component in turn. The coil springs hold up the weight of the vehicle and allows the suspension to move. The shocks are matched (by the vehicle manufacturer) to the springs and their job is to control the spring and stop it from bouncing, so if the spring moves then the shock (also know as 'damper' as in dampen spring oscillation) tries to stop the motion.

Cutting the spring will just lower its effective range and could cause the vehicle to 'bottom out'; which means that the suspension has reached its limit and hits the mechanical stop. It does nothing to help the handling of the vehicle other than lower the center of gravity a little.

Since the spring has to be designed for the maximum (loaded) weight of the vehicle, then there is some room to change the spring rates. Higher will be harder to compress so making the car roll less in turns and this improves the handling. As said earlier, if you change the spring rate then the shock needs to be changed to handle the additional spring load.

As Pierce correctly states, bushings, sway bars, tie rod ends, ball joints and upper strut mounts all play a part in a properly functioning set up. He also brings up a good point about engine and gearbox limitations etc. for your intended purpose.

I would take a step back and make some long term decisions as to where you want to end up and shoot for that. I have not seen a lot of Volvo drift cars and one reason is the relative weight of the vehicle. That puts you into the category of lightening the vehicle or producing more power since you need a higher power-to-weight ratio for a good drift car.

Since the vehicle is 35 years old, refurbishing the stock suspension would (probably) make the vehicle ride like a different car so anything you do now would have great effect. If you are planning to make it a dedicated drift car then that would suggest a different path than a 'daily driver' so some decisions need to be made on how to move forward.

 

drifting... well, you will want a nice setup for that. go the Kaplhenke route. lots of nice adjustable piece to help dial in the perfect toe, camber, caster angles and now massive steering lock angels!


Do more research on drifting, what it takes to start out, and how to set up your car.


Good luck.

 

Thank you for all the help guys! I will without a doubt do some more research to make this work!

 

You are looking at 2k minimum for Drifting suspension upgrade. Plus the power you'll need to spin that rear! Expensive to have it done. If you just want to drive the refrigerator on wheels boxy kinda looking car lowered to the floor, you can cut the springs, it wont be so terrible of a ride, but you'll have to use Bilsteins HD shocks and a adjustable panhandle arm. you're looking at $500 bucks there.