I want to add a little more power to my 740 especially on the bottom end as it needs a little more grunt to get the car up and moving, any suggestions?

 

You can start with a for sale sign. Then start shoping for a turbo 940 to replace it.

 

^ that was pretty good !

 

or, if you don't want to deal with a turbo and the added complexity, the 16V 940's are a nice compromise. they are geared to rev higher as the 16V motor develops more power at higher RPMs but they have almost as much HP as the turbos, without having to deal with all the extra stuff. Just don't neglect timing belt maintenance as they are an 'interference' motor and if the timing belt breaks, they'll probably bend valves.

 

No such thing as ANY Volvo engine with great bottom end, get used to that fact or go buy something with a smallblock.

 

Wow I love how people enjoy putting rude replies, I asked for advice about the car I am driving not your opinions on any other Volvo or car but thanks for showing me your lack of knowledge in this area and I will know to steer clear next time. I have owned many brands of cars and learned one thing you can make improvements on just about anything if your willing to put in a little elbow grease. Thanks and Have A Nice Day.

 

The truth is, the 740 will never have more power without putting more money in the motor than the car is worth. I wasn't trying to be rude, just cutting through the chase. I'd love to have a peppy 960, but it's a lot cheaper to purchase a turbo 940 or turbo V70, etc. Don't get me wrong, all of my travel time records are in the 960 I had, but that car was not fast. It was strong but not fast. We named our 740 GLE GRACE for a reason.

 

Maybe next time you should put "NO SUGGESTIONS ON REPLACING THE CAR PLEASE". Then you can count your thread view...

 

My wife said she knows a sure way to make a 740 go faster...

 

Most of the cars I have owned where factory the underdog until a little work here and there and I enjoy some of them the most. My first car was a 1965 Beetle factory horsepower was around 35 horsepower mine was around the 110 horsepower range with a 1600cc engine dual webber carbs, ported and polished heads, lightweight flywheel etc. etc. by no means a drag car but it was very fun to drive and surprised more than a few at stoplights. I just think its fun to take something that shouldn't have what it does and make it that way. To me its just more fun.

 

YouTube - ‪the worlds most coolest volvo 740‬‏

 

That is completely sick, wow

 

Poor you. Didn't get the answer you wanted to hear.
FACT, no Volvo engine has great bottom end power, displacement is too small. Even the five and six cylinder engines lack bottom end, they are all tuned for midrange.
You came onto a forum and asked a very specific question and got very specific answers.
Unless you know something that people have overlooked in the past 30 years about the Volvo redblock and getting bottom end power out of it, you'll never see significant bottom end power out of one.
This ain't no horizontally opposed four with aftermarket heads etc available for it. And I've driven wild VW four bangers, bottom end they don't have....

 

Wow:d

 

in the FAQ sticky of this forum is an article on the basic steps of taking a redbrick turbo from 'stage 0' (stock setup in good tune) up to about 250HP

without a turbo, I dunno, replace the head with the 16V head from a B234F, and beef up the fuel injection with larger injectors and a megasquirt based controller, and you could maybe get 200HP at high RPM on a very well balanced motor, there probably wouldn't be any more low end grunt, however. oh, and it probably wouldn't pass any sort of smog inspection.

 

well the good thing is here I dont have to worry about any smog since in my state they dont test anything under a 96 but I will look into the head and turbo setup, I might start at trying to setup a better suspension while I am figuring out what to do about power, the car handles great already but I know I could make it a little lower and get it to handle tighter

 

indeed, at the expense of ride quality. Volvo Parts, Accessories and Performance Specialist Since 1963 has a bunch of suspension kits for 740/940's, including sport springs, swaybar upgrades, adjustable panhard track rod, etc. of course, stiffer springs require a matching stiffer shock for best results, they have bilstein, koni, and a few others.

 

I just can't think of a way to make an n/a 90 740 any faster....surely there must something one can do...

 

yeah, I have thought of swapping in a 350 but still in the thinking and planning stages, I have a friend that runs a race shop and know he can do it, it's just to what expense is the question. For now Im just going to drive and work on Suspension and interior.

 

an alloy small block ford like swiftjustice's 'stang killer is probably a better choice, its quite similar to the weight of the stock engine configuration, while a cast iron GM would be noticeably heavier and unbalance the suspension.