Ok so I a new to Volvo's, cars, and 240's.

What is the difference between an intercooled 240 and a turbo 240?

What do they do?

Do they really help the car?

How much faster do they make the car go?

Thanks,
Conrad

 

A 240 could be a turbo charged, with intercooler or without. Intercooler cools the air and so it makes it denser thus increasing power.
Turbochargers add power to an engine but usually in Volvos reduce economy and have some bad maintenance side effects. Numbers say 30-40% power increase over a nonturbo. Earlier 240's were not intercooled, later Volvos, 740's, 940's all had intercoolers. On an early 240 turbo, an intercooler can easily be added.

 

Ok. But if I am not mechanically sound, and you said that there can be some issues...I dont know if actually want to be dealing with these problems.

What is typical to fail with the intercoolers/turbocharges?

 

nothing will fail as long as you do regular maintenance. you will probably have an electrical problem before you'll have turbo failure.

 

Well, I know turbos are "cool" especially for the performance minded, and I agree that if good maintenance, and care, are done, turbos are pretty troublefree BUT in reality they are more troublesome and less economical over the long run than NA cars. Volvo turbos are much worse on gas consumption (around 5MPG), seem to leak more (personal experience), and the turbo IS a costly item when it does need replacement. At this stage in our Volvos lives (200k etc.) they do fail, and are costly often exceeding the cost of the car itself. The extra power you get, my NAs have 114hp vs my turbo's 160, well, I am not aware of these extra 46 horses. I feel the difference, the kick, but overall for the average, frugal Volvo owner I'd recommend a NA car to a turbo.

 

Great. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

I have heard from some people that an intercooled turbo gets 20mpg in mixed driving conditions....

What would a non intercooled turbo get?

 

The intake air will be hotter, so it should get slightly better mpgs.