Last year I concentrated on replacing a lot of the suspension and brakes for handling. Now I want a to boost perfmance a little - problem is that it's a '93 so, no turbo. I know I'll never realistically get this thing up to massive hp without serious work, but it would be nice to have more get-up-and-go, especially for open-road passing. Other than getting a K&N and making sure the vacuum and compression are all good, what can I realistically do? I don't plan on going nuts with changing internals but would be REAL happy if I could into to the 200hp range. If I can't, then I can't.

 

200Hp is possible, but it will take some money.

1. Get your car up and running extremely well. Called Stage Zero and can be found on Volvospeed under the PERFORMANCE section in the PINNED threads.

2. What is your budget?

3. We know your Hp goal. Which is 200Hp.

4. It will cost money to up the power in your NA. No matter what you do it will cost money.

This is what I suggest...

A. Get your car up and running. STAGE ZERO.

B. Dyno your car so you have a basline of what you got. Get a/f ratios with this dyno as well.

C. Start to mod your car. Have a local shop custom make you a catback system 2.25"-2.5" piping with a Flowmaster muffler or any performance muffler with baffles in it. You want baffles in the muffler because your NA. NA like back pressure and you wont get that with a straight through design muffler like a Magnaflow.

D. QBM's Cam Timing Tool: http://www.quickbrickmotorsports.com/prod_camtool.html

E. K&N panel filter in the airbox. Or just go with a brand new OEM panel filter. The stock intake is a very good setup as is. And unless you want to custom make a CAI keeping the stock intake is the way to go.

F. Dyno your car again and see if you have gained or lossed anything and get A/F ratios as well.

G. ECU tuning. There are some ECU tuners out there in the Volvo world that do tune NA Volvo's. The ECU tuning should be done last to take into account all the mods you have done previously. Also this is where the A/F ratios com einto play from the dyno sessions. The ECU tuner will be able to better tune your ECU with all the dyno info including the A/F ratios.

 

stage zero "tuning" list and if ur car lacks performance...

Full stage 0 list:

Plugs
cap/rotor
oil/transflush
filter (oil)
hoses (the little vac lines)
samco hose kit (Turbo Models ONLY)
02 sensors
fuel pumps
clean injectors
clean IC/IC plumbing (Turbo Models ONLY)
Air filter
plug wires

 

I don't know what you did suspension wise, but I would upgrade to a sportier suspension.

-IPD Sway Bars
-QBM Extreme Sway Bar Endlinks
-Koni shocks/struts or Bilstein HD shocks/struts
-Lowering springs
-Strut brace

 

Whoo, LOT'S o' stuff!

Budget: Not even allocated yet. Just starting the process to figure out costs and possibilities.

Suspension...
- IPD sway bars
- IPD HD end links
- Struts / shocks (Bilsten - Koni's were too expensive)
- Strut brace (DAMN! Forgot about that - will do)
- I Don't want to change the profile of the car by lowering it as it's a daily driver and we get LOTS of snow here.

Looks like I've already don'e 3/4 of your stage zero list. I plan on replacing the vac hoses and cleaning the injectors this spring. Fuel pump is new last fall, everything else is standard annual tune up for me.