Hey all. It's tax refund time, so that means christmas for The White Devil(my NA 242.) The planned mods include bilstein touring shocks+struts, 242GT frame stiffeners, flat hood+modified 78 grill, IPD sport exhaust, K&N air filter, and a long needed fuel filter, OD repairs, and tie rod(yeah, I'm aware of the inherant dangers of not repairing) I'll be doing some MPG and 0-60 tests before and after for a better understanding of how my $480 were spent, but I was wondering what others' experiences have been with the IPD sport exhaust. (I may be opening up a flame war here, but then again, this isn't OPINIONS ^_^) Will I be getting more out of the air filter than the exhaust? Am I throwing away money when I could just get a turbo exhaust, installed, for the same price? I assume these will compliment each other nicely. Also, does anyone know of any type of "hi-flow" fuel filter? This <20MPG is killing me. As always, I appreciate the input.

I put an IPD exhaust on my 93 wagon and it did make it more responsive, but I would not say that acceleration was significantly better. On a wagon the sport exhaust does increase the interior noise significantly, doesn't bother me but my wife hates it. The exhaust does has lasted and no problems.

Yeah, i cancelled the ipd order. i picked up the hood, and had it not been for the time i spent on the grill, i wouldn't have bought it. it'll need to be painted, do i figure i'll just go for the suspension and hood. i think i'll still get the fram stiffeners though, they seem like a good idea. evrything shuold work out. i'll post some pictures.

As said, do all the routine tune-up items first to give a proper baseline. You may find that these alone give a good performance increase - not to mention fuel economy. The stock Volvo air filter is quite large for the size of the engine, so I doubt a K&N would make a difference you could feel. The only way to increase air flow through a given number of square inches of filter media is to reduce its per-sq.-inch restriction. That means larger pores in the media. Which equals bigger dirt particles passing through.

Same kind of reasoning for the exhaust. The stock rig is not that restrictive given the displacement and power characteristics of the engine. A "performance" exhaust will only deliver benefits at higher RPM's and large throttle openings (well, duh.), so you decide if you want the increased noise 100% of the time for a small power benefit 5% of the time. If so, I'd get the "Turbo" exhaust parts (axle pipe, rear muffler, tailpipe, from FCP-Groton, and get a muffler shop to bend up an intermediate pipe from cat to axle pipe. This duplicates the IPD system at less cost.

I think the best bang for the performance buck in the 240's is to target the suspension first. Install new bushings along with all the shiny new parts. You'll really notice the effects of those dollars. And do some more homework on the shock/strut purchase. I've chatted with a couple of the more knowledgeable contributors to this board who have had poor experiences with the Bil "TC" units - quality/fitment issues. For the Spring makeover on my son's 81 we're going with IPD sway bars and Boge ProGas shocks and struts.


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Bob (81-244GL B21F, 83-244DL B23F, 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

Flat hood is a nice look.

Any reason you're getting Bilstein Touring instead of Sport? Sport would seem to be in character for a 242 and the ride is still excellent. Either way, I think you will love the shocks.

Do you have the IPD sway bars already? They are excellent.

A freer flowing exhaust should give you quicker throttle response. Losing the cat and using a (loud) straight-through muffler like a Magnaflow Race with a mandrel-bent 2.5 in. system would be optimum, but it might be noisier than you want. The IPD system is mandrel-bent, but it has a stupid crimp where it goes over the axle. Never understood why they did that.

A performance cam could significantly increase your hp, esp. at higher rpms. I know, more $$. Next tax refund? It would take fuller advantage of your upgraded airflow.

I don't think a different fuel filter alone would increase performance as long as it's clean. Maybe a Kenne Bell Boost-a-pump and bigger injectors would combine with a cam to really wake things up, but this would decrease mileage as well. Dunno - I don't have a Volvo motor in my Volvo. More $$, of course.

Sorry, I got carried away with the hot rodding. For improved mpg and performance, I'd 1st make sure everything was running like it should. 02 sensor and other tune-up items can make a big difference. <20mpg sounds kinda low; I get 16-23mpg with my built V8 (300+ hp).

One more thing, if you're not already using it: a good synthetic oil will increase your mpg and performance over dino, besides reducing wear.
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'84 "285" rice-eater with lotsa hp & performance goodies

Just my opinion, and others will disagree, but I don't think the IPD sport exhaust is going to get you much of an MPG increase. It is a bit louder than stock if that's what you're after, but I can't tell any increase in power or mileage.

I've never run a K&N air filter setup, but I've read enough accounts on other boards to suggest that you will see at best a minimal performance gain, and a significantly greater amount of dust and dirt getting into your engine.
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Mike W., '79 242GT (project car), '85 245DL (daily driver 1), '87 245 DL (daily driver 2), '90 244DL (son's project car), '91 744T (daily driver 3), '92 245DL (parts car), '94 944T (wifemobile), Largo, FL

hi there i just put in the A grind volvo cam. and removed one muffler along with my free flowing cat, and took off 2.5 seconds in 0-60 time. its no racecar but now i love it more than before. and it cost about 60 dollars. next boge turbo struts and shocks. and new springs. and modify existing airbox= free.