Hello,

I have a 1988 740 with the 5.0 ford and 5 speed.

The suspension is mush and I will soon be pulling the trigger on replacements.

I have no delusions that this volvo will ever be up to the handling level that I'm used to (autox + suby wrx = kidney pounding coilovers) - but I at least want to make it decent for occasional fun autox and track days, and fun for spirited twisty road driving.

I don't see much out there: TME or B&G springs, bilstein hd's (not even sports!) or koni sports. I'm not even going to consider boge or bils touring crap/rattle/roll. Oh and I saw tokicos on ebay, but I assume in this case that you get what you pay for, and they are much cheaper than the bils or konis.

I read somewhere the B&G's were a little more aggressive than the TME. True?

So I was thinking of combining the B&G and koni sports. Will this be ok for the V8 or do I need to find a custom front set of springs to handle the extra weight? Are the koni's worth some $200+ more than the bils? (I'm thinking they are simply for the reason that they are adjustable and sport valved whereas the bils sports aren't available for this application)

Are there other alternatives? I'd like to go stiffer but I'll be happy running street sport springs for the volvo, maybe find an old miata or civic for my addictions.

I'll be running front and rear IPD anti-sways.

Should I just give up the handling idea on this car and use it as the drag racer it wants to be? mmm vortech... :)
The thing has SHORT gear ratios already. PO said they were 4.11?! It's the stock volvo rear end so I'm not sure he's right about that. They are short though - 3krpm+ at 70mph. First gear feels like a granny gear in a big diesel truck.

Thanks for your consideration.