Best Volvo for drift car build

[BarteXtreme]

Hi there!

Recently I've been looking around for a drift car to mess around in the winter and build it for the summer.

I am in a JDM drift team as a videographer but ever since I bought my 2001 2.4i V70 I don't want to buy any other car than a Volvo.

One thing worth noting is that I don't have a big budget to spend on my first drift car(at least in the first few months of owning it).
In total I'll be able to spend around 2500£ (including any repairs, registration, oil change, welding diff, etc.)

So I've been looking around and really like the 960(S90)'s look and the 2.5 I6 with the M90 manual gearbox combination. It has plenty of power to handle drifting in wet conditions.
But they are really pricey around where I live (Austria, Germany) and the 3.0 automatic versions are way easier to get in my price range.
How hard is it to do a gearbox swap and put a M90 on the 3.0(IF it's even possible)

What is your guys' opinion on this topic? I also consider getting a 940 or 740 but I don't know much about Volvos yet. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Pete940]

940 2.3 turbo saloon, in my opinion. The solid axle makes for relatively predictable drifting.

[BarteXtreme]

I considered it as well but there's actually only one with the turbo for sale and it's a bit too far from my price range. How much trouble is it to put a turbo on a 2.3i though?

[classicswede]

With your budget in mind the 940 turbo would probably be a better bet.

Converting the Auto 960 to manual is possible. Some use the 940 M90, other go with a BMW gearbox along with some other possibles. The issue is they all need adaptor plates, prop alterations along with a flywheel and clutch of some sort. You can use a manual 940 pedal box. The costs for all these little bits add up and then once you have done all of that it is not easy to get much more power from teh engine.

I have sold coilovers to a couple of guys in Sweden who have fitted BMW engines complete with gearbox as a package but that then gives you the trouble of lots of wiring.

The 940 has lots of power potential and is simple to work on

[BarteXtreme]

How about the 740 2.3turbo?
I can't seem to find the 940 2.3 turbo at all. The only ones are diesel
When it comes to the 740 2.3 turbo is there anything I should especially watch out for when buying one?

[Pete940]

Nothing wrong with a 740 turbo. There's a few different variants of the 2.3 turbo. The later ones are the same as the 940 turbo's, but they can all produce enough power. The other thing to note is that 740's and early 940's have a slightly weaker gearbox, but that only seems to be a problem if you're hammering third gear.

[360beast]

Early 740 turbos with the b230et engine have skinny 9mm con rods too which I imagine in a drift car with the boost wound up will be saying hello to the outside world pretty quickly.

[classicswede]

B23ET is early 740/760 turbos is very strong. Then the early B230 has skinny 9mm rods, they dont even need a turbo to be saying hello to the outside worlds but the good news is H beam rods are not expensive and cure the problem.

You can also add a turbo to a B200/230F engine

[classicswede]

The Holy Grail that might be found in Poland is the B204FT or B204GT

[BarteXtreme]

The 740 I found has a b230ft it's a 1990 model.
Which gearbox is the weak one? If there would be a m47 will it be fine?

Originally Posted by classicswede

The Holy Grail that might be found in Poland is the B204FT or B204GT

So you're saying the 2.0 Turbo?