940 Upgrades

[Thejdizzler]

I am after some upgrades to improve the performance of my 940. I have a MBC fitted and am happy with the power for now. I would like something to improve the handing / performance without adding additional BHP. I was thinking a strut brace - I have heard fitting a rear sway bar is also a good idea- not sure how easy they are to fit though? Also I am thinking of swapping the hoses for newer / better ones but not sure where to start on those - whether I should do some / all? Let me know if there are any other suggestions or any ideas where is best to purchase these parts other than my local Volvo garage?

[griston64]

Your car probably already has a rear sway bar. One mod is to double up the rear sway bars but I'm not sure how much difference it makes. There was also a extra brace fitted at the front strut rod mounting( I think ) to some wentworth models.

The most obvious upgrade would be new springs and shocks all round and polybushing as other forum members have done.

Or if you want amazing handling buy a second hand MX5

[griston64]

This is the lower brace I'm referring to

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/6594...940-ipd-105672

There was someone on the forum around Newcastle that made them as well

[griston64]

This is who I was thinking of

No connection to but I've bought stuff from him in the past

https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/cat...3788523378217/

[Laird Scooby]

Like Mark said, your car probably already has a rear anti-roll bar or sway bar as they call them stateside.

You could fit a second front anti-roll bar as a start which would give twice the roll stiffness or check to see what size front bar you already have. I believe the stiffest (thickest) standard one is 24mm diameter. Believe it or not, that is twice as stiff as a 21mm bar.

Considering the amount of extra weight in the front (engine and gearbox), minimising the roll generated by these first with a stiffer front ARB (or a second one) will give a vast improvement in handling without compromising the ride quality, it may even improve it. Likewise adding a rear ARB if you don't have one or a second one (do the front first if you already have a rear ARB!) will tighten things up while maintaining/improving ride quality.

THen sort the basics first, Polybushes to make sure all suspension joints are moving as they should, no more, no less. Then consider uprated springs and shocks.

If you don't have a rear ARB, they're easy to fit. You'll need the two brackets :



Also the two bolts from brackets to ARB and of course the ARB itself. This is how it fits on :



At the front, it uses the shock absorber lower bolt, the brackets attach to the two inboard studs from the axle to trailing arm clamps and then the bolt goes thrugh the bracket and ARB each side. Doesn't take too long to do and transforms the ride and handling.

I'm sure Mark will have one available from hsi breaker unless of course he wants to double up on his ARBs of course!

[griston64]

I already have three Dave but only one fitted. I will be selling from breaker

Cheers

[classicswede]

Chassis braces only offer very minimal road holding improvement and are most effective with stiffer suspension.

Anti roll bars for a road car the thickest front you can get and a decent thickness rear bar is most likely best. The rear bar does need to be a fair bit softer than the front to get a good balance. 7/900 series does not respond well to too stiff a rear bar.

If you want a handling improvement but still comfortable then a set of 40mm lowering springs and a set of B4 dampers or similar are likely your best bet.

Worn bushes will make teh car feel sloppy. The TCA's are a must in poly but the rest of NVH is a massive concern the best quality rubber you can get would be the way to go

[rwdkev]

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=299578

[360beast]

I have polybushed the whole front end of my 940 and there has been absolutely no difference in NVH.

Handling has improved massively, I need to deal with the body roll now though as that is holding me back.