Hi John,
Thanks for the input!
I'd like to go for more of a stage rally setup, as that is my ultimate goal. Without going to something completely custom, I was wondering what people out there who have rallied 140 series Volvo's have used. I would simply buy the R-Sport setup, but I don't think Volvo has them anymore.
I ran across a couple of people mentioning the 164/245 springs with KYB/Bilstein as a decent setup for rally. The higher than stock ride height seems not ideal to me, so I've been looking around and found the King Springs above, which are standard height and may be around 20% stiffer than stock from what I've gathered from people discussing their springs for different cars.
OK. Let's talk about the ultimate goal.
First, what's your name? Age? Imagined budget? Where are you located? Skills set?
And the important part: how many spare fenders, hoods, grilles, crossmembers, A arms in good condition do you have ready?
140s front suspension parts are not particularly strong--for rally use....
And
everybody bashes stuff more or less constantly so you
MUST have spares.
Second: when you say "a couple of people mentioning", that's nice but where was thta? who are they? Wot da fuq do they know about rally? What do they know about suspension? In other words, why should anybody listen to what they mention if they have not been active rally guys and doing anything to indicate that what they say is worthwhile?
If it was in English and posted somewhere in 'merikuh, what weight should "a couple of people mentioning" something be given...I know how much I would give it for weight...
Third: what are your plans to get the steering--a very important thing in real rally---down from the 14 or 15 turns of vague, sloppy steering to something reasonably acceptable like under 2.75 turns lock to lock? This one thing has been the end of many a rally 140.
You understand I hope that rally in USA (I am making the big assumption that you are in USA somewhere) has become something different than it was 20 years ago and even more changed from when I started 30 years ago..It is now much more a sprint type format and everything smoothed and simplified and "easier"--smoother, wider, faster roads suitable for the majority of the field---which means the 60% of the guys all in Subarus, and most with very very limited experience...One of the more active organisers, Anders Green from North Carolina is a very analytic guy and compiles data about entries..Between 2000 thru 2014 fully 43% of all people entering an event did three events before dropping out and disappearing completely.....that is a shocking figure and says to me that they have approached the sport with a erroneous idea of what they expect to do, what it costs and how much fun they need out of their efforts and expenditures..That means there is a constant churning of noobs in for a while and then dropping out far before they get a chance to learn much..That should be obvious..
Another statstic is that the average guy enters no more than 2.2 events per year..That means under 5 hours driving time..Again very difficult to accumulate much experience when in a year they get less time that I used to get in one afternoon practice session---and I used to practice minimum 2 times a week and average 5 events per month, sometimes--often more...(In a different sport in a different country)
So...inevitably I have to ask, IF you intend to actually enter rally events.....
then why a 140?
Instead of a 240.. simpler, stronger, better in just the areas that 140s are worrisome in...
I should say that realistically there is nobody in America or Canada who has consistently for more than 25 years pushed 240s are what I call "The MkII Escort of North America" and therefore "what should be the default rally car for every noob"...
And, bear in mind my business has mostly been Saab from 1984 thru 1999 and been a Euro Ford guy since 1973 (except a year when racing in France when i owned Peugeot 404 diesels--the other year I lived in a Ford van) so I advocate for the 240s from a different perspective than that of a "Volvo perv": I know how well they work in US and Canajian conditions....and know how poorly 140s did everywhere, even back home..
In other words, which is given more priority: doing rally as a legitimate entrant with a fighting chance in the 2wd field? Or insistance on doing a 140?
ALL these questions are important to think about before undertaking any effort towards modding the car..
