Thank you so much for at least reading this letter, and I will be much more thankful if you can answer my question. How fast is a volvo 140? Any idea of it's 0-60 time? I ask because I found one that has a B 20E engine, short shift, ipd sways, and an IPD cam kit, for sale. I like the looks of this car and the price, but I need to know if it will be able to keep up with hondas and maybe acura's. Speed is very important to me because I am a high school student and those are the kinds of cars my friends drive, I don't want to be one of the crowd, I want to buy something unique, but I still want to be able to race. I hope you can understand my gibberish and help me out. Feel free to email me or reply on here.

Thanks

Will hockett

Well if you are looking for an older Volvo thats fast enough stand toe to toe with hondas, speaking with stock numbers, respectivly, I would suggest a 240 turbo intercooled...like mine :) Civics aren't fast (stock or slightly modified), the del sol is a different story as I recall the 0-60 is in the 6's...

Oh and you don't have to keep it stock. Old Volvos, in my opinion, make excellent sleepers. Anyway, this is a subject frowned upon by some of the members of the BB, and is probably in appropriate to discuss in a forum such as this one, so if you want to chat feel free to drop me a line @ twofourfour@yahoo.com

Best to you whichever way you decide to go,

(Although I'd think about what would happen in a Honda vs. Volvo wreck as well..)

Will

found these sites that help clear things up...some of the ones seam a little screwy,like ferrari's with higher 1/4's then an acura.

http://web.missouri.edu/~apcb20/times.html

www.car-stats.com

Well... I also drive a 144, although not the best car for top speed, but it sure can keep up with the traffic... (I live in bangkok...and people drive like psycos when the light goes green.) And it's also really nice cause cops here ignore my car... even at alcohol check points...hehe.

Very nice for cruising around... all my friends drive typical japanese cars too... but they all sit in my car... nice and roomy, pretty comfy too.

Thanks, you have given me a lot to think about. I am not overly concerned with the speed of the car, most of the time, but when a friend pulls up to the line in a hatch back I like to have a little oomph. Although with what's been said I might have a change in heart.

As for Michael, it is a 2 dr. 1968 car. It's Red, so I'll have to watch out for all the blue cars on the road that will be going faster than me, and the cops.

If you don't want a 1968 red 142, I'd be perfectly willing to buy

it, so long as it isn't too expensive. It is the third best car

volvo ever made (the best being the 1970 164 with a manual transmission

and the second being the 1968 145).

This car is nearly the classiest thing on the road; would you turn

your nose up at an old jaguar or porsche because it isn't as fast as

a modern honda?

And if you in california, I'm serious about buying the car....

chris

Yeah, that 140 would be cooler than any rice-rocket hatchback. If it isn't as fast so what...It's different, distinctive. Just make sure it gets a loud exhaust and it'll sound faster than any of those little japanese cars that sound like. You know, the ones with the four inch tip on the one inch exhaust...

rehsper

The B20E engine is rated at 130HP in stock form according to www.volvoworld.com, and the IPD cam kit may add 10-20HP (just a guess), so it might be a pretty quick car. With the short shift and sway bars, it will definitely be fun to drive, and it will likely be one of a kind in a high school parking lot (one person from my high school drove a classic Volvo, a '65 544, out of over 2000 students). You may not win many drag races, but you won't get left behind either. The 140 you describe is probably more suited for road racing rather than drag racing. Is it a 2 door or 4 door? What year is the car? Someone can probably tell you what the car weighs based on that information. Don't forget to check for rust in the floor, trunk, and engine compartment.

Good luck.

One problem with the B20 horsepower ratings is that they are

typically the inflated horsepower rating from the sixties that don't use

the same scale as modern HP ratings. Numbers I've seen for the

1975 B20F using the modern scale put it at almost 100 and I

doubt that the cam + compression boosts it all the way up to

130; I'd guess that a well tuned B20E makes more like 115 or so

in HP comparable to modern cars. Unless you go to 10,000 rpm...

What are the biggest HP numbers using the modern scale that

people have seen on a dyno from a NA B20 type motor?

According to www.volvoworld.com, they rate a '75 B20F at 98HP, 94 w/cat. Does that sound about right? The compression ratio of the B20F is 8.7:1, so wouldn't the B20E with a 10.5:1 compression ratio make noticably more HP?

The second photo in this gallery says it has a B20 w/192HP, which is the highest I've ever seen (whether or not it's true, I can't say):

http://www.volvonet.org/tpc/gal_140.html

I don't think I have ever seen the actual 0-60 times for the 140. Possibly would show up in an old Car And Driver test from the 70s. Try looking at the library, might be something there. I'd personally say the car won't be something to race Hondas with, they're built completely differently. But, having not been out of high school too long, I can say that your Honda driving friends will rapidly insist on taking your car every time you go somewhere as a group. Since I bought my 242 I haven't been able to ride anywhere in a friend's car. And if you're going for something different, the 140 will certainly be your ticket. Plus eventually you'll realize that racing isn't worth it, and want the Volvo even more. I realized it when a friend raced through a wheat field and into a concrete farm building.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

You want something quick, it ain't for you.

You want something that can handle almost any mod you throw at it and expect it outlast anything else out there, then you've found the right car.

I've always said to everyone (I'm still in highschool too) "If I had to drag race you, I wouldn't use my Volvo's (144, 3 244's), But if I had too race you around the world, I wouldn't use anything else."

hmmmm.....

If you buy the 140 for speed, you bought it for the wrong reason. Volvos from that vintage aren't built to fly around corners. They're built to last a long time and keep you alive in a serious accident.

I would just like to let you know that I see

highschool kids dead on the side of the road almost

everyday around these parts, from racing on city streets.

so please, whatever you drive, race it on a private track.

btw, paint it blue, they go faster ;-)

There will always be somebody quicker out there, but for the price of a newer Honda, you can learn all sorts of things about making dinosaurs run fast.

Walk to the beat of your own drummer.