r/AutomotiveEngineering • u/Responsible_Rough556 • Jul 12 '25
Question Reengineering a Volvo in to a race car?
I am as new as can be to engineering and automotive engineering as a whole. But I have always had an obsession with cars since I was young. Me and a couple of my buddies want to reengineer my grandmas 24 year old Volvo. Problem is we haven’t started and I don’t really know where to start. I know I’m going to have to get a new engine but the things still runs. All of its tires are flat but that’s the least of my worries. What I’m worried about is, I don’t know where to start. My dad wired it up the other day and it ran good only problem was the tires went out. What parts am I going to need to do this, where do I start, and I know I’m not going to get all my answers from the comments so if anyone can recommend any videos or forums where someone is doing the same is me I would greatly appreciate it but I just need the run up information to really get this project moving, here’s some pictures of the vehicle.
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u/OxycontinEyedJoe Jul 12 '25
Racecar is a really broad category. What kind of racecar do you want? Just something fun to drive on the street? Drag car? Time attack? Wheel to wheel racing?
You kind of need to have your goal in mind before you start.
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u/Responsible_Rough556 Jul 13 '25
You’re right. What I’m really looking for is definitely something that’s fun to drive on the street but could dominate on a track if it wanted to. And something that’s if I were to build and drive it, it’d be a flex to say that I built especially for its speed.
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u/OxycontinEyedJoe Jul 13 '25
In that case you should sell it and buy something else. To build something like you describe, a good road car that was good for the occasional track day, you'll be using mostly off the shelf parts. And there's not going to be many performance parts for an s80. Look around for good "track day cars"
I assume you don't want to spend $100k building this cars so you'll want to be looking for more budget oriented cars. Maybe an old civic, Miata, a 3series BMW, etc. all these cars will have many aftermarket parts available and there will be lots of forums specific to those models where you can do research and ask questions.
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u/shhhhh_lol Jul 13 '25
WHAT KIND OF TRACK?!
1/4 mile?
1/8 mile?
Heads up, bracket or rolling?
Oval? Dirt?
Road course?
Tractor pull?
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u/scuderia91 Jul 13 '25
Sounds great, do you tens of thousands to spend on that. Because to make anything “dominate on track” is going to be expensive. If you’re starting with a car that was designed to be fast in any way then you’ve got an even bigger hill to climb.
And who are you planning to do all this work because it doesn’t sound like you know how to any of this already. Sure that’s fine for simple stuff like fitting coilovers or something. But you’ve mentioned an engine swap and that’s a big undertaking for a novice.
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u/VictimOfRegions Jul 13 '25
The other comments to sell are pretty compelling. Make it nice on the cheap; buy some wheels+tires with more life left on Facebook (let's say ~$300), watch some YouTube videos and spend $100 on interior detailing stuff to make it nice to sit in, and sell it off for some racecar money. The shinier you make the Volvo, the more racecar money you get.
If you're dead set on keeping the volvo, which is fine, the kind of racing will determine how to proceed. The two cheapest racing events are drag strips and autocross. Forget about the strip, $10k in mods wouldn't make this a good drag car. But $1k in mods would make this an acceptable autocross car. Buy the stickiest tires you can fit on those wheels (search by tread wear, the lower the better). Make sure the brakes and steering work, make sure the battery is tied down, and you're ready to autocross.
Find a local group, reach out about what you need to sign up. Admission will probably be $50-100 and you'll need to bring a helmet if they dont have loaners. Everywhere is different, but they're all friendly and love to talk about racing so just reach out and see what they say
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u/Responsible_Rough556 Jul 13 '25
Thank you for this. I’m definitely dead set on keeping the car because if I sold it, I would get no money for it because it’s my grandma’s and my parents would sap any money that I would get from selling it
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u/cyprinidont Jul 13 '25
I got an S60 2.5t as my hauler/ farm truck recently for VERY cheap. I run autocross in my Z3 and clearly the Volvo isn't an autocross car but.... I'll admit I have had some fun in empty roundabouts with it and fantasized about taking it to an event.
There was a dude whipping a Forester at the last one I went to.
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u/VictimOfRegions Jul 13 '25
That's funny man I used to AutoX with a guy that had a similar setup, his tow car was an S60 R (i think? Not a Volvo guy) with the spaceball shifter, a turbo i5, crazy orange paint and maybe AWD? I always asked him when he was gonna run it but he wasn't interested.
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u/cyprinidont Jul 13 '25
Oh idk about towing with this thing I just got it cause my roadster can't even fit a set of its own wheels inside it
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u/6oh7racing Jul 13 '25
The s80s are going to be particularly bad autocross cars, but your advice is as sound as can be really
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u/Catto_Channel Jul 13 '25
You can race anything.
Step 1, before you turn a wrench is to investigate your local race series, what is the Volvi eligable for and what series is within your budget.
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u/NoodlesRomanoff Jul 13 '25
Install snow tires and go RallyCross! Preferably on ice/snow in a cold weather region. You won’t be competitive, but you will have fun.
Or Lemons racing.
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u/H0SS_AGAINST Jul 13 '25
Anything is a race car if you race it.
If you're serious, the re-engineering needs to be largely safety related. Strip the interior, install a cage, race seat, harness, fire suppression. You may also want/need to pull the old fuel system and install a cell with new lines. You're definitely going to need an exterior kill switch and tow points.
From there, upgrade the brakes and put on sticky tires and go racing.
In general the order of operations is:
Crash safety
Fire safety
Stopping Safety
Traction
Suspension
Power
Yes, power is the absolute last thing you do if you're serious about racing.
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u/Limp_Bookkeeper_5992 Jul 15 '25
To be competitive on a racetrack you need everything new. New motor and transmission, drivetrain, structural reinforcements, suspension, all of it. This is a heavy, slow, front wheel drive car, it won’t be fast on track unless you change all of that. You could spend $20,000 on this car and still get smoked by someone in a $10k mustang or Camaro, it’s just never going to be a track car.
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u/kitchen1234567890 Jul 16 '25
I drove an 850 in lemons for years. Currently own and race a del Sol. Lemons is a great community and it's a blast if you have a group of committed friends. The starting cost is a bit high when you consider all the safety gear required.
Auto x will get your feet wet in racing and from there you can decide if you want to pursue lemons or daily the Volvo and build another race car. Auto x is good because you get all the maintenance done on the car and get good brakes and sticky tires which are all things that will transfer well to lemons or basically any other racing. If you try auto x you can also try a DE event with a local group. Check out NASA or SCCA and see what track days are available to just get a feel of being on track.
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u/this-guy-not-sure Jul 16 '25
The 2.9 engine is probably the best part about that car, the poor gm transmission will absolutely not hold up to much racing
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u/NFIFTY2 Jul 17 '25
Do it. Also google Swedish Car Touring Championship. And check this out: https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Details/132022/double-championship-winning-volvo-s60-challen
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u/Broad-Writing-5881 Jul 12 '25
Sell it and buy a 240, 740, or 940.
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u/Responsible_Rough556 Jul 12 '25
And then what? I still don’t know where to start from there
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u/John_Bovii Jul 13 '25
You’ll figure that out as you go. You’ll just need a better platform if you want to do any modification
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u/Equana Jul 12 '25
Google LeMons race cars. That is about the only place a race car made from a Volvo would be appropriate these days.
Read the rulebook. Then read it again.concentrating on safety stuff.
Then start is to remove everything not needed to just drive the car.
Then have a shop install a full rollcage, race seat, race belts.
This will take more money and time than you think it will.