MENUTuning the Volvo XC40
"Tuning guide to the most effective Volvo XC40 modifications."
The XC40 is a great car modification project to try. We see lots of DIY modders wasting money on their XC40 doing the wrong mods and then having to start over. Follow our tips to avoid making the common mistakes
Handling/Suspension upgrades
Handling modifications are at the top of your mod list for the XC40.
If you set the toe out to 1 to 2 degrees on the front, and add some negative camber then cornering will often be enhanced.
Drop the car by as much as 28mm - 40 mm. and fit performance stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.
Our aim in engine tuning should be to increase peak bhp at the top end.
Sadly with smaller engine sizes you are wasting your time spending money on modifications, so if this applies to you get yourself an engine swap then apply the following mods.
Engine Tuning.
This list of the stages and motorsport parts are usually installed by our members, decide how far you wish to go in your tuning project before you get started.
Getting the right uprated modifications for your planned usage of the car is essential. Stage 3 competition upgrades just don't work well on the road making the car difficult to drive.
Please watch our introduction Video tutorial to car tuning. Be sure to subscribe and support our new channel.
How to tune your car
- Improve the handling
Focus on Suspension improvements, such as coilovers and make sure the bushings are in good order and that the alignment is correct. Then focus on improving the brakes, with a big disk brake conversion kit and fast road brake pads.
- Remove restrictions
Focus on the intake and exhaust with filters being the common point of restriction in a tuned car. Intercoolers may also become restrictive on turbo engines so this may also need to be uprated.
- Burn more fuel & air
Increase the fuelling so it matches the air coming into the engine. The ratio is important so you need to improve the fuel pump and injectors, so the head mods, big valve conversions, fast road camshafts and forced induction upgrades extra supply of air is adequately met.
- Test and replace any weak parts
Weak areas are commonly the clutch, the turbocharger and pistons and crankshaft in a highly tuned engine. Makes sure these components will cope with your power aspirations.
- The Tune or Remap
A cars ECU controls the fuel, timing, spark and even the turbo in some cases, so to fully extract your gains you should remap the car last and this will fully release the power. Some cars are easy to map, and others require piggyback ECU's or aftermarket ECU's but this is the most vital step of your tuning project.
Modifying to Stage 1:
Sports exhaust, Lighter flywheel, Alloy wheels, Remap, Panel air filter, Suspension upgrade (drop 28mm - 40 mm.).
Modifying to Stage 2:
Ported and polished head, Power/Sport clutch, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injector, Fast road cam.
Modifying to Stage 3:
Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Engine balancing, Sports gearbox, Competition cam.
Your aims when modding the engine should be a flat and wide torque curve. You want to avoid sending all the torque to be at the top end unless you are creating a competition car.
The aim of our hints is to give a limited introduction of modding performance parts and point you in the right direction, our forum is best place to go if you need more detailed advice and tips on your tuning project, the best uprated parts and all aspects of modding cars.A fast road camshaft typically is one of the best NASP power modifications you can do with a single part fitted to your engine.
The exhaust and intake valve durations play a big role in your cars power band, but be careful here, getting this wrong can upset the idle and make the car awkward to drive in traffic. You'd need to follow a cam upgrade with other mods and finish with a remap to fully release the power gain.
You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to increase the fuelling.
Frequently power losses, flat spots and erratic idling after performance upgrades are done can usually be traced to fuel delivery or timing issues. To get sufficient fuel you may need to upgrade the injectors on your engine.
If you've uprated your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.
Intake and Exhaust Tuning.
The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Please note that WE DO NOT SEE IMPROVEMENTS WITH INDUCTION KITS, unless you have tuned your car a lot and are finding that the standard air intake has become limited.
Derestricting the air feed into the engine is a primary goal of car tuners so get a better flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean only if you find the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound sporty but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and often rob you of power.
Do not go with the widest exhaust you can find this will slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.
Head work including a gas flow (ported and polished) and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. A good fast road uprated clutch will help to keep that power going where it should. Never make false economies or think that a standard clutch to cope. The best mods we would do for your XC40 are Remapping or piggy back ecu, fast road cam and air intake and exhaust.
Remaps offer large power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NASP engines the benefits are doubtful. However a flashed ecu on a NASP engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods.
We've also seen some tuners playing with twincharged applications and making some very high power gains.
Adding forced induction will see large power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. Superchargers are generally easier to add than a turbo. Turbos provide boost in exponential proportion to th engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.
The nice directly proportional boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them more straightforward to map. Adding forced induction will generally require a lower compression ratio or water injection.
Alloy wheel upgrades.
Due to the fact that alloys are lighter they improve performance and they will help to cool the brake disks. Further improvements can be made to your cars handling with the addition of track legal slick tire. Large XC40 alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.
Due to this fact try to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the recommended OEM sizes. In all cases we do not recommend going over 16 inches.
For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss XC40 options in more detail with our XC40 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Volvo tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.
Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.
We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which mods work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.
Please share this page with your friends on :
If you liked this page please share it with your friends, drop a link to it in your favourite forum or use the bookmarking options to save it to your social media profile.
Check out TorqueCars new YouTube channel, and see their awesome new content...
Feedback
Please use our forums if you wish to ask a tuning question, and please note we do not sell parts or services, we are just an online magazine.
Help us improve, leave a suggestion or tip