Car tuning tips:D5244 Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the Volvo D5244

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Volvo D5244 engine!"

Sites like TorqueCars are always seeing threads requesting information on how to improve the D5244 from people inquiring about getting more power from the D5244 and wanting to know what are the best D5244 upgrades. So let us look into Volvo D5244 upgrades and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some problems along the way.

Our aim here is to examine D5244 tuning and report on the ultimate mods that work. Volvo D5244 are popular tuning projects and with the ultimate modified parts like remaps, turbo kits and camshafts you will definitely increase your driving experience.

Just because particular parts are are common on D5244 it doesn't mean it is good, so we'll focus on the optimum parts that will give your D5244 the best value for money to power increase.

Without us subscribing to the popular myth of 'if it's shiny and makes more noise it must be good' you seem to get in many tuning magazines and on car forums'.

Improving air intake on the D5244

You need air and fuel for an engine to work. If there is a lack of fuel then it will run lean, if there is insufficient air it runs rich sapping power and potentially damaging the engine. We'll pick up on fuelling later in this article but for now we shall look at air supply.

So the fundamental goal to any car tuning job to feed more air and fuel into the D5244 engine but this has a knock on effect with the air flow sensor.

It is common that there's a limitation in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the D5244 when considerably more air is being sucked into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited power at a much lower level.

Headers carry the on the suck phase from the air filter and allow it to be pulled into the engine and mixed with fuel.

The shape and rate of flow of the Intake can make a big difference to to fuel delivery on the D5244.

Most headers are crying out for aftermarket tuning parts, although a few makers provide reasonably well designed headers.

Increasing the D5244 valve size, doing a bit of port work and head flowing will also lift power, the fantastic side effect is it will make space for increasing the power increase on other upgrades.

D5244 performance cam tips.

Each engine responds better to more or less aggressive camshaft durations so set your engine up on a rolling road.

The map and fuel pump and injectors also will make differences on the torque gains you'll get.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

Significant air intake, and exhaust improvements on the D5244 can be made from camshaft upgrades. Changing the camshaft profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the torque and power output.

NB: Fast road camshafts normally bump the bhp and torque over the rev range, you may sacrifice a little low down torque but the high end rpm power will be higher.

Motorsport and race camshafts, bump the high end rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

In a daily driver you should ideally to optimize your power band to your cars usage.

I'd be amazed if you find a D5244 Race camshaft is a pleasure to live with when in heavy traffic.

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the D5244

Before we break the best tuning upgrades down into stages of tune, let's list the most effective tuning upgrades for you.

1. Suspension Upgrades - always improve your cars handling
2. Brake Upgrades - Even before adding power improve those brakes
3. Intake - make sure the intake is not restricted, use filters and intake upgrades to improve this
4. Exhaust - as with 3 ensure there is not restriction in the exhaust, cats are the usual bottleneck
5. Tunes - remapping, piggyback ECU's and aftermarket ECU's can all make decent gains
6. Fuelling - when you've increased power you'll need to match this with more fuel
7. Turbo upgrades - Improving the intake with a large turbo and better flowing intercooler will be the biggest power gain you'll see (but one of the most complex).

This video guide to tuning cars is a great starting point to work from in your project.

Stage 1 D5244 parts:

Intake headers, Sports exhaust manifold, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters, Fast road camshaft.

Stage 2 D5244 parts:

fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, Ported and polished head, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, high flow fuel injectors, induction kit.

Stage 3 D5244 parts:

Twin charging conversions, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam, Engine balancing & blueprinting.

Mapping will help to establish the full potential of all the mods you've done to your D5244.

You will typically expect to see gains of approximately 20-30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your results usually vary depending on the mods you've applied and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the D5244

To get a turbo working on a NASP engine there is a lot involved, from lowering compression ratio to improved fuel supply and mapping, so we have found a great guide to helpavoid the common pitfalls or end up with an unfinished project because you were not told what you were getting into by doing this on the D5244.

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes superb power gains.

If your car is fitted with a turbocharger mods are giving better power gains and turbocharged engines already contain many forged and stronger components.

There are weak spots for every engine, with some being extremely strong and some only able to handle stock power

We recommend you find these limitations and fit better quality components to cope with the power.

We see many guys spending a loads of money on turbo upgrades on the D5244 only to suffer the indignity of watching the car explode soon after it's first rolling road session.

Large capacity turbos will usually suffer low end lag, and low capacity turbos spool up quickly but won't have the top end power band gains.

In recent times the range of turbo chargers is always evolving and we are seeing variable vane turbo chargers, permitting the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and push these at differently profiled vanes in the turbo. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

Beefing up the air intake by adding a supercharger or additional turbo will help you achieve very large bhp gains, although more complex to configure. We have this article on twincharging if you want to read more.

Tips about fuel supply on the D5244

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so must uprate the fuelling when you start extending past 20% of a power hike. Don't forget to be generous with your injector capacity.

As a rule of thumb add 15% capacity when fitting an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and gives you some spare capacity should the engine require more fuel.

Don't forget that different fuel grades will usually require different settings, a high octane fuel will burn more efficiently than lower octane fuel for example. A car will trim fuel supply to keep within the ideal air fuel mix but at the extreme ends you may need to adjust your injector capacity, or the mapping or you'll get flat spots and potential lean or rich fuel issues..

Recommended D5244 performance exhaust upgrades

The only time you should look to upgrade your exhaust system with an upgraded one is if the current exhaust is actually creating a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you should find that your flow rate is good even on modest power gains, but on a serious tuning project with a big boost in power you will certainly need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts generally help improve air flow through the engine but avoid an exhaust that is too big or you could will reduce the flow rate. Stick to one and a half to two and half inches as a rule of thumb.

Typically exhaust restrictions are traced to the catalyst and filters installed, so adding a higher flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Cat bypassing (NB:catalysts reduce harmful engine emissions) is illegal in most countries and regions.

Faults issues and things to look out for on the D5244

Like most engines an D5244, should have few issues if it gets properly serviced and looked after.

We cannot stress enough the need for oil changes with the correct grade of oil on the D5244, failure to do this will exacerbate engine wear, on a tuned D5244 this is more important than ever and close attention should be paid to your maintenance schedule.

If you are interested in learning more or getting impartial tuning advice for your D5244 why not pop over to the forums at TorqueCars where you can chat about D5244 tuning options and read about others projects who may be planning to do similar modifications on their D5244.

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This entry was posted under Makes and Models. Tags: engine, Volvo
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