MENUVolvo D24T Tuning
"All you need to know about tuning the Volvo D24T engine!"
The Volvo D24T are fantastic to work on and with the optimum sports enhancements like remapping, turbo kits and camshafts you will enhance your driving pleasure.
This pages aim is outline options for your D24T tuning and show the premier modifications.
History, Power & Specs of the D24T Engine
This was a VW sourced engine used in Volvos.
2.4 L (2,383 cc) inline six-cylinder SOHC, 80–90 kW (109–122 PS)
- 80 kW (109 PS; 107 bhp) at 4,800 205 Nm (151 lbft) at 2,500
- 90 kW (122 PS; 121 bhp) at 4,800 235 Nm (173 lbft) at 2,400
The D24T was fitted to the...
- Volvo 740
- Volvo 760
- Volvo 780
- Volvo 940
- Volvo 960
Tuning the Volvo D24T and best D24T performance parts.
Best D24T upgrades
Just because particular upgrades are popular with D24T owners it doesn't mean it is good, so we'll concentrate on the optimum upgrades that will give your D24T the biggest power gain return for your cash.
Significant gains on the D24T can be made from camshaft upgrades. Altering the camshaft profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the bhp and power output.
Fast road camshafts tend to increase the performance through the rev range, you may sacrifice a little low end torque but higher rpm power will improve.
Race camshafts, increase the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.
For a car used daily, really you should, ideally aim to optimize your bhp range to your usage of the car.
I'd be gobsmacked if you have found a D24T Motorsport and race cam is a pleasure to live with when driving in heavy traffic. The low end idle will be very lumpy and irregular, so something you would notice on a track when you drive in the upper third of the rpm band, but on roads this is a serious issue and we've heard from lots of drivers lamenting their decision to add an extreme competition cam profile to their engine.
Some D24T engines respond better to less aggressive cam durations so view each engine as unique.
The engine timing and fuel pump and injectors also have an effect on the power gains you'll hit.
Longer valve durations can alter the power 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.
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Best Engine Mods for your car
- Engine Tunes - engine tuning/remapping provides the most advantage in terms of cost savings, aftermarket ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
- Fast road cams are one of the most significant mechanical changes, but they must be installed by someone who knows what they're doing and they are not always easy to source but you might find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft.
- Intake and Exhaust - Note that on their own these mods will NOT ADD POWER in most cases, but they can help enhance power after other mods by removing the restriction.
- Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - forced induction is the most efficient approach to increase air supply, allowing you to burn more fuel and make more power. It is one of the most costly upgrades but provides the best gains.
- Head work - The goals of porting and flowing the head are to get air flowing into the engine while removing flow restrictions and turbulence.
- 58 PSI 340cc/min 200hp
- 58 PSI 511cc/min 300hp
- 58 PSI 682cc/min 400hp
- 58 PSI 1022cc/min 600hp
- 58 PSI 273cc/min 200hp
- 58 PSI 409cc/min 300hp
- 58 PSI 545cc/min 400hp
- 58 PSI 818cc/min 600hp
- 58 PSI 285cc/min 200hp
- 58 PSI 426cc/min 300hp
- 58 PSI 568cc/min 400hp
- 58 PSI 853cc/min 600hp
- 58 PSI 312cc/min 200hp
- 58 PSI 468cc/min 300hp
- 58 PSI 625cc/min 400hp
- 58 PSI 937cc/min 600hp
Typical stage 1 mods often include:
Fast road camshaft, Remaps/piggy back ECU, drilled & smoothed airbox, Sports exhaust header/manifold, Intake manifolds, Panel air filters.
Typical stage 2 mods often include:
high flow fuel injectors, Fast road cam, fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, induction kit.
Typical stage 3 mods often include:
Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Competition cam, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves).
ECU mapping will help fully realize the full potential of all the mods you've done to your D24T.
(In some cases, as the factory ECU is locked flashing is not an option, so an aftermarket ECU is the route to take, and many of these will outperform factory ECU's but make sure it has knock protection and that you get it setup properly.)
It will usually give you around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NA (naturally aspirated) engines, but your mileage often vary depending on the mods you've fitted and the condition of your engine.
Feeding fuel and air into the D24T engine is the main goal to any tuning job.
Intake manifolds take the air from the air cleaner and allow it to be pulled into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.
The bore size, shape and flow characteristics of the Intake manifolds can make a large change to fuel engine efficiency on the D24T.
It's not uncommon that intake are in desperate need of performance upgrades, although a few makers provide reasonably well designed intake.
Adding a D24T larger valve kit, getting D24T port enlargement and head flowing will also improve torque, and more importantly will allow you to get increasing the torque increase on other parts.
D24T Turbo upgrades
NA (naturally aspirated) engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your D24T
The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes major power gains.
When the engine is turbo charged tuning parts are relatively easy and you will discover turbo charged engines already contain harder and stronger components.
There are tuning limits for every engine, with some being extremely strong and some just sufficiently able to handle stock powerSee where you'll find these limits and fit more solid crank and pistons to cope with the power.
It's not unheard of drivers spending a lot of money on turbo charger upgrades on the D24T only to watch the whole thing literally blow up soon after it's completed.
Bigger capacity turbochargers often suffer no power at low rpm, and smaller turbochargers spool up quickly but won't have the peak rpm engines power gains.
In the last 10 years the selection of turbo units is always increasing and we now see variable vane turbo units, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end performance.
Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust flow into 2 channels and feed these at differently angled vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.
It is common that there is a limit in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the D24T when considerably more air is being pulled into the engine.
Going up you'll find 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited bhp at a much lower level.
Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large performance gains, although more complex to setup. We have this article covering twinchargers if you want to read more.
Fuelling
Don't miss you'll need to look at the fuel delivery when you are increasing the torque - it makes the car more thirsty. 
We strongly recommend you to be generous with your injector capacity.
The accepted safe increase is to add 20% to the flow rate when buying an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and affords you some spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.
We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.
All the following flywheel power targets will assume an injector duty cycle of 80% and a base of 58psi of fuel pressure at idle.
4 Cylinder turbocharged engines
5 Cylinder turbocharged engines
4 Cylinder NA (naturally aspirated) engines
4 Cylinder supercharged engines
D24T Performance Exhausts
Only look to improve your exhaust if your exhaust is actually creating a flow problem.
On most factory exhausts you'll see your flow rate is still ok even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.
Sports exhausts balance the flow of gases through the engine.
But if the exhaust is too large, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a lot of your flow rate and end up losing power and torque.
Common exhaust restrictions come around the filters installed, so adding a faster flowing race alternative such as a sports catalyst pretty much removes this restriction, thanks to it's larger size and surface area, and will effectively raise the performance to levels you would expect without having a catalyst installed, but keeps the car road legal.
Weak spots, Issues & problem areas on the D24T
The D24T engines are generally reliable and solid units, as long as you follow the manufacturers service schedules, and use a good quality oil to ensure longevity. Few problems should happen as long as they are regularly serviced and maintained.
Carbon build up in the head, particularly around the valves which will sap power or create flat spots, this is a larger issue on direct injection engines but should be looked out for on all engines. We have tips on removing carbon build up.
Some of our members have had issues with flat spots or glitches after applying mods and upgrades or tuning, this is not usually related to this engines design, so instead see our article on diagnosing flat spots and problems after tuning which should help you get the bottom of this issue.
Regular oil changes are vital on the D24T, especially when tuned and will help extend the life and reliability of the engine.
If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your D24T engine please join us in our car forums where you can discuss D24T tuning options in more detail with our D24T owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Volvo tuning articles to get insights into each modification and how effective they will be for your car.
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