Volvo 142E are these still a good choice?

[Jethro]

Hey Gang

Up here in Nova Scotia the weapon of choice in IT seems to be either Honda or VW.
I have a chance to buy a rust free super clean 142E with three spare engines for very little cash.
I'm thinking it would make a great ITB car. Do these cars still compete at the front?
Do they have any issues, like do they do better on certain tracks?
Is there a shop that specializes in th 142E as far as aftermarket performance parts?
Any help would be appreciated.

[keycom]

No, not at all!

Do not contact user "Gary L".

[924Guy]

What he said! Lousy aero...

[Gary L]

I'm thinking it would make a great ITB car. Do these cars still compete at the front?
Do they have any issues, like do they do better on certain tracks?
Is there a shop that specializes in th 142E as far as aftermarket performance parts?
Any help would be appreciated. [/b]I'm gonna go ahead and make contact, despite protestations from keycom. ;)

I would be of the opinion that a properly prepared and well driven 142E can still run at the front end of most ITB fields, at just about any track. My car (which I would call a 9/10ths effort, prep-wise) is the current ITB lap record holder at Hallett, and last I checked it still had the ITB record on the VIR 3.27 mile course (by the previous owner). Yes, the aerodynamics leave a bit to be desired :D , but that doesn't mean it's a total slug on tracks with long straights. At Road Atlanta for instance, the ARRC ITB record is a 1:47.9 held by a Honda, driven by a guy whose name you just might recognize... Randy Pobst. If I'm not mistaken, Sam Moore has turned 1:48's there in his 142E, so like I said... not a slug.

From my experience, the really good stuff (suspension pieces, clutches, and headers, for instance) comes out of a shop in Pennsylvania called BHP Development, run by Bob Griffith.

[lateapex911]

Interesting cars, from what I know, they respond very well to lowering, the engines are stout, and braking is OK. You can even mod the ECu if you are super crafty. Not uncommon to see one at the front of a good ITB field.

[Spinnetti]

Solid choice, Solid car.... IRON tranny!

Hard to go wrong with a Volvo in B I'd say unless things have really changed in the last 5 yrs or so.... I found them nipping at my heels in A more than once!

[ScotMac]

What he said! Lousy aero...
[/b]

Exactly, the car sucks. Wait a sec, one just broke the track record *last* weekend at Laguna, beating the 2002 that was destroying all the rest of the ITB cars just last month. The 2002 was in fact the previous track record holder.

[JoshS]

Scot,

Lots of records fell at Laguna last weekend. A lot of the credit for that goes to the repave that occurred this summer.

Josh

[Gary L]

Lots of records fell at Laguna last weekend. A lot of the credit for that goes to the repave that occurred this summer.
[/b]Josh,

But wouldn't that be sorta moot, relative to Scot's point? As he pointed out, the two cars (current and previous record holders) were both running on the repaved surface last weekend.

[67ITB]

I think I heard that Paul Curran set a track record at the Glen this year in one.

can anyone in NER confirm this? I was not at the track.

Matt Bal

[RSTPerformance]

I think it was actualy Dave Z in a VW A3 during the enduro, then Rick B the next day beat that record with his Honda in the sprint race... Paul may have beaten it earlier in the year, not sure.

As for the Volvo... several still run up front in the Northeast. Scott Carlson is still one of the guys to beat, Paul Curren is fast (has a few wins under his belt), also Greg and Nat are always contenders as well. Out at the Glenn I think thier are 3 other volvos that also show up a lot.

As mentioned the cars seem to do very well on any track, and also if driven well they don't seem overly bothered by the rain even though they are RWD...

Raymond "That car is older than I am!!!" Blethen

[ScotMac]

Josh,

But wouldn't that be sorta moot, relative to Scot's point? As he pointed out, the two cars (current and previous record holders) were both running on the repaved surface last weekend.
[/b]

Yep, in fact the 2002 (Jeff Francis) was just barely off from his 2005 track record (1:50.3 vs 1:50.2). However, the Volvo (James Thomas) beat him almost every lap:

http://mylaps.com/results/newLapResult.jsp...7&comparepos=28 (http://mylaps.com/results/newLapResult.jsp?id=693518&pos=17&comparepos=28)