The 240 is a brick, in many circles it’s the OG brick. The squared-off Volvo is all about safety and has zero performance cred. That’s why people like building them. Griffin Steinfeld is one of those performance pioneers. Griffin lives in Ventura, California and says he’s participated in all types of racing — NASCAR, endurance road course stuff, and off-road racing. He’s been blasting the quarter mile for the last 5 or 6 years. He ran an LS-swapped ‘66 Chevelle four years ago before going Scandinavian with this silver streak beauty.
Griffin has taken the Volvo to a performance realm it could never dream of… Bow Tie V8 entering the chat. Griffin’s 240 DL runs a milled and built truck-based LS sporting 6.7 liters of displacement. The V8 is topped with AFR heads and employs Holley EFI Smart Coils and Holley fuel rails.
Boost is generated by a Precision Turbo Next Gen 98 turbo and the combination is controlled by a Holley EFI Dominator system. Looking to the bottom line — Griffin says the V8 pumps out 1,100 horsepower to the wheels at 17 psi. The driveline puts the twist to 275/60-R15 Mickey Thompson ET Streets wrapped around Weld Racing bead-lock-style wheels.
“A Holley Dominator ECU controls the entire car front to back,” quips Griffin. “I do most of the tuning myself but a good buddy of mine, Daniel Woods, from Woods Performance helps me out once in a while.”
Griffin was at LS Fest West competing in the Drive & Drag category where cars are required to run two loops around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway facility to prove their ‘streetability.’ The rules do not allow trans-brakes but that didn’t stop Griffin from going full bore during test & tune session. The Volvo ran its best ever ET at LS Fest West — 8.61 at 163 mph. Later in the session later the wagon struggled to an off-pace mid-10.
“I had a V-band exhaust leak on the passenger-side collector,” explains Griffin, “it was a pretty hefty leak that stole a lot of power. I used a cookie sheet and my little four-inch grinder and made… essentially a gasket out of the cookie sheet and sealed it up and we were able to get it up on the 2-step and make some good passes.” Thinking he was talking some weird racer lingo, we asked, ‘explain cookie sheet.’ “Yep, literally a baking sheet that you put cookies on and stick in the oven.”
“The hardest thing about racing is getting here, by far,” relates Griffin. “I’m kind of a one-man show. I've got my neighbors that help me out, my friends that help me out. My dad Pete and our neighbor Steve Ernst are my crew. I do most of the work on the car so there’s a lot of late nights, you know that's what all of us hot rodders typically do.
“On the flip side, the process is also the most joyous kind of therapy for me. The easiest part is just enjoying the ride going down the track. When everything is clicking, looking at your gauges making sure everything's kind of hitting targets and everything's rocking and rolling — that's where everything becomes worth it.”
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Griffin takes us inside the car. “Coming off the line my mind is kind of like a data logger. I'm trying to record everything that's happening with my feelings, with my senses…I’m not just letting go of the button and waving to the fans. It's a lot like thinking, ‘what did I just feel, what's going on, what's going to happen,’ being one step ahead of the car so if something is breaking or about to break or the tires shake, you just need to be one step ahead so you can save the motor or the car.
Without the transbrake allowing high-boost spooling on the line the wagon struggled to launch during the competition, running 9.92 at 161.63, 9.93 at 158.27, and 9.96 at 160.86. These ETs were surprisingly consistent with the mph testifying that the combo was capable of much better. Griffin reports the driving portion of the competition was blast, serving as some quiet cruising time for he and his dad.
We look forward to seeing Griffin and his unexpected Volvo wagon powerhouse at next year’s LS Fest West. Until then keep it shinny side up, Griffin.
