The very nice people at Simons Sportsystem / Ray Metallfabrik AB (thank you Steffan!) worked through my questions and assured me the #02DDHC1R system would fit my year / configuration, so I went about finding what I think was the only one for sale in North America on Ebay at the volvoperformanceltd store (I think it is a company called Re-Volv from MA) and made the purchase, a few days later a rather well worn large white box that looked like it has been around the world twice on a steamship arrived and there it was. Photographs below.
I went about crawling underneath the car as best I could without a lift and lined up all the parts. Everything seemed to line up so I ordered a gasket (Volvo #30676642) and new flange lock nuts (Volvo #985868) then made an appointment for the following week at a local M&P muffler shop. The installer verified fitment before cutting anything off the car and said it looked like it should fit. Install took an hour.
Notes on fitment / installation:
-I could’ve installed this myself however the limitation is in not having a lift, with simple jack stands and an old floor jack I just didn’t want to be wrestling with a sawzall and pulling the pipes off the car in the driveway.
-I only ordered four of the flange lock nuts from Volvo when I should have ordered six, so we reused two originals and I will have to replace those in the future to match them all up.
-The only real issue is that one exhaust tip (passenger) is recessed too far back, height is good it is just not pulled back enough by the hanger. It sits approximately 1/2″ too far back as compared to the drivers side. Could be one of the bends in the piping before / up to the muffler is a little off, not sure. I have looked at the issue and think I can make a new hanger, or modify the existing one to work better in the next few days.
So in summary besides attempting to find a NOS Polestar Accessory system (which I was not able to do) this was the only option I could find besides having a shop build a system from Borla or Magnaflow builder parts. ERST, IPD, Elevate all replied to my queries no fitments were currently available, some of those companies did allude to possibly there being a system for this car in the future however. TME’s website doesn’t list a fitment however does have a statement saying they were working to release a system for this car later this year. Ferrita only lists a 2010-2015 so I did not inquire of them. Interestingly Jetex UK responded back to me that they definitely did not have a fitment yet if you look at their offerings they list a #2DDHC1R (which I believe is manufactured by Simons / Ray) for “2010+” so perhaps that might be an option for someone else although it is listed as on backorder right now.
Overall there is more tone to the exhaust at idle, and when you get on it the system sounds nice – not loud but definitely not as quiet as the OEM system was. Quality is good, and the polished finishes are nice. I like it. Not easy to source, but worth it in the end. Looking forward to driving it a bit in the next few days as often people report their new systems / mufflers open up a bit after some miles are put on them.
