>Volvo 850
I've recently discovered the existence of these, and I'm finding myself really interested.
is there some things to know about volvos should this interest lead to me buying one?
I may not buy an 850 specifically, I'm also looking at s60's, s70's and V70's, if manual and turbo.
Other urls found in this thread:
Buy one, or do a me and drive 4.5 hours to buy a 940 wagon. Turbo 4 cylinder rwd. You'll love yourself user.
S/V 60/70 are ford era and are fwd shit. 850 is the last real volvo, but apparently has some issues with electronics. They tried to put new fancy stuff in it, something volvo wasn't good at. Their speciality was old, proven technology optimised for current day use.
is right. Get a turbo 940, the "high" pressure turbo version. Low pressure one has practically same max power as the n/a (but way better torque at low rpms)
Last 960 / original v90 are straight six, but if I'm correct they only came with autotragic and no turbo option.
Put some stiffer springs and shocks on the 940 and you have a pretty fast car
Do this, 9 series is peak volvo, 8 was the beginning of the end
I personnaly prefer 9 series, you can try to find a 960 / 4 cyl. / turbo / manual / full option for a low price. Mine is 240.000 Km for 23 years old and everything is working perfectly.
Of course, as a swedish car and even if it's a rwd, the behaviour on snow with winter tires is really impressive, you won't feel any difference. And for cold weather (around -18°C in my area during winter) leather interior + heating seats are valuable.
Picture is my 960
>FWD
Trash. Get a 940/740/240.
Why do you want a fordvo? Get a real volvo instead. You'll thank yourself for it.
will keep a look out for them, there's only one on CL worth looking into but it's an autotragic and non turbo.
noted, thanks for the info
are they really that bad?
>are they really that bad
youtube.com
nah they're fun as fuck and are the cheapest way into turbos
>problems
*PCV system likes to clog
*CBV likes to leak
*ride is super stiff, only gets worse with bushing, mount and sway bar upgrades
*muh meme tier torquesteer
>advantages
*junkyard pierburg TCV swap from a 2.4L v70 will give you higher max boost of 12 psi for less than $20, less than 30 minutes install
*swedish steel with a turbo for cheap
940 is god tier of the rwd Volvo's, just hard to find a manual. Mines auto but whatever, payed 800 canucks for mine. Both the cbv and pcv are fine. The 89/90+ redblock motors had 13mm rods instead of 9mm and 93 up had oil squirters. The turbo is small but the car is fun. Good in snow with good tires, fun and easy to drive. Wagon has amazing 360 view with pretty much no blind spots. No regretti spaghetti on buying it
>960
>Not a 940 wagon
I wish I had leather but after spending a full summer or two with the meh pleather seats in a grand am I think I might be done with leather. Crisp bum cheeks isn't on my agenda. Does your seat have the infamous broken power seat motor?
>940 is god tier of the rwd Volvo's
there's a turbo wagon near-ish by with a new a new engine, says 1k miles.
not a lot of details on the listing, but it's only one I've seen near by me. seats look cloth though :/
I worked in a Volvo dealership while finishing school. That's where I fell in love with the 850.
Everything after it was shit, felt cheap and flimsy.
As a cloth seats owner they're comfortable as shit. For reference, 5'9, 245lb dude. I haven't sat in the leather but the cloths I have 6 way power seats, lumbar adjustment and I couldn't be happier. 1k motor sounds good to me.
Check it out user
If you're in the US the early 850s only had manual on base models and the later ones RARELY had them on the R spec. We're talking unicorn status.
Build quality was rock solid for the most part. Last true pre-Ford Volvo etc.
There were problems.
>Whiteblock
PCV is a bitch to service so people don't, so it plugs up because of course it does and creates fuckheap of pressure and blows out oil seals.
Valve seats eat shit and it burns oil/makes blue smoke/fails smog.
Timing belt can break prematurely and KOs the engine. Replace early, replace often.
If Turbo, Turbo can wear out and kB! like on anything else with a leafblower.
>Paint
is shitty and clearcoat eats shit unless it's been waxed religiously which no one does.
>Interior
Seats eat shit around this time starting with driver's (naturally, especially if owner is fat). Mechanical odometers break if trip is reset with car moving so about half of them are KO. There is a way to read actual mileage off the ECU if odometer is stopped.
>Electricals
Locks, radio, AC, sunroof, usual shit. Surprisingly resilient but shit gets old and breaks.
>subframe
Again usual shit. Alignment, struts, CV axles, front shock towers are notorious. Nivomat suspension if applicable is a complete bitch and should just be deleted/replaced with normal coils at first sign of trouble.
+1, 9 series a best. They are all automatic in the US though. I had a 960 and it was a great car, but being a whiteblock it burned oil to death.
Redblock however, fucking bomb-proof.
In the US 9 series were all automatic only. Pretty tragic but you can usually find an ex granny cruiser with low miles that served as some old person's mobility scooter for 20 years in perfect shape with low miles for $1000 and a handie. Always a good deal.
Automatics are all Aisin units. Cross-platformed with the Toyota Crown. Really solid.
Don't forget you can pretty easily swap a T5 manual trans in the 7 and 9 series. And the auto is one of the better ones I've driven. It also doesn't matter between the low pressure turbo and the regular turbo motor. The only difference is wastegate pressure. Manual boost controller ftw. Done go over 10-12 psi without consulting the Volvo Bible at turbo bricks and other websites though.
I got confused when you said T5, thought you were talking about the T5 trim but I assume Borg-Warner T5 tranny swap.
Yes that is a sensible option for 7 and 9 series, although at that rate you may as well pair it with a 5.0 or an LT1.
Yes, power seat motor broke a few times ago but it's more like it's the "transmission cable" that was broken. You can fix it in about 2-3 hours including the removal of the whole seat.
They're not downright bad, but it's just that they're simply not the same as other volvos. They're safe enough and fast enough, but you should still test one of each to see how different they are.
I guess but considering the swap isn't very hard, you're basically making the car as it should have been available without dropping big bucks on a swedish manual when they aren't all that strong. IIRC the 240 rally drivers and Motorsports actually swapped the stock trans for the T5. Regardless, the B230FT is a strong long life motor and will likely outlive a 5.0 or a LT1/LS1.
The difference in driving a FWD car and a RWD car is so different lol... Even if you like the 850, the 940 may be what you like more on the road. I had to drive a Tuscon, Fuckus, 1500 pickup, and my 940 in the same couple days. The difference is astounding. I've never driven an 850 sadly but the 940 is such a drivers car compared the the other mindless cars. The only thing it lacks is manual from the factory.
+1 for 9 series, they'll do 400k with basic maintenance. You DO have to have some basic wrenching skills, but they're not known for developing crippling problems even at high mileage.