Volvo 850 T5

They're supposedly really good and quite fast, even with a bunch of coppers on board.

Downside is that they eat front tyres quicker than said coppers can gobble donuts.

All the usual Volvo attributes but in a go faster package. The 850R, I believe, had all wheel drive and 250 bhp. The T5 made do with 225 bhp. Mid

7s to 62, 150 mph, so unfortunately you'll still find Alfa Romeo 75s and diesel Passats behind, flashing their lights at you to move over. The 850R on our fleet managed low 30s to the gallon on a run, usually mid to high 20s.

They're not *that* heavy, ~1,450 kg or so, rather less than most diesel Passats these days heh. :)

As Timo says, they're hard on tyres, even if you drive like me. We'd replace all four tyres on the R just about every service. We only had the ordinary T5 for a few weeks after I started. We used the R for towing and it rocked, if a little thirsty...

Any good?

They are among the best cars Volvo ever made. Fast, Volvo-reliable as=20 well as a huge boot.

700 UKP seems like a real steal but all depends how the car really is.=20 It seems that all second hand cars these days are driven only by=20 elderly ladies who didn't use them often.

I seem to live in the wrong country: the T5-estate is about the only=20 Volvo I would ever want. Here (Brussels) a T5 in sorry state fetch about=20

2000 Eur, semi good ones go for 5000 to 6000 Eur. All are heavy in=20 mileage.

Good luck with a beige Volvo ;-)

Tom De Moor

Any good?

They are among the best cars Volvo ever made. Fast, Volvo-reliable as well as a huge boot.

700 UKP seems like a real steal but all depends how the car really is. It seems that all second hand cars these days are driven only by elderly ladies who didn't use them often.

I seem to live in the wrong country: the T5-estate is about the only Volvo I would ever want. Here (Brussels) a T5 in sorry state fetch about

2000 Eur, semi good ones go for 5000 to 6000 Eur. All are heavy in mileage.

Good luck with a beige Volvo ;-)

Tom De Moor

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I did think it was a bit of a bargain, and I've always wanted one so seems silly not to look into it :)

Have they got any sort of traction control? I'm not fussed, just wondering as it'll be my winter runabout if I did get it.

Only the inside is beige. With a bit of it leather IIRC. Should have taken some pics really, but didn;t think about it.

HTH.

I don't think it has traction, no: but, it's Swedish, it's designed for winter...

They're good, but we'll all start calling you Hugo and you'll be off to the south of france every other week.

Only beware on a 170k T5 is:

a) clutch (its a £400 job to change and you cant bodge it for less) b) shot turbo, although they very rarely let go.

If its been cooked or allowed to run warm due to a problem or manky coolant, the HG will pop and they are never the same after.

It will eat tyres and front pads. Front suspenders will be clonky if been abused.

Traction control is in the form of mildly reducing torque and braking the spinning wheel, but only upto ~35mph. As you can imagine its not very effective. Immpossibly large black rubber marks are possible in 1st and 2nd without actually moving much...

To sum up, a suprisingly raw and fun big barge (once moving) which handles respectively too.

tim..

Possible in some countries, but it definitely didn't in the UK. Who are you and what have you done with the real Dervy ???

Now, now. Play nice :)

You seriously need to ask this ?

Not really, but I know a few people on here have experience of them, so relevant input is useful!

That made me remember something - the clutch is getting weak. Is it the parts that are expensive or the labour? Because labour is free!

In fact, just checked it out and clutch kit is £125 + VAT from GSF. Bit more than the £35 205 kit I've just fitted, but not too bad considering it's got to handle 225bhp!

Should be OK on that front, and I know the owner will be completely honest with me anyway!

Front tyres still had a bit of life left in them when I checked earlier, but I'll bear that in mind that I'll probably need to buy some fairly soon if I bought it.

Cheers Tim, an informative post as always!

Labour. Its a 6-7 hour job. The engine / box has to come down at least partially on the front subframe as there isnt room to pull the box away due to the chassis rails.

There is alot of un-hitching before you can do that- inc steering rack.

If you are careful and methodical its just nuts and bolts.

tim

It was available with AWD in this country, but not I beleive it wasn't till the later, none-850 T5s.

Just get it. Turbo will be tired at 169k miles but just an excuse to get a bigger one and a remap. Abuse seldom a problem but being a manual make sure the gearbox is OK (the clutch is unlikely to be)

AWD ones were LSD all round too IIRC, making a puncture a replace 4 tyres now or a diff later issue.

I'm positive our 850 was an AWD with "R" behind the name.

It may have been badge engineered.

Heh.

They most certainly were. Initially Volvo didn't recommend replacing all four booties at once, but then found themselves paying out the £1,400 or so for the work after a puncture.

We had a love / hate relationship with our 850.

Depends if I have any luck shifting the other cars first, as 4 will be taking the piss when I dont technically need any!

If I can get the BX sold fairly quickly I'll probably have it. If not I'll keep the BX a bit longer, and try the T5 idea later on.