Bought the T5 :-)

In message , Stu writes

I'm still digging. If I find out that the tyres are a cheaper alternative fitted by the previous owner, I'll rotate them until they're evenly worn and change the lot at once.

Some cars are more sensitive to tyres than others, though. My Civic starts to get a bit wayward towards the end of the lives of the front tyres; not just a loss of wet grip, but more camber-sniffing and some torque steer.

"Tim.." wrote in news:ddcvuu$1am$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrdmz01.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com:

Buying a car is always risky - you can't trust anyone, but I was impressed with the guy's attitude, especially for a young man. No hard sell and he never disclosed the fact that he's a Volvo mechanic until I saw his clothing and asked him. He must have had the valeter give it a once over because it's spotlessly clean everywhere, including the wheel arches and engine bay!

This one has had a few wear & tear items: battery, engine mount, brake discs, thermostat. All have been attended to as shown by the service history. The only hiccup it's had was an oil leak from one of the turbo pipes. Obviously, this has also been sorted.

I'll be sticking to fully synthetic from now on, mainly for the benefit of the turbo.

Yes, I'll be buying from there so I get OEM quality parts. I don't think that maintaining garage service history is so important at this stage of the car's life, but from now on I'm keeping all my receipts so that I can at least prove I've spent money on filters & fluids etc

Excellent. I'm not into sub-woofers and split eardrums, but I *do* appreciate quality sound :-)

I'd go with Conti Sport Contact 2 - I used to get 12k between visits on them - have swapped to Premium Contact though and get 20k now - still driven hard (as I'm sure Astravanman and Dervman will confirm....)

Absolutely not - although I just bought a pair of Contis online for half the quack foot price and got them fitted for 12 quid.

P6000 are hard enough but I find them noisy and they get very trammy as they wear. Mich Primacy seem to be the best for an all round performer that lasts long enough. Conti premium as a cheaper alternative.

this will ensure your addiction

The eagles are more hard wearing but it is the softer compound that makes the F1's so good. if yours is the early T5 without the traction control then the F1's really help eliminate wheel spin in normal hard driving.

j

"AstraVanMan" wrote in news:uapKe.5699$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe6-win.ntli.net:

S70. Still big and ugly, but not quite as hideous as the 850. More rounded edges and a more rakish windscreen. I quite like the shape in a perverse sort of way. I've no idea why, though. In any case, it's a car best enjoyed from within ;-)

Sorry, I'll deny this. I was in Tim's car a week or two back and he drove like a girl. He was, like, sticking to 70 on the motorway and everything!

Previous experiences???

Actually, I think you may not have been in my car when Angela hasn't been in it and I've been keeping it semi-sane. Think about it this way - you've been in a diesel van with me driving, now translate the throttle and brake movements to the Volvo...

"Tim S Kemp" wrote in news:R4CdndqH6Pk7qWffRVn- snipped-for-privacy@karoo.co.uk:

Crikey! Some scary power upgrades available there, some of them perhaps a bit much for a FWD car. ECU remap looks tempting but I don't think I'll be bothering with that sort of thing. I know that 98RON is recommended for a stock T5, but I wouldn't want to make it dependent on it. 95 is dear enough, ATM!

Post upgrade they can use 95 - mine often has to - but you really notice the difference! Thing to remember though is that I get 10% more miles out of 97 / 98 RON, but it costs 7% more...

"Tim S Kemp" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@karoo.co.uk:

Good point - I hadn't thought about the economy improvements of optimax and the like. So an engine with the remapped ECU can use 95 safely? In that case, what does this statement mean? :

"* The 280 bhp upgrade is a budget upgrade, which will run ok on 95 RON"

I took that as meaning that the 330bhp upgrade *does* require 98. Am I wrong?

no, it means the 330bhp upgrade runs poorly on 98, the 280 does 280bhp on 95 ron.

That's right. Tim drives like he stole whatever it is he's driving. Or like the £100 excess on a hire vehicle is a quest to get the best VFM for his £100 :-)

"Tim S Kemp" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@karoo.co.uk:

So there's no danger of engine damage caused by detonation etc if using 95, just poor performance?

I find the claim of improved economy as well as performance hard to swallow. One would think that the manufacturer has designed the mapping for best economy with a safe power level. How can they extract more power and improve economy at the same time?

Pretty much - you can feel the hesitation as you give it full beans on 95.

They map for poor fuel quality etc. Also they often map to keep within various euro tax breaks, or keep emissions below a certain level.

Welcome to the club! I have a 1995 850 T5 Estate and love it! They're *very* quick, handle well for a big girl, and are reliable. Parts are suprisingly cheap from places like German & Swedish. They are kinda thirsty if your right foot is frequently heavy, mine returns about 27mpg on average! I've got low 40's on a run being very granny-like though.

Fire any T5 questions my way, I may be able to help. If the A/C does not work on your car I can help on that, having fixed my system myself :-).

Alan.

"Alan" wrote in news:QPEKe.3016$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe7-gui.ntli.net:

Thanks, Alan. A/C works fine at the moment but may need re-gassing before long because it seemed to take a couple of minutes to get really cold. The system is obviously different from my Primera, which produces a hiss when it fires up. With the Volvo, all I heard was a positive click.

40mpg sounds very impressive for a run in one of these. I presume that it was not at 70mph, though. I'd be interested to know what I'll get at 70- 80 as I've got a trip down into Wales coming up shortly and would like to make an estimate of the fuel cost.

Cheers,