Hi Andy,
Totally agree with all you guys about Volvo 340's.
I am a semi-retired Motor Racing Journalist but still go to a lot of race meetings.
In September 2003, I was motoring in Trundle 2 down to the Goodwood Revival Meeting.
I took the lower route the A283 Petworth road to Goodwood and half way along a nice Alfa Romeo came up fast behind me.
I thought to myself " Right let's give him a run for his money "
Well I kept him at bay for many miles along this wonderful driver's road until we came to a long climbing hill and I indicated left to let him get past me. He waved in acknowledgment and we beamed at each other.
When I arrived at Goodwood, his Alfa was just in front of me and I popped over to see him.
I recognised him and let's say that this guy is a well known " Le Mans 24 hour driver ".
He also recognised me and we had a great laugh.
He said that he could not believe that a Volvo 340 1.4 could handle that well around bends and be pretty quick on the straights too.
He also said that " I was the quickest and safest female driver that he has ever had the pleasure to drive against ".
That made my year coming from him, I can assure you.
I did not tell him though that I won " Fastest Driver of the Day " race cup with my Renault 5 TS converted into a Renault 5 Alpine back in 1978.
A year later a friend of mine was testing his Formula Ford at Goodwood and when we left he shot past me in his Peugeot 306.
I thought to myself right David, I will just stalk you and overtake you when you are not concentrating.
He always said that " I had no chance catching him in my Volvo ".
Well I just kept up a high average speed and when we got to Milford on the same A283, I saw him up front.
I overtook a few more cars and then caught him napping as I sailed past.
He nearly dropped his steering wheel in shock ............
Later that day he called me and said that I must have used a short cut.
David I said " There is no short cut on that road ".
He has never believed me to this day .....Tee Hee !!
These stories just prove how quick a well driven 340 can really be against " So called faster cars ".
I love it's solidarity and excellent all round vision which all helps to make fast driving feel very safe and secure.
I fitted wider tyres to Trundle 2 as soon as I bought her from the too skinny standard 155's to 175's and that transformed the cornering and handling on the 5J rims.
Will not be long before I find another mint one.
Any news on T2 yet Andy?
Nite
Paula
PS. Hey guys, my first car was a Morris Minor 1000 Traveller and on the way to Cornwall I kept an MG Midget at bay all the way from Exeter to Launceston on the A30. In those days it was a windy cart track....The driver eventually passed me going up a long hill with the Midget's superior power.....
PPS. I was telling Andy last weekend when he came to collect T2, how I once had fun with the Volvo on a wet and three laned roundabout one winter when I sailed through with the tail nicely hanging out ...Great fun but only when you are experienced with RWD cars.
Andy P wrote:I'd tend to agree with Dai on the 1.4 front. It wasn't too long ago when I was a young driver looking to insure my first car.
Ended up with a 1400 Rover 214. Granted its fair bit more powerful than the 1.4 in the 340 but what I'm trying to get at is it'll be no slower than anyone else will have in your age group. Most your age will be thrashing about in 1.1 106's with spaceship like plastic bits hanging off them!
I can see why the more experianced drivers here are suggesting the 1.7+ motors but no matter how good you think you are a driver at that age you simply don't have the experiance. The 1.4 is more than enough to get you into trouble.
I've got a 1.4 340 and its plenty of fun - completely bog standard in the wet hanging out the back end will get you grinning from ear to ear and will happily cruise at 70 on the motorway.
I say get a 1.4 and bolt on a few cheap suspension mods and get some real experiance (and a no claim bonus!) I'm not going to say you'll crash but if it does happen and you write off the car at least you wouldn't have thrown away hundreds on expensive suspension mods. Once you have the experiance then up to more power. I know you'll probably hear this a thousand times from "your elders" and you'll get sick of it - I was too but no doubt in a few years time you'll be dishing out the same advice.
Oh and just before you think "whats this old guy saying with his slow cars" I'm 23 and own a 400hp S40 turbo along with 2x 1.4 340's. The S40 is fun in its own way but its nothing compared to the grin the 340 usually leaves me with.
Looking forward to another 340 owner on the boards.
Andy
Just one of the many perks I get working for Bentley! 
Yup, I had a few people try and copy me on that dumbell in the middle, and stop suddenly when they realised they had no chance 
