I got fed up of waiting for my 343 to be restored...

[foggyjames]

...so I bought this:



1998 V70R. FWD, but with an LSD. 250bhp...and blue dials. BLUE DIALS!

Don't worry, the 343 will be getting done fairly soon...but yeah...new toy

cheers

James

[whiskeyonesix]

250bhp with LSD thru the front wheels.... funfunfun

[volvosneverdie]

Whaaaaaar mister, is that your car!?
Looks like a belta car that mister.
Bet yu it gans canny fast like.
Giz a shot on it man.

[trabitom99]

Don't show me pics like that when my V300s keep breaking down on me!

Looks like fun ... in the dry

Tom

[whiskeyonesix]

I believe the word we're looking for here is "Ooof"

Anyone got a Canary-yellow 850 T5-R they can top this with?

Wise choice of car there

[foggyjames]

For what it's worth Tom, I really wish I'd bought the 343 3 years earlier, and done the R-Sport add-on to that...leaving the 360 as my stock DD. My eventual plan may well be to run the silver 360 as my daily, once turbocharged, and ditch the FWD. It may be a bit less turbocharged if it's going to be used every day, but you get the idea

I do kinda need a car while that's a work in progress, though...and it might as well be comfy and fast!

cheers

James

[classicswede]

surly a nice 940 turbo would do the job better and a bit more go could be done very cheaply

[foggyjames]

I borrowed Ozzy's played-with 940 Turbo earlier this year when my S70 lunched its engine...and while it's an awesome car in its own way...I'm not so sure that it can really compete with a T5. The 940 has its strengths...and I love them to bits...but there's a LOT of catch-up to be played before you have something which can equal a T5 or R, never mind bettering it. Ryan's 740 is there (better handing than any stock FWD Volvo I can think of beside a 480, plus somewhere around 230bhp/ton), but it's cost more than my R in parts to get it there...never mind labour, if we're counting that. Plus, that concept really falls apart if you buy a 'normal' 850 T5 for £500 or so.

Don't get me wrong, I'm committed to "built, not bought" when it comes to cars...but a £500 940 with springs, shocks, and a "stage one" tune is still going to get spanked by a T5. The next level costs more serious time and money...and this is supposed to be a daily beater while the projects are getting built!

cheers

James

[volvosneverdie]

...and this is supposed to be a daily beater while the projects are getting built!

again?!

[SteveP]

surly a nice 940 turbo would do the job better and a bit more go could be done very cheaply

I have to agree with Foggy... to get a 940 turbo to go as well/handle as well/be as comfy and refined/have a good stereo/look pretty smart etc... you'd be spending silly amounts of money.

1. Decent wheels in RWD format don't really exist (bar Polaris/Galaxy which are uber rare) so you'd need spacers (expensive!) and FWD 17" wheels for example
2. Bigger turbo 15g/16T etc.. need chips, exhaust, free flow cat, injectors etc
3. Bilstein suspension and IPD arb's you'd be looking at a good £600 for new stuff, it'll handle well but still - very expensive!

And then you might get 250bhp and it'll handle pretty nice, you'll have spent a good £2k though and you'll never see any of that money back Anyway, I'm all for that 5 pot sound at the moment

[Chris_C]

One of you should just buy Adam's car off him. I've fully come round to the idea of a valver for a daily, nice working injection, just enough power etc.

On the other hand, that does look damn good Foggy!

[foggyjames]

The RWD equivalent is obviously more awesome...but getting it to actually be as good really isn't trivial

I'd love to build a V90 T6 to use as a daily beater...but "build" will be the operative word...and I've got a long list of 300s to get sorted out!

I agree - a valver is almost certainly the 'performance' option of choice for a daily-driven 300.

cheers

James

[Chris_C]

The fact Adam has pretty much everything sorted makes it a huge amount more appealing. Aside from the fact I still owe him some parts, everything was done so quickly, a long weekend would have it done. The thing that's taken me so long on the turbo is having to work it all out, and custom bits. It's a very impressive "off the shelf" option tbh.

[Ride_on]

Booooo.. FWD.

Well if you like that sort of thing. I compared a 850-T5R going for £6K, 9 years ago with a 940 SE Turbo going for £4,000. The 940 could actually put the power down on the road, and you can really see why people say FWD can't handle more that 200bhp for fast driving. I just don't like the engine interfering with the steering wheel when you floor it round corners. The 940 was in near mint conditions and the 850, well, was sprayed in the owners garage plus other nasties. I bought the 940 and it still looks pretty much the same but I now have Cobra lowered springs, Bilstein sport shocks and manual boost control. I'd bet that the 850 has been scrapped by now.

The 850s / V70 represent Volvos move to more mainstream cars, they were cheap and popular. The older car lost value more quickly because they were not so popular, but the older RWD cars were more over engineered, simpler and last longer.

Having said all that a new V70R will beat a new 940 Turbo on the track.

[foggyjames]

Traction is undoubtedly its achilles heel....but if I wanted to get around that, I would have bought the AWD version. I decided they're more trouble than they're worth, and I'll just learn some restraint with the loud pedal

cheers

James