Doing my usual perusing of CraigsList, I've noticed Volvo 850/V70s can be had for very little money. I had an 850 t5 sedan for about a year with over 300k on the odometer. I loved that car!
Looks like I'm going to have to start searching for a sportwagon....
I'm looking for personal stories about them. Has anyone driven a turbo with a 5 speed transplanted? What kind of power can the turbocharged engine make?
Yeah Volvos are always cheap. Lots of people have swapped the trans but I think it's getting tougher to find a good used manual and bits, I've heard getting a na manual parts car is the way to go. You can make good power out of them, they put lots of different versions of turbo on there so you can mostly mix and match and make a run of the mill low pressure turbo car (lpt) into a t5 or R or even better. That's about all the info I can offer but there's a few guys with whiteblock cars that will chime in, I'm redblock owner myself, I haven't messed much with the fwd volvos
My dad had an 850 and I loved that car. Last year, I was looking at V70s and it seemed as if the interior quality was way down on the V70s compared to the 850s. Another friend had an 850 Turbo wagon. He got a V70 loaner when his car was in for service and said the same thing. And that was when they were new.
I'd be looking for an 850.
I'm partial to the RWD Volvos as well. FWD is more complicated and less fun to drive IMO.
I definitely think the P80 (850/S70/1st gen V70) whiteblock cars are underrated, but I am not sure I'll ever own another one after the psychopathic dash squeaking my '97 855R exhibited, which is sadly a somewhat common problem (the plastic mounts crack and break free, and the replacement is not for the faint of heart). And Woody is right, the P80 S70/V70 interior is a huge step down in quality vs the earlier 850, luckily it was rectified with the change to the P2 platform in 2001.
I would get a P2 car (S60/2nd gen V70) if I were to do it again. Only exception would be the elusive C70 5-speed...
pointofdeparture wrote: I would get a P2 car (S60/2nd gen V70) if I were to do it again. Only exception would be the elusive C70 5-speed...
In reply to sirrichardpumpaloaf:
Yeah, those are very rare, and '98 is the best year IMO. That is THEORETICALLY a solid deal, but something about that car's condition makes me nervous.
I've slowly and passively been looking for a wagon. The plan is to ditch the S13 and transplant the engine. I've got a few things on my plate, but I definitely try to browse around. Are they undervalued? Yes. Am I going to pay more for one? No. 
I had a '98 V70 T5. Lots of torque steer, and a glass transmission that scared me, so I sold it before expensive things happened. Comfy, but bad gas milage.
I just acquired a 93 960 wagon. Needs some deffered maintenance taken care of, but so far seems like a good way to spend $1k to get a rwd wagon.
mr2peak wrote: I had a '98 V70 T5. Lots of torque steer, and a glass transmission that scared me, so I sold it before expensive things happened. Comfy, but bad gas milage.
'98 would be a AW50-42LE or M56. The auto is widely accepted as reliable at 300 HP, and the manual needs more clutch at around 350-400 HP, but there's a lot of 450-500+ HP M56 cars out there. M56 has the advantage hands down, plus Quaife makes an LSD for it.
Biggest issue with the auto is the lack of a serviceable filter. Change the fluid more than once a decade, use quality fluid, add an auxiliary cooler, maybe an inline filter, and keep the neutral dumps to a minimum, it'll live a long happy life.
Research the changes throughout the history of the V70 so you know what you're looking at and/or for. Early ones had the door panels all unstick the vinyl, as well a nifty problematic throttle sensor. Transmissions never were a strong point, but with a fluid change and, based on mine, a change to silicone turbo lines they work much better.
But, if you want a sport wagon, with an emphasis on the word sport, neither the 850 nor the V70 are what I would call sporty. That said, the urethane control arm bushing helps quite a bit, as does a much lower profile tire than stock and some other urethane bits. Mostly just trying to stiffen up the vehicle from the stock squishy thing it is.
Earlier rear wheel drive wagons are much more sporty. Darn hard to find these days though.
In reply to bigdaddylee82:
Was going to say the same thing. The AW50 isn't a total beast like an old RWD GM trans or anything, but they are stronger than most autos attached to large-ish turbo engines.
I've probably done more miles in 850s than any other car as a driver/passenger. My dad had an N/A auto 94(?) wagon for a long while, my first car was a 94 N/A 5 speed, and I later owned a 96 turbo that I got for free. Both of mine were sedans (unfortunately.)
My 94 was bone stock because I was 17 and poor and ultimately got killed driving it into a curb in a snowstorm doing dumb E36 M3. The 96 turbo had a manual boost controller with the boost cranked as high as it would go before hitting fuel cut on the stock tune and Koni shocks on the rear because I got them for cheap (actually still have them if anyone is interested.) The MBC (built with Home Depot parts) made a very noticeable difference in power and throttle response. I dumped it at something like 190k miles because it failed inspection for a million nickel and dime things, most notable the "delta link" bushings in the rear suspension.
These cars had a weird rear suspension design that allowed some passive rear steering known as Delta Link. Basically the control arms link to eacch other and transfer lateral force in cornering to a compressible bushing on the opposite side that allows the passive rear steering. The back end started getting all loose feeling when these bushings rotted out and they're apparently a royal PITA to DIY without the factory tool, which is evidently made of unicorn piss and fairy farts.
Its been probably 5 years since I had my last one, so it may be stretching the memory a bit, but I think cranking the boost and adding a free flowing exhaust is supposed to net around 250hp at the crank on stock tune. With a tune, I think you're good to like 270-280ish on the stock turbo, which is a Mitsu TD04 15g. The popular bolt on upgrade turbos are the 18t and 19t Mitsubishis, forget which Volvos those came from. The limit on those is something like 320+ hp I think. Later white blocks switched to Borg Warner turbos IIRC, K04s maybe??
Forget where the stock injectors top out at, but once you get to this level of power the auto trans starts to become suspect. The rods are what limits the block itself in terms of power, IIRC somewhere around the 400 range is where they can become a problem. Depends on how rapidly the turbo builds boost though, big spikes at low rpm are supposedly what to watch for if rods are a concern.
The M56 isn't the slickest shifting tranny, from what I recall, but it sure beats an auto. I SO wish I would have had both of my 850s at the same time, as a manual swapped turbo might have stayed around much longer. Never driven one, but I sure have dreamt about it. FYI, I believe in Canada you could get a turbo manual from the factory.
IPD is your friend for suspension mods, they've got springs, sways, and anything else you could want within reason. As mentioned above, Koni makes shocks for them as does Bilstein. Stock I wouldn't call the ride sporty, but its definitely a bit more taught than, say, a W210 Merc.
They're super comfy and great long distance cruisers. AWESOME seats. Lots of interior room, I'm 6'3 and could comfortably sit behind myself. I once fit two partially disassembled dirt bikes in the '96 sedan. The body shells are fully galvanized and do not rust. The 96 had aboyut a quarter size chip in the paint on one of the quarter panels that refused to rust through 2 or 3 upstate NY winters worth of road salt.
I'd totally rock another one if I were looking for a comfy 4/5 door DD, although it might have to be a manual swapped turbo this time around.
foxtrapper wrote: Earlier rear wheel drive wagons are much more sporty. Darn hard to find these days though.
Have you driven a stock rwd wagon lately? unless it says turbo on the back they are a LONG way from "sporty" (and even with turbo on the back it's still a 30 year old wallowing pig). I've driven a couple whiteblock cars and while they were designed for comfort they still handled much flatter than a stock redblock wagon..faster too. That said I love my redblocks and with a little work they can be much more sporty (but then again so can any car)
chiodos wrote:foxtrapper wrote: Earlier rear wheel drive wagons are much more sporty. Darn hard to find these days though.Have you driven a stock rwd wagon lately? unless it says turbo on the back they are a LONG way from "sporty" (and even with turbo on the back it's still a 30 year old wallowing pig). I've driven a couple whiteblock cars and while they were designed for comfort they still handled much flatter than a stock redblock wagon..faster too. That said I love my redblocks and with a little work they can be much more sporty (but then again so can any car)
Fundamentally agree. Volvo basically does not equal sporty, especially when stock. But, I do think the rear wheel drive ones are a little more sporty than the front wheel drive ones. While still being wallowing pigs.
I agree with the above sentiment. Between the family members and I we have had a selection of RWD/FWD volvos and they are a far cry from sporty.
While the old 240's had character, my last Volvo ('91 740 turbo wagon, 5-speed) was a pretty disappointing car to drive. The whole package just felt sorta lazy to me, it's like every single lb in that car counts as extra compared to similar weight vehicles.
I still have a warm place in my heart for Volvos of all vintages, but if I were to buy another it would be a 240 or older. They just have so much character it puts a big smile on my face, plus they're tough as nails and have tons of room for modifications.
I will say in the FWD realm, the NA 5-cylinder sounds mean at full throttle, never driven a T5 for comparison though.
I'll never touch a V70 era Volvo again. Electrical gremlins, premature cam tensioner failure, tranny issues. Finally sold mine for $500 just to send the constant issues somewhere else.
Fupdiggity wrote: I will say in the FWD realm, the NA 5-cylinder sounds mean at full throttle, never driven a T5 for comparison though.
I miss the sounds of my 850 i5 at full throttle.. that was a nasty sounding engine..
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