Volvo S80 V8: Spotted
The V40 T5 left us a little cold - can a V8 Volvo redress the balance?
It's not exactly the same, what with the two turbos and being mounted differently, but both M600 and S80 share the basic B84444S design developed by Yamaha. It's been discontinued in the Volvo range but lives on in both the Noble and the dark depths of our classifieds.
Typing 'V8' into the keywords section under Volvo and getting a result creates a huge grin; such an incongruous combination couldn't fail to. It's very seldom that they do come up for sale and so it had to feature. There's an XC90 in currently too if a family SUV is required...
Unlike the V40 T5 we've just driven, the V8 S80 epitomises old-school Volvo style, with the overly large V8 badges the only giveaway to what lies under the bonnet. Debadged, this innocuous four-door must surely rival the BMW 550i as one of the ultimate covert swift saloons.
Although the S80 can't quite match the 550 on numbers (315hp plays 367 and 325lb ft loses out to 361lb ft) it arguably bests the BMW on Q-car appeal thanks to the Volvo image. And a six-second dash to 60mph would still look (and sound!) pretty hilarious in something so dour.
The rest of the dynamic ingredients appear far less appealing. The transversely-mounted V8 sits ahead of the front axle, the 4WD system is by Haldex and the transmission is a conventional six-speed auto. However, according to a contemporary Autocar drive, the S80 V8 wasn't 'a nose-heavy nightmare'. Predictably, it couldn't match the 5 Series or even the Jaguar S-Type but had 'a pleasingly coherent feel'. So there we go.
But that would be missing the point. As ever, motorways would be this Volvo's natural environment, passengers sat in great comfort and a V8 providing all the overtaking power required (nobody mention the diesel here).
And now this intriguing combination of Yamaha V8 power and Swedish luxury can be bought for £11,000 having covered just 32,000 miles in seven years. We're struggling for rational justification with a Volvo S80 V8 (and 23mpg definitely counts against it) but that doesn't prevent it from being a fascinating oddball nonetheless.
VOLVO S80 V8 SE SPORT
Engine: 4,412cc V8
Power (hp): 315@5,950rpm
Torque (lb ft): 325@3,950rpm
MPG: 23
CO2: 293g/km
First registered: 2006
Recorded mileage: 32,000
Price new: £38,975
Yours for: £11,000
See the original advert here
To my knowledge there are no 'off the shelf' modifications other than heftier ARBs and lowering springs available, but special d'pipes with cats and cat-backs have been discussed in adding maybe 40 bhp plus easily with some ECU work.
Polestar are using these engines (made by Yamaha and similar to one of their engines used by Ford in the US) in their 2014 OZ V8 Supercar team cars. All a bit odd in marketing terms when Volvo have dropped this engine and are saying all their future petrol cars will be powered by their innovative new, soon to be announced, 4 pot.
As has been mentioned the very similar and still current V70 T6 is a proposition, but no manual box......you can get around 375bhp with full exhaust, IC and software though.
Regards, Don.
They are unanimously hated.
Luanda traffic moves at a crawl at the best of times but if a minister is on the move in one of these, complete with outriders and flags on the front wings you can kiss goodbye to another hour or two. It's not unknown for the police to close huge sections of the city roads hours in advance of a fleet of these sweeping through.
Visiting foreign leaders can cause severe disruption on the roads for weeks at a time. Think 4 - 5 hour commute from downtown to where the expats live 12 miles away. Walking would be quicker (but not safer).
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff