RE: SOTW: Volvo 480 Turbo
Discussion
Finally!!!
I had a black, non-turbo one of these in the 90s. It was my second car (after a Nova) and I took out what for me at the time was a whopping loan to buy it (it was 3 years old. I went all over the country in it and absolutely loved it. Pop up lights, cool shape, weird interior (including cloth on the dash as I recall). It still has the easiest to fold rear seats of any car I've owned which I meant I used it for caving and camping trips etc too.
I must have had the only one in the country with no electrical gremlins and I ran it for four years, by which time there was a bit of rust but otherwise it was fine. Sold it very easily and then saw it few months later in Hounslow, badly customised. I nearly wept...
Amazes me now how snall they are next to current cars though.
Good sheds lately, this and that 924 the other week in particular. Let's keep away from tedious barges for just a little longer.
Bond Bug anyone?
I had a black, non-turbo one of these in the 90s. It was my second car (after a Nova) and I took out what for me at the time was a whopping loan to buy it (it was 3 years old. I went all over the country in it and absolutely loved it. Pop up lights, cool shape, weird interior (including cloth on the dash as I recall). It still has the easiest to fold rear seats of any car I've owned which I meant I used it for caving and camping trips etc too.
I must have had the only one in the country with no electrical gremlins and I ran it for four years, by which time there was a bit of rust but otherwise it was fine. Sold it very easily and then saw it few months later in Hounslow, badly customised. I nearly wept...
Amazes me now how snall they are next to current cars though.
Good sheds lately, this and that 924 the other week in particular. Let's keep away from tedious barges for just a little longer.
Bond Bug anyone?
Japcarnut said:
thewheelman said:
Japcarnut said:
thewheelman said:
Easily one of my least favourite SOTW's, i remember a friend had one in the mid 90's, it was just one of those cars, that if it could go wrong, then it would. He got shot of it for a Honda Prelude, which by chance, i'd say would make a good SOTW.
They have, twice (4th and 5th Generation) http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/xforums/imgs/9.gifhttp://www.pistonheads.co.uk/xforums/smilies.htm#
(sorted smilies!)I owned one of these, a 1994 'L' plate in red, mine didn't have any rust on it, and the only recurring electrical problem I had was that the speedometer kept failing. I replaced it twice (once under warranty) during the two years of my ownership. Other than that (and a leaky boot seal, another well known design flaw) it made for fun, reliable, left field transport with an addictive turbo soundtrack.
It was pretty quick for what it was, and remains the only car that I ever got a speeding fine in (to date
).
I'd have another, then 'fettle' it, as other posters have mentioned, I needed a bit more poke.
L987HFC - where are you now?!
It was pretty quick for what it was, and remains the only car that I ever got a speeding fine in (to date
).I'd have another, then 'fettle' it, as other posters have mentioned, I needed a bit more poke.
L987HFC - where are you now?!
My 2nd car was a '91 480 Turbo. I liked the 'elastic' turbo boost feeling, good seats & wasn't bad on fuel and the fact it was sooo different from a normal Volvo. Didn't like the cable operated clutch (they tended to fray) & crap electrics (made Lucas seem reliable). Would I like another one? Er, no thanks.
Ovlov factoid: Turbo was rated at 120bhp, not 110 as stated in the original article. The ES was rated at 109bhp for the 1.7 lump.
Edit:
My old'un on holiday in the Lake District.
Ovlov factoid: Turbo was rated at 120bhp, not 110 as stated in the original article. The ES was rated at 109bhp for the 1.7 lump.
Edit:
My old'un on holiday in the Lake District.
Edited by Hammerhead on Friday 27th April 10:17
SVX said:
I owned one of these, a 1994 'L' plate in red, mine didn't have any rust on it, and the only recurring electrical problem I had was that the speedometer kept failing. I replaced it twice (once under warranty) during the two years of my ownership. Other than that (and a leaky boot seal, another well known design flaw) it made for fun, reliable, left field transport with an addictive turbo soundtrack.
It was pretty quick for what it was, and remains the only car that I ever got a speeding fine in (to date).
I'd have another, then 'fettle' it, as other posters have mentioned, I needed a bit more poke.
L987HFC - where are you now?!
The speedo failures weren't down to the big round thing in the dashboard, they're normally down to the sensor, somewhere around the gearbox iirc.It was pretty quick for what it was, and remains the only car that I ever got a speeding fine in (to date
).I'd have another, then 'fettle' it, as other posters have mentioned, I needed a bit more poke.
L987HFC - where are you now?!
Good shed!
Always quite liked the quirky styling on these…. You do hear some horror stories about general reliability, but to be fair most cars of this era have niggles and known faults – it would be interesting to know if the 480 was any worse though than contemporary cars though.
If you could find a really good one and look after/mothball it I reckon that they’re a pretty good candidate for classic status at some point in the future.
They are damn strong cars; back in 1998 I knew a bloke who had a pretty bad crash in one – he was driving on a motorway roundabout late at night and a car came up a slip road at very high speed and broadsided him, completely destroying his car and flipping him over at least twice in the process.
After he’d been checked over for injuries (cuts and bruises) a copper was talking to him and basically said “if you’d been in a ‘normal’ car you’d be seriously injured or dead right now…”
So I’ve always had a bit of respect for the old 480.
Oh, and it's got pop-up headlights!!
Always quite liked the quirky styling on these…. You do hear some horror stories about general reliability, but to be fair most cars of this era have niggles and known faults – it would be interesting to know if the 480 was any worse though than contemporary cars though.
If you could find a really good one and look after/mothball it I reckon that they’re a pretty good candidate for classic status at some point in the future.
They are damn strong cars; back in 1998 I knew a bloke who had a pretty bad crash in one – he was driving on a motorway roundabout late at night and a car came up a slip road at very high speed and broadsided him, completely destroying his car and flipping him over at least twice in the process.
After he’d been checked over for injuries (cuts and bruises) a copper was talking to him and basically said “if you’d been in a ‘normal’ car you’d be seriously injured or dead right now…”
So I’ve always had a bit of respect for the old 480.
Oh, and it's got pop-up headlights!!
thewheelman said:
Damn you all for wasting my morning, & forcing me to look at Volvos! 
As i was looking, i found this......
^ I didn't know this existed until just now.......kind of like it when that happens
Wow, that is different, got renault 19esque speed humps on the back - like that...As i was looking, i found this......
^ I didn't know this existed until just now.......kind of like it when that happens
Best advert I've read, definitely has watched anchorman a little too much as he managed to squeeze the '70% of the time it works all the time' line in.
Great ad, decent shed!
EDIT: have you seen the guys 'PH essentials? if not I've copied them;
pistonHeads Essentials
Front-Engined
Turbo
1.7 Litres
Horizontally
900 BHP
999 Nm Torque
201 MPH Top Speed
0 to 62 in 1 Seconds
Front-Wheel-Drive
4 Previous Owners
Great ad, decent shed!
EDIT: have you seen the guys 'PH essentials? if not I've copied them;
pistonHeads Essentials
Front-Engined
Turbo
1.7 Litres
Horizontally
900 BHP
999 Nm Torque
201 MPH Top Speed
0 to 62 in 1 Seconds
Front-Wheel-Drive
4 Previous Owners
I had one of these - black w/red trim like the pic above, and it sounds like I had the only completely reliable one in existence - I had it for a couple of years & it was utterly reliable and all the electrics worked 100% of the time (BTW, love the 'Anchorman' reference in the ad)
It was very cool (back in 1998)
Also, I thought it seemed pretty swift - more than 120bhp swift, but that may be my rose-tinted memory.
Anyway, it had a 40mph argument with a low wall and THEN I was pleased I was in a Volvo - I don't think I'd have walked away from the same accident in the Astra GTE I had before...
It was very cool (back in 1998)
Also, I thought it seemed pretty swift - more than 120bhp swift, but that may be my rose-tinted memory.
Anyway, it had a 40mph argument with a low wall and THEN I was pleased I was in a Volvo - I don't think I'd have walked away from the same accident in the Astra GTE I had before...
sinbaddio said:
thewheelman said:
Damn you all for wasting my morning, & forcing me to look at Volvos!
As i was looking, i found this......
^ I didn't know this existed until just now.......kind of like it when that happens
Wow, that is different, got renault 19esque speed humps on the back - like that...As i was looking, i found this......
^ I didn't know this existed until just now.......kind of like it when that happens
clonmult said:
SVX said:
I owned one of these, a 1994 'L' plate in red, mine didn't have any rust on it, and the only recurring electrical problem I had was that the speedometer kept failing. I replaced it twice (once under warranty) during the two years of my ownership. Other than that (and a leaky boot seal, another well known design flaw) it made for fun, reliable, left field transport with an addictive turbo soundtrack.
It was pretty quick for what it was, and remains the only car that I ever got a speeding fine in (to date).
I'd have another, then 'fettle' it, as other posters have mentioned, I needed a bit more poke.
L987HFC - where are you now?!
The speedo failures weren't down to the big round thing in the dashboard, they're normally down to the sensor, somewhere around the gearbox iirc.It was pretty quick for what it was, and remains the only car that I ever got a speeding fine in (to date
).I'd have another, then 'fettle' it, as other posters have mentioned, I needed a bit more poke.
L987HFC - where are you now?!
Always liked the look of these, but Autocar's experience with one would put anyone off.
IIRC they were given one to run for for a year but it spent so much time back with Volvo that they had to extend that to 18 months, just to give the car some actual DRIVING.
It's a DAF of course - after the 440/460, children of the 340 and it's ability to go backwards as fast as it goes forwards etc. etc. - and the quality was never, ever there.
IIRC they were given one to run for for a year but it spent so much time back with Volvo that they had to extend that to 18 months, just to give the car some actual DRIVING.
It's a DAF of course - after the 440/460, children of the 340 and it's ability to go backwards as fast as it goes forwards etc. etc. - and the quality was never, ever there.
B'stard Child said:
Just like a previous Ph'r said earlier a mate of mine had one and it looked cooler than a penguins nadger. It didn't drive so well and if the article is correct with 110 bhp I'm not surprised
My mate replaced his with a TR
I prefered the Volvo
SVX said:
I owned one of these, a 1994 'L' plate in red, mine didn't have any rust on it, and the only recurring electrical problem I had was that the speedometer kept failing. I replaced it twice (once under warranty) during the two years of my ownership. Other than that (and a leaky boot seal, another well known design flaw) it made for fun, reliable, left field transport with an addictive turbo soundtrack.
It was pretty quick for what it was, and remains the only car that I ever got a speeding fine in (to date).
I'd have another, then 'fettle' it, as other posters have mentioned, I needed a bit more poke.
L987HFC - where are you now?!
I like these unusual sheds we have been having recently! Unfortunately SVX my reg lookup says L987 HFC is no more, RIPIt was pretty quick for what it was, and remains the only car that I ever got a speeding fine in (to date
).I'd have another, then 'fettle' it, as other posters have mentioned, I needed a bit more poke.
L987HFC - where are you now?!
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