19 y/o with an S60 T5 - my car history and a belated intro..

[Synchromesh]

Did a few pics of the interior last night and thought I'd share.


S60 interior 1 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 interior 2 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 interior 3 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 interior 4 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 detail 1 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 detail 2 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 detail 3 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 detail 4 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 detail 5 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 interior at night by jlewisbarned, on Flickr

And one that's not from the inside.


S60 side by jlewisbarned, on Flickr

[Synchromesh]

Baryonyx said:

That interior is still a masterpiece of design, though I was never that fond of the Spaceball gearstick.

Really? Other than the "is it an auto, is it a manual, is it a car, is it plane?" kind of comments, I think it looks quite modern in a Scandinavian (read Ikea) sort of way.

The Crack Fox said:

What a great write up

Thanks.

[Synchromesh]

warwick hunt said:

good read..

how much is your insurance? amazed at 19 you got a quote in a t5..

£1600 with Elephant. I'm the policyholder but do have 2 years NCB, clean license, etc...

[Synchromesh]

A tracking shot from earlier today.


S60 tracking 1 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
Photo by raymanh (as he goes by in these parts).

[Synchromesh]

Remagel2507 said:

Nice write up OP those pictures of the Polo look good enough to be used for advertisements.

Thanks, although I wouldn't go that far when it comes to my snaps.

deltashad said:

Photo's are amazing, and your car choice so far is spot on, well done!

The T5 looks like a very nice place to be

The T5 is a very nice place to be, in fact I've got another 250 miles lined up in it tomorrow.

---

I'm still planning on changing it imminently, but just can't make up my mind what to get. All I know is that is has to be naturally aspirated and RWD.

[Synchromesh]

Waugh-terfall said:

Nice, looks very What? Car. How did did you do it? I find leaning out of an open car door or sitting in an open boot quite effective.

My friend was just leaning out the offside rear window of my other friend's car.

We then experimented with a variety of road speeds and shutter speeds.

Interestingly, we've both settled on the same shutter speed (for your most compositionally similar shot to mine posted above) - 1/100th/s

[Synchromesh]

Oh and here are a couple more from the afternoon. Virtual pint for getting the location.


S60 under bridge 1 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 under bridge 2 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr

Edited by Synchromesh on Monday 6th August 16:43

[Synchromesh]

Driving home from Woodstock way on Saturday night (the good way inc. B4437, B4425) and developed a bad misfire about half way home. Lots of stuttering under any load. Hadn't fixed itself yesterday so took it in to the garage earlier today. Diagnostic reader detected misfire on cylinders 1 and 2, so two coil packs now on order. Getting a set of spark plugs too for good measure.

[Synchromesh]

Stedman said:

Did it pop and bang though?

It didn't, fortunately or unfortunately as the case may be.

[Synchromesh]

rb5er said:

S2Mike said:

I have one more than six reasons to know the bridge in the photo.

So seven reasons then?

This gives me the opportunity to do something I've always wanted to...

[Synchromesh]

rb5er said:

Come on then what is it?

rb5er said:

Bridge over the Severn

[Synchromesh]

Two coil packs and a set of spark plugs later and the misfiring has gone. Engine is now running as sweet as ever. Just need an opportunity to "test out" these new plugs then.


In other news, and after much deliberation (well this is PH - indecisiveness matters) I think what I need in my life is an MX-5. So the T5 will be up on AutoTrader and PH Classifieds soon...probably.

[Synchromesh]

Waugh-terfall said:

I think you'll regret it, you'll miss the Turbo torque. A friend sow append his slightly ageing Leon Cupra for a mk2 Eunos RS 1.8, didn't gell at all. I don't think he even lasted 6 months, it's now been replaced by a Leon Cupra R.

Part of my reasoning to change now is that this is the half way point in my insurance term. If I don't get on with the MX-5, I'll sell it in February when my insurance runs out.

Call me old school, but although I love the mid-range punch of the T5, I miss the more linear delivery and instant response of an atmospheric engine.

[Synchromesh]

petrolveins said:

Ahem... 330i

Only like the facelift E46 330i (like yours), and to get a good low mileage would be a little beyond my means right now, not to mention that good manual estates (my preferred choice) are hard to find. More tempting is a E36 328i touring at shed money, as I'd quite like to release some capital from the car for other purposes (namely HPC and my motorbike license before they change the system).

[Synchromesh]

I don't believe driving a car to its limits has a place on the road, and even to find a corner with the visibility to get near them is a challenge in itself. With this in mind, I felt it was about time I 'got the know' the beast and took it on track, so headed off to Castle Combe this morning to give it a blast. Trying to get it turned in into Quarry did show up its flaws (and perhaps more pertinently, my driving ability, but that's not the point), and passengering in an Accord Type-R put to rest any hope I had in the Sweede's on-track ability. Perhaps I'm being too harsh on it though. It had the flexibility to pull the whole circuit in 3rd and 4th alone (now that certainly can't be said of its VTEC stablemate), and it still sounds pretty darn tasty to my ear. In all, a fun day, but a stark reminder that where it performs so well on the road at 'six-tenths', it's charms turn into it's pitfalls when the volume is turned to 11. That or I'm a crap driver...


S60 at Castle Combe 1 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr


S60 at Castle Combe 2 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr

[Synchromesh]

Stedman said:

Volvo's just aren't comfortable-nor meant to be- driven at anything more than 7/10ths.

Still a nice daily driver though that you can have a fun drive in on Monday and 600 miles in on Tuesday. (Well, maybe a D5 )

Very true, as I found out. It really was in its natural habitat on the 600 mile round trip to Lille I took it on a few months back. And please don't mention the dirty D word

muckymotor said:

A friend of mine has an S70 classic T5 and it's pretty good on track and has certainly suprised a few people with its pace. It's an ex police car though so upgraded suspension and brakes.

My V70 T5 will be hitting Cadwell soon and I'm hoping the grunt down the straights will make up for the cornering ability. I am fitting upgraded suspension first though so that should improve things. Having driven Cadwell in an e36 m3, vx220 and a mk1 Escort it'll be interesting to see how it compares.

Don't forget the S60T5 is only about 175bhp/ton, so the the V70 will be worse still, so you won't be catching much up, even on the straights. Still, it's nice to know your own car at its limits.

[Synchromesh]

I'm sad to report that the T5 will be leaving me on Sunday. I'm moving to London, meaning it's not going to be practical to bring a car with me, to begin with at least. After six months of realising it's nicer than his own car, my father made me an offer on it - not quite as much as I paid for it seven months ago, but it saves me the hassle of advertising it and dealing with buyers. He's decided to spend a bit of money getting it into shape, so it's had new rear discs and pads, and is heading off to MRG in Chippenham for it's MOT and a service tomorrow. I'll report back in due course.

In other news, I've put on another thousand miles in the last few days. The weekend saw a trip to London and Sussex, while I've spent Monday and Tuesday doing another 500 miles round Wales. It's earning its keep. End of term report to follow.

[Synchromesh]

Baryonyx said:

And what will replace it?

Primarily my legs, my bike and my Oyster card.

If you look in my garage you'll also see I'm a member of the City Car Club, so if I'm getting withdrawal symptoms, I can always take one of their cars for a run.

I will get something of my own in due course, but it'll be leaning towards the fun end of the spectrum rather than the fast or practical - currently thinking along the lines of an mk1 MX5, mk2 MR2, and GTV6 or E36 328i, but we shall see.

Stedman said:

Next time you're in Sussex, give me a bell. We have some great roads!

Should've mentioned earlier. I go down quite a bit to see family but I'll be carless from Sunday.

[Synchromesh]

Thanks everyone for the kind messages. Owning the S60 has been a great experience, the only downside being that every car I have in future will be disappointing in comparison. Hopefully my car progression hasn't peaked too early!

Stedman said:

Oh damn. Where do they live near, out of curiosity.

Balcombe. I'll let you know next time I'm going to be down there.

[Synchromesh]

Waugh-terfall said:

Sounds to me like Richard is preparing a duvet, incense, rose petals and to fold his rear seats.

"Fold his rear seats" sounds like the new PH euphemism...