154k Volvo V70....R you feeling brave?
Discussion
Took a friend up to Leamington Spa this evening to pick up a new car, and I was heading up the M3, A34 etc at 6pm on a Sunday I decided to go into eco mode. Managed a respectable 35mpg according to the obc.
Excuse the dead fly...
On the way home the roads were a bit quieter and a hell of a lot wetter, but the car was so compliant I sat quite a bit higher than on the way up. It's the first time I've had the chance to really give the V70 some stick over some distance and it was utterly incredible. I'd switched the ride to sport which removed the floaty feel and stiffened it up. The steering was spot on and the grip through sweeping bends was immense, despite the roads being drenched. It felt so good that once I was into the corner I could push on even more. You could feel the grip being sent to the rear. All this whilst sat in comfy seats with a cracking stereo. They really are a fantastic car for the real world.
Covered 220 miles tonight. MPG dropped to under 30mpg on the way home however....
Excuse the dead fly...
On the way home the roads were a bit quieter and a hell of a lot wetter, but the car was so compliant I sat quite a bit higher than on the way up. It's the first time I've had the chance to really give the V70 some stick over some distance and it was utterly incredible. I'd switched the ride to sport which removed the floaty feel and stiffened it up. The steering was spot on and the grip through sweeping bends was immense, despite the roads being drenched. It felt so good that once I was into the corner I could push on even more. You could feel the grip being sent to the rear. All this whilst sat in comfy seats with a cracking stereo. They really are a fantastic car for the real world.
Covered 220 miles tonight. MPG dropped to under 30mpg on the way home however....
Edited by S10GTA on Monday 20th June 00:10
S10GTA said:
Took a friend up to Leamington Spa this evening to pick up a new car, and I was heading up the M3, A34 etc at 6pm on a Sunday I decided to go into eco mode. Managed a respectable 35mpg according to the obc.
Excuse the dead fly...
On the way home the roads were a bit quieter and a hell of a lot wetter, but the car was so compliant I sat quite a bit higher than on the way up. It's the first time I've had the chance to really give the V70 some stick over some distance and it was utterly incredible. I'd switched the ride to sport which removed the floaty feel and stiffened it up. The steering was spot on and the grip through sweeping bends was immense, despite the roads being drenched. It felt so good that once I was into the corner I could push on even more. You could feel the grip being sent to the rear. All this whilst sat in comfy seats with a cracking stereo. They really are a fantastic car for the real world.
Covered 220 miles tonight. MPG dropped to under 30mpg on the way home however....
Impressive effort, but I do have to warn you that the OBC in my T5 was always optimistic by 4-5MPG Excuse the dead fly...
On the way home the roads were a bit quieter and a hell of a lot wetter, but the car was so compliant I sat quite a bit higher than on the way up. It's the first time I've had the chance to really give the V70 some stick over some distance and it was utterly incredible. I'd switched the ride to sport which removed the floaty feel and stiffened it up. The steering was spot on and the grip through sweeping bends was immense, despite the roads being drenched. It felt so good that once I was into the corner I could push on even more. You could feel the grip being sent to the rear. All this whilst sat in comfy seats with a cracking stereo. They really are a fantastic car for the real world.
Covered 220 miles tonight. MPG dropped to under 30mpg on the way home however....
Edited by S10GTA on Monday 20th June 00:10
3.5 months later and I still own the V70R, which in itself is shocking. The lack of updates too are a good thing, however I have a minor update.
Since owning the car I've heard about the 2.5 engines tendency to split liners and as always these things play on your mind after reading about them. A few weeks after buying the car I noticed the coolant was at the min line and my initial thought was worse case: cracked liners, engine rebuild, ££££. s
t.
So I did what anybody who plays bangernomics (appreciate the purchase price was a bit more, but that's just because they seem to hold their value. This one was the cheapest in the country by a good grand) and topped up the coolant to max. It just might have been low in the first place right?! I checked the coolant a couple of weeks later and it had settled in the middle, maybe it was just an airlock, and tried not to think about it again. I'd not seen signs of a leak.
This morning I thought I should check it again, it had been a little while and I had been meaning to, and it was again on min. st. I topped it back up and drove to work, fearing the worst: cracked liners, engine rebuild, ££££. st.
Having done a bit of research it seems that the symptoms of cracked liners is a bit more dramatic than loosing 500ml of coolant over several months, it disappears in minutes. It was suggested that I might have a leak, probably from the waterpump area. Whilst out grabbing some lunch I walked past my car and noticed a small patch under the car.
I've never been so happy to see a puddle under my car
A bit more investigation showed a small leak around the expansion tank. I can't quite work out if its the cap or the tank, but its clearly wet around here.
I thought I'd start with the cheaper option so have ordered a new cap, which my other half has collected for me. I'll change it over tonight then monitor the results.
Good news!
Other than that, very little to report, which I quite like
Since owning the car I've heard about the 2.5 engines tendency to split liners and as always these things play on your mind after reading about them. A few weeks after buying the car I noticed the coolant was at the min line and my initial thought was worse case: cracked liners, engine rebuild, ££££. s
t.So I did what anybody who plays bangernomics (appreciate the purchase price was a bit more, but that's just because they seem to hold their value. This one was the cheapest in the country by a good grand) and topped up the coolant to max. It just might have been low in the first place right?! I checked the coolant a couple of weeks later and it had settled in the middle, maybe it was just an airlock, and tried not to think about it again. I'd not seen signs of a leak.
This morning I thought I should check it again, it had been a little while and I had been meaning to, and it was again on min. s
t. I topped it back up and drove to work, fearing the worst: cracked liners, engine rebuild, ££££. st.Having done a bit of research it seems that the symptoms of cracked liners is a bit more dramatic than loosing 500ml of coolant over several months, it disappears in minutes. It was suggested that I might have a leak, probably from the waterpump area. Whilst out grabbing some lunch I walked past my car and noticed a small patch under the car.
I've never been so happy to see a puddle under my car
A bit more investigation showed a small leak around the expansion tank. I can't quite work out if its the cap or the tank, but its clearly wet around here.
I thought I'd start with the cheaper option so have ordered a new cap, which my other half has collected for me. I'll change it over tonight then monitor the results.
Good news!
Other than that, very little to report, which I quite like
XRMike said:
Excellent choice of car! I myself have a face lift 2004 S60 D5 which has really got deep under my skin! Have you considered a remap for it? Mine was done two years ago and I have never looked back!
I'm not sure it really needs it to be honest, I quite like it as it is. I'd worry that once I'd upped the boost I'd be asking for the liner issue, apparently it happens once you get closer to 350bhp rather than the standard 300bhp.
Coker said:
I like this a lot. Subtle looking with just a hint of menace, quick, practical, and very cool.
Can see me in one of these as a work/tip/dog car.
Good stuff.
Yes I had one and loved it. you forgot the key words in your analysis:-Can see me in one of these as a work/tip/dog car.
Good stuff.
Fragile, Expensive to fix
I would buy another tomorrow if I could fine a manual one that I liked
Does anyone else find the steering column shake in "Advanced" a bit, well, unrefined? I'm guessing this is a function of a weak bulkhead and a chassis designed for squidgy suspension and about 170bhp.
In fact the whole think occasionally creaked under load, so probably not the stiffest car overall. This, and some likely big bills from the (then expensive) shocks, AWD, clutch etc saw me move it on.
In fact the whole think occasionally creaked under load, so probably not the stiffest car overall. This, and some likely big bills from the (then expensive) shocks, AWD, clutch etc saw me move it on.
RedSwede said:
Does anyone else find the steering column shake in "Advanced" a bit, well, unrefined? I'm guessing this is a function of a weak bulkhead and a chassis designed for squidgy suspension and about 170bhp.
In fact the whole think occasionally creaked under load, so probably not the stiffest car overall. This, and some likely big bills from the (then expensive) shocks, AWD, clutch etc saw me move it on.
Quite. One of my criticisms is the lack of torsional rigidity and scuttle shake apparent in these cars.In fact the whole think occasionally creaked under load, so probably not the stiffest car overall. This, and some likely big bills from the (then expensive) shocks, AWD, clutch etc saw me move it on.
Following on from the previous page, I've now changed the expansion tank.
Old one was a bit manky and had a hairline crack. Very simple job to change, just undo 2 clamps, whip the old one out and stick the new one in.
Only criticism is the new one doesn't feel as secure in place as the old one. I guess that's genuine vs reproduction.
Had a blast down to Brighton and back on Thursday and the car was faultless, except for the comical turning circle in the narrow car parks of Brighton.
Old one was a bit manky and had a hairline crack. Very simple job to change, just undo 2 clamps, whip the old one out and stick the new one in.
Only criticism is the new one doesn't feel as secure in place as the old one. I guess that's genuine vs reproduction.
Had a blast down to Brighton and back on Thursday and the car was faultless, except for the comical turning circle in the narrow car parks of Brighton.
As reported back in May time the heating control went a little haywire, to the point I couldn't turn the aircon off despite removing the key. A little bit of research showed the heater resistor have a habit of failing. I took a punt and purchased the required part. It's sat in the spare room since, until today.
I've managed to get by with intermittent heating/aircon since May by just removing the fuse if stuck on or dropping the windows if hot. Today I had a spare few hours and rather than delay any longer I decided to attack it.
What followed was possibly the hardest 2.5hrs ever of working on cars. Bugger me it's an arse to get to. I ended up upside-down with my head in the footwell. Managed to get the old one out without breaking anything, and the blower back in only cracking one plastic lug.
I didn't take any pictures except the old resistor pack in its sorry state. I was however impressed with how well put together this area of the dash is. I had to remove the glovebox just to get access.
Once back together I gave it a test and the blower was again working. A good hutch.
In other news some has keyed the passenger door in the last few days. I'm gutted. It's a 12 year old volvo ffs.
Apart from that, not much else to report. Will be off for its annual service in the next few weeks.
I've managed to get by with intermittent heating/aircon since May by just removing the fuse if stuck on or dropping the windows if hot. Today I had a spare few hours and rather than delay any longer I decided to attack it.
What followed was possibly the hardest 2.5hrs ever of working on cars. Bugger me it's an arse to get to. I ended up upside-down with my head in the footwell. Managed to get the old one out without breaking anything, and the blower back in only cracking one plastic lug.
I didn't take any pictures except the old resistor pack in its sorry state. I was however impressed with how well put together this area of the dash is. I had to remove the glovebox just to get access.
Once back together I gave it a test and the blower was again working. A good hutch.
In other news some
has keyed the passenger door in the last few days. I'm gutted. It's a 12 year old volvo ffs.Apart from that, not much else to report. Will be off for its annual service in the next few weeks.
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