Performance and practicality to.... old man?
Discussion
So I've run a B7 Audi RS4 saloon for 3 years, along side a high mileage BMW 330d M Sport Touring for the last 12 months. The Audi was my 'fun' car and the 330 was my load lugger / commuter hack. Unfortunately I stopped enjoying driving the Audi due to an irrational fear of being hit over the head with a baseball bat for the keys and it being stolen. Not to mention the astronomical repair bills! However, that being said - I still loved this car!
The BMW was a great car, but with high mileage comes bills too - although to be fair to it, I was lucky in that I managed to avoid anything drastic happening. other than it trying to kill me in the wet, once.
temporary image upload
The BMW went to a new home the other day (to a friend of mine, so I can keep an eye on it!), and the Audi went today.....
To be replaced by a brand of car usually driven by pipe smoking, slipper wearing old men. Or so I've been told.
A 2014 Volvo. But not just any Volvo.....
On handover. Joy tinged with sadness....
A V60 Polestar. 3ltr, turbocharged straight 6, 4 wheel drive, 350bhp. I believe that only 125 of the 3ltr models were brought to the UK, and of those only 21 are white (only 4 colours to choose from). The car comes with every gadget you could think of, and even thought I've only driven it a short time, it is very, very capable. And quick. It's only got 14k on the clock, and I managed to wangle a really good deal on an extended warranty for 3 years, so thats any big bills taken care of! It is going to Le Mans next month, so it will be good to see how it compares to the Audi as that went 2 years ago.
The BMW was a great car, but with high mileage comes bills too - although to be fair to it, I was lucky in that I managed to avoid anything drastic happening. other than it trying to kill me in the wet, once.
temporary image upload
The BMW went to a new home the other day (to a friend of mine, so I can keep an eye on it!), and the Audi went today.....
To be replaced by a brand of car usually driven by pipe smoking, slipper wearing old men. Or so I've been told.
A 2014 Volvo. But not just any Volvo.....
On handover. Joy tinged with sadness....
A V60 Polestar. 3ltr, turbocharged straight 6, 4 wheel drive, 350bhp. I believe that only 125 of the 3ltr models were brought to the UK, and of those only 21 are white (only 4 colours to choose from). The car comes with every gadget you could think of, and even thought I've only driven it a short time, it is very, very capable. And quick. It's only got 14k on the clock, and I managed to wangle a really good deal on an extended warranty for 3 years, so thats any big bills taken care of! It is going to Le Mans next month, so it will be good to see how it compares to the Audi as that went 2 years ago.
Edited by mustdash on Friday 19th May 20:17
Edited by mustdash on Wednesday 24th May 01:58
Ran one of these for a year and 15K miles loved it for waht it was - didn't loose too much of my shirt when I traded it in either
It certainly liked to drink (27mpg normal use or 29 like miss daisy) but was immensely quick and loud on song in sport mode .. You will have fun, comfortable with probably the best seats on the market and as you say all the toys... The induction and exhaust noise was immense on boost...
Only had one problem with it while I had it - but it happened a couple of times - the body computer failed such that the car woudnt lock/unlock - or go into sleep so the battery would go flat if you didn't drive it every couple of days - Oh the horror. Sorted that and all was fine...
Would have kept it longer but was doing 3-400 business miles a week after a change in role and it was getting expensive to run!
Enjoy - Chopper 602 on here has one I know in the fastest colour - rebel blue ;-) ...
S.
It certainly liked to drink (27mpg normal use or 29 like miss daisy) but was immensely quick and loud on song in sport mode .. You will have fun, comfortable with probably the best seats on the market and as you say all the toys... The induction and exhaust noise was immense on boost...
Only had one problem with it while I had it - but it happened a couple of times - the body computer failed such that the car woudnt lock/unlock - or go into sleep so the battery would go flat if you didn't drive it every couple of days - Oh the horror. Sorted that and all was fine...
Would have kept it longer but was doing 3-400 business miles a week after a change in role and it was getting expensive to run!
Enjoy - Chopper 602 on here has one I know in the fastest colour - rebel blue ;-) ...
S.
SiT said:
MASSIVE fan of these! Looks stunning in white, be interested to see how 3ltr turbo compares with linear V8 of the Audi, definitely need some more pics 
Si
I'll do a comparison in due course - although the Volvo is deceptively quick - a couple of times already it's caught me out doing silly speed when it certainly doesn't feel like its going that fast! Si
51mes said:
Ran one of these for a year and 15K miles loved it for waht it was - didn't loose too much of my shirt when I traded it in either
It certainly liked to drink (27mpg normal use or 29 like miss daisy) but was immensely quick and loud on song in sport mode .. You will have fun, comfortable with probably the best seats on the market and as you say all the toys... The induction and exhaust noise was immense on boost...
Only had one problem with it while I had it - but it happened a couple of times - the body computer failed such that the car woudnt lock/unlock - or go into sleep so the battery would go flat if you didn't drive it every couple of days - Oh the horror. Sorted that and all was fine...
Would have kept it longer but was doing 3-400 business miles a week after a change in role and it was getting expensive to run!
Enjoy - Chopper 602 on here has one I know in the fastest colour - rebel blue ;-) ...
S.
After 17mpg in the Audi, and 'only' 32mpg in the BMW, 27mpg is more than acceptable to me! Luckily I've got a long warranty with it, so any issues can be dealt with promptly (fingers crossed). What was the issue with your computer - was it a software issue, or something else? Oh, and white is the fastest colour! It certainly liked to drink (27mpg normal use or 29 like miss daisy) but was immensely quick and loud on song in sport mode .. You will have fun, comfortable with probably the best seats on the market and as you say all the toys... The induction and exhaust noise was immense on boost...
Only had one problem with it while I had it - but it happened a couple of times - the body computer failed such that the car woudnt lock/unlock - or go into sleep so the battery would go flat if you didn't drive it every couple of days - Oh the horror. Sorted that and all was fine...
Would have kept it longer but was doing 3-400 business miles a week after a change in role and it was getting expensive to run!
Enjoy - Chopper 602 on here has one I know in the fastest colour - rebel blue ;-) ...
S.
mustdash said:
Downward said:
What's the black thing on the driver side on the front grill ?
I've seen it on some Volvo's.
Ours doesn't have it though
I'll be honest - I have no idea! I've seen it on some Volvo's.
Ours doesn't have it though
I love these, will be following this with interest as I've been considering one as a sensible family car ;-)
aspirated said:
Cambs_Stuart said:
Bookmarked. I love a sleeper.
Nice car. Definitely not a sleeper thoughDave Hedgehog said:
oh deer, the pole stars are just as much on the thieves target list as RS Audi's are
4wd and faster than anything the police have with room to sling all your partners in crime and thieving gear in it
Shouldn't matter though. If it's going to be stolen, it's going to be stolen. If you let the "risk" of it being stolen affect your decision to buy a car then you need to learn to dominate the stairs. 4wd and faster than anything the police have with room to sling all your partners in crime and thieving gear in it
Well, thought I should probably update this thread seeing as it's coming up to 2 years.
When I bought the car it had 14k on the clock. 2 years later it has just ticked over 47,500. The car has been kept pretty much standard, other than an Elevate carbon fibre front splitter which I think fills the gap nicely (and is how it should have left the factory). I have been toying with some form of performance enhancement, but at the minute I'm happy as it is.
So far, the car has done a trip to Le Mans not long after I bought it as 'Le Manbulance', a weekend road trip around Wales and 2 tours of Scotland on the NC500 (or variation of) and a couple of track days (Snetterton and Oulton Park).
I have had more punctures in this car than on any other I've owned - I think I ended up with 2 in a month at one point (both the same tyre). Either that, or the cold start in the mornings has upset my neighbours.
The Volvo dealership experience hasn't been the best - in fact it's fair to say I've been left quite disappointed. Unfortunately, the car has had to visit the dealership for a few bits to be sorted under warranty - I had new front disks and pads fitted (not a cheap job - pads alone are £400 from the dealership). Within 500 miles the disks had suffered run out, so were replaced under warranty (but interestingly, not the pads). 1500 miles later, the new disks have suffered the same issue, so were again, replaced under warranty - Volvo this time tried to sting me for new pads, but after a bit of back and forth, they agreed to cover the pads as well. The car had to go in for a repair on the drivers seat (involved taking the seat out I think). Unfortunately, when they put it all back together, they caught a wire, which then caused a short when I moved the seat to my driving position, causing the car to throw up airbag faults / not recognise I was in the seat / recognise the seatbelt was plugged in. also had a transmission fault get thrown up, but that cleared after turning it off and back on again and Volvo couldn't find any issues - haven't had it since.
In September last year, someone decided that instead of using their brakes at an island, they'd just use my stationary car to stop instead. Full liability admitted by them, but the wrong bits of trim were ordered and fitted and were only noticed when I pointed it out upon collection. That was a month wait while the correct parts were ordered from Sweden.
Other than the above - I've been quite happy with the car - initially the handling felt way off in comparison to my B7 RS4 that was on KW V3 coil overs, but that was rectified by adjusting the Ohlins dampers so that they matched all round (they were all way, way out of sync).
As said earlier - I've done a lot of miles on road trips in it - it is a brilliant car for both the motorway aspect and the twisties. The road trip around Wales
was with a group of Audi RS owners / former RS owners and it more than held it's own. It happily ate the miles up in Scotland too (and is so comfortable that you don't notice the long drive!). As for the track days - it liked Snetterton as it's got the long straights etc, but hated Oulton (I'm not sure Oulton suits nearly 2 ton barges!).
The car was also one of the safety cars at the Bruntingthorpe World Record attempt for the most number of Volvos driven in convoy.
As I've got to the 2 year ownership mark, I'm starting to get itchy feet to change it - I'm tempted by a 3.0 F-Type S Coupe - however, having a further year on the warranty, and still loving the Q looks and rarity of it, I'm starting to lean more towards keeping it for a bit longer.
When I bought the car it had 14k on the clock. 2 years later it has just ticked over 47,500. The car has been kept pretty much standard, other than an Elevate carbon fibre front splitter which I think fills the gap nicely (and is how it should have left the factory). I have been toying with some form of performance enhancement, but at the minute I'm happy as it is.
So far, the car has done a trip to Le Mans not long after I bought it as 'Le Manbulance', a weekend road trip around Wales and 2 tours of Scotland on the NC500 (or variation of) and a couple of track days (Snetterton and Oulton Park).
I have had more punctures in this car than on any other I've owned - I think I ended up with 2 in a month at one point (both the same tyre). Either that, or the cold start in the mornings has upset my neighbours.
The Volvo dealership experience hasn't been the best - in fact it's fair to say I've been left quite disappointed. Unfortunately, the car has had to visit the dealership for a few bits to be sorted under warranty - I had new front disks and pads fitted (not a cheap job - pads alone are £400 from the dealership). Within 500 miles the disks had suffered run out, so were replaced under warranty (but interestingly, not the pads). 1500 miles later, the new disks have suffered the same issue, so were again, replaced under warranty - Volvo this time tried to sting me for new pads, but after a bit of back and forth, they agreed to cover the pads as well. The car had to go in for a repair on the drivers seat (involved taking the seat out I think). Unfortunately, when they put it all back together, they caught a wire, which then caused a short when I moved the seat to my driving position, causing the car to throw up airbag faults / not recognise I was in the seat / recognise the seatbelt was plugged in. also had a transmission fault get thrown up, but that cleared after turning it off and back on again and Volvo couldn't find any issues - haven't had it since.
In September last year, someone decided that instead of using their brakes at an island, they'd just use my stationary car to stop instead. Full liability admitted by them, but the wrong bits of trim were ordered and fitted and were only noticed when I pointed it out upon collection. That was a month wait while the correct parts were ordered from Sweden.
Other than the above - I've been quite happy with the car - initially the handling felt way off in comparison to my B7 RS4 that was on KW V3 coil overs, but that was rectified by adjusting the Ohlins dampers so that they matched all round (they were all way, way out of sync).
As said earlier - I've done a lot of miles on road trips in it - it is a brilliant car for both the motorway aspect and the twisties. The road trip around Wales
was with a group of Audi RS owners / former RS owners and it more than held it's own. It happily ate the miles up in Scotland too (and is so comfortable that you don't notice the long drive!). As for the track days - it liked Snetterton as it's got the long straights etc, but hated Oulton (I'm not sure Oulton suits nearly 2 ton barges!).
The car was also one of the safety cars at the Bruntingthorpe World Record attempt for the most number of Volvos driven in convoy.
As I've got to the 2 year ownership mark, I'm starting to get itchy feet to change it - I'm tempted by a 3.0 F-Type S Coupe - however, having a further year on the warranty, and still loving the Q looks and rarity of it, I'm starting to lean more towards keeping it for a bit longer.
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