Volvo S60R new daily

[cosworth330]

I bought a 2003 V70 R manual from Volvo dealer at 2yrs old and 20,000 miles. Ran it until about 80,000 miles and never had any problems with it whatsoever. Sounded awesome and gripped well,could drive like a looney in the wet.

Don't worry about the horror stories because theirs lots of us who have never had any problems.

[Rikki55]

Thanks for the messages everyone!

Here's a few interior pics! I believe it's Nordkapp blue/black leather looks a little worn in places so looking at trying to sort over the year when I can!



R dials - please excuse how dirty they are - only just noticed when loading them :/


Oh and the cause of the recent debate.. The VOLVO engine



Still loving the car though and yes you can really drive it like a loon and it just rewards you, very confidence inspiring to drive quickly too if that makes sense!

Will keep updated!

[civicduty]

Looks like a nice place to while away the hours

What is going on with the gear stick gaitor? It doesn't appear to have one.

[Rikki55]

Suppose it's time for an update on this thread.

Not much to report really on the Volvo, Went for a minor service and health check at the local Volvo stealership in Bedford and no major problems discovered!

Looking at getting the tires changed soon to a set of Bridgestone Potenzas possibly and also have been eying up a Ferrita stainless cat back exhaust on eBay. Apart from that she's been as good as gold! very happy!

Few recent pics :











Thanks for looking

[itcaptainslow]

You just need a pair of blue strobe lights in the grill now

[Rikki55]

itcaptainslow said:

You just need a pair of blue strobe lights in the grill now

[anonymous-user]

Definitely go for the exhaust if you can, unlocks a great noise without being obtrusive.

[Rikki55]

charltjr said:

Definitely go for the exhaust if you can, unlocks a great noise without being obtrusive.

I'm very tempted too! It is looking a tad flakey in places so will be looking to upgrade to stainless, they do sound lovely though even with the standard pipes in place

[Rikki55]

Update time! 😊

Firstly a new set of tires were in order as let's just say the set that were on it were very old... Date stamped 2008!
Now replaced with a set of Continental Sport Contact 5s in 235/40/18 all round! Much much better!

Also had the very popular American JRL mod carried out at Flowdynamics in Bletchley - basically removing the centre exhaust silencer and straight piping it for more clearance at the prop shaft. Oh and it sounds bloody fantastic WOT, much more like an R should sound!

Will get a video up soon!

Rik

[moustache]

Really love these and feel like it would be a nice step up from my Saab 9-5 Aero (275bhp but FWD) although I haven't got the balls to buy one knowing what repairs might cost. At least the Saab is cheap to repair and there are tons of the being broken for bits. In fact I could buy a donor car for £500!

Hats off to you though, they must be epic to drive, and must have something that the Saab lacks, which is the grip and traction to get the power down!

[Hallsy01]

Looks great OP, the S60R is a very good looking car imo - true understated cool with a lovely interior to boot.

I had a couple of 850's back in the day, an 855 T5 auto followed by an 855R manual.

I now have a Saab 9-5 Aero estate as my 'runabout/dump/dog' car, and tbh, as good as it is, I preferred my Volvo's looking back - they just felt more solid.

Am I imagining it, or was it the very earliest S60R's that had the most reliability issues?? I certainly remember them being very cheap not so long ago, presumably due to worries about angle gear failure, cracked liners, etc.

Sounds like there are cheap fixes now, so not too much to worry about.

Enjoy - lovely car

[Rikki55]

moustache said:

Really love these and feel like it would be a nice step up from my Saab 9-5 Aero (275bhp but FWD) although I haven't got the balls to buy one knowing what repairs might cost. At least the Saab is cheap to repair and there are tons of the being broken for bits. In fact I could buy a donor car for £500!

Hats off to you though, they must be epic to drive, and must have something that the Saab lacks, which is the grip and traction to get the power down!

Thank you very much! Yes I absolutely love it and I respect the car for what it is! It's Such a nice car to own at my age too as I'm only 23 believe it or not!

Your right though, the way it puts the power down is really something good, no fuss at all when burying the throttle in 1st and 2nd, not even any torque steer! Only if you launch like an idiot you get a slight chirp from the front tires before the Haldex goes woah..! Better get to work and link up the rears!

[Rikki55]

Hallsy01 said:

Looks great OP, the S60R is a very good looking car imo - true understated cool with a lovely interior to boot.

I had a couple of 850's back in the day, an 855 T5 auto followed by an 855R manual.

I now have a Saab 9-5 Aero estate as my 'runabout/dump/dog' car, and tbh, as good as it is, I preferred my Volvo's looking back - they just felt more solid.

Am I imagining it, or was it the very earliest S60R's that had the most reliability issues?? I certainly remember them being very cheap not so long ago, presumably due to worries about angle gear failure, cracked liners, etc.

Sounds like there are cheap fixes now, so not too much to worry about.

Enjoy - lovely car

Hi there!

Yes from what I heard it is normally the earlier cars that suffered the problems, the face lifted ones like mine are said to be improved in certain areas! The nice thing with this is the full Volvo SH and lots of paperwork from main dealers showing the work that has been done/upgraded - especially on the AWD system which works as it should! Does feel proper planted even when pushing on in the wet! Even though you can tell the car is still quite heavy it's a very good handling car

Good to see about your Volvo past too, some nice motors there!

[Garett]

MJK 24 said:

Rikki55 said:

MJK 24 said:

Great machine! Ex Volvo UK with an OY registration.

Enjoy

Thank you Ex Volvo UK? Anything interesting I should know about this?

A company called Oxford Fleet Management used to look after Volvo UK's own fleet of cars. PDI them, look after them for 6-12 months and then they'd be 'de-fleeted' and sold on to the dealer network. The cars all had OY and OV registrations. Of course it's entirely possible the car was just sold in the Oxford area when new!

If you have the service book, the PDI stamp will reveal all!

This is all true my S60 is an OY and was first owned by Volvo UK. You will start to notice there are an awful lot of Volvos with OY and OV.

Loving the 'R' , please post videos of the sound of new exhaust mod!

[Pistom]

Great car, I had one as a company car about 10 years ago and covered 120K. It was a real money pit in repair bills though. We had to replace an indicator bulb just to get it through its last MOT.

[MrBarry123]

So much want.

Love it.

[Rikki55]

Garett said:

This is all true my S60 is an OY and was first owned by Volvo UK. You will start to notice there are an awful lot of Volvos with OY and OV.

Loving the 'R' , please post videos of the sound of new exhaust mod!

Here's how it sounds.. Not the best video as couldn't Rev too much as the neighbours were out and kids walking home from school! Didn't want to scare them with a loud - er Volvo!

http://youtu.be/Wl72_cMKC2g

But I'm very happy with how it sounds, lovely deep bass note and the 5 cylinder thrum is much more noticeable! Even pops and crackles when it's warmed up

[Rikki55]

So... How's things going with the R?

So nearly 4 months into ownership I'm still really enjoying owning this car, really is everything I expected it to be and is probably one of the better cars I have owned! Really starting to bond with it and am now getting use to its full potential. It's still bloody comfy, practical and relentlessly quick - but refined enough to never feel 'that quick' - not sure if this is a good thing or not!

However a few little jobs to be done are on the horizon, firstly the front brakes are wearing thin, both pads and discs will need changing - luckily the Brembo system looks a doddle to work on! 2 pins and a spring clip just for the pads! Happy days!

However when inspecting the brakes for wear I have noticed that both front shocks are both looking a tad damp... New shock absorber time... being the 4C system I was expecting a high price to pay for these... Mentions of up to £300 per shock to pay are mentioned on the Volvo websites and even Eurocarparts want around £550 per item!! ouch!

I however did find a small group on Facebook mentioning that Amazon are actually the sellers for Monroe shock absorbers - what the R uses and they supply the shocks I need at a much reduced price! Was given the link and I have managed to purchase both front shocks for about £140 the pair!! I do believe they are for the XC70 but people have tried them on the P2 Rs and have found them to work perfectly fine with the 4C system! There is a god! haha.

The only downside is an 8 week wait which will put me just in time for the MOT test!

Anyway I've also been busy with a few quick jobs...

Purchased some new style wheel centres from the current Volvo range, actually really suit the Volvo R alloys and look a touch more modern than the standard items!





I have also been busy removing the light scratches from all over the car - joys of being black and thank you very much for the makers of G3 scratch removal polish and the waffle pads! They are simply brilliant! Never seen a black car look so good! Here's a pic after a full G3 and Autoglym Polish and wax session!





Also been busy removing all the dead flies and crap that the front mounted and very exposed intercooler had had to put up with the past 10 years! Looks a lot better!



Even the engine got a quick round of elbow grease!



Thanks for reading! Will continue to update!

[Shadow R1]

That's looking great.

[pstruck]

That is a handsome beast for sure and the design is ageing very well I think. Some excellent work on the bodywork, which looks fantastic in your latest photos..

I've got a black car, so know exactly what you mean about scratches. Mine is covered in them - too many narrow country lanes round here. I shall have to give that G3 stuff a go.