Shed Volvo V50 T5 Manual

[sgtbash]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 09 December 2025 at 16:15

[ChrisCh86]

Bargain car for that price! Hopefully will give you plenty of cheap motoring

Are the seats as supremely comfortable as those on the V70?

[Jezza1983]

These and the old Saabs are massively underrated. Great car for peanuts.

[Challo]

Looks nice OP and good value. Those T5’s have decent performance, and can easily be breathed on to go a little quicker.

I had a C30 and can agree the cabin filter is a pain in the arse to change.

Look forward to the updates.

[helix402]

Looks like it’s got the Focus cabin filter location.

[sgtbash]

ChrisCh86 said:

Bargain car for that price! Hopefully will give you plenty of cheap motoring

Are the seats as supremely comfortable as those on the V70?

This is my first Volvo! So couldnt really compare, they are very comfy though!

Jezza1983 said:

These and the old Saabs are massively underrated. Great car for peanuts.

Agreed!

Challo said:

Looks nice OP and good value. Those T5’s have decent performance, and can easily be breathed on to go a little quicker.

I had a C30 and can agree the cabin filter is a pain in the arse to change.

Look forward to the updates.

It does have decent performcen..not sure weather to get a remap on it or leave as is?

helix402 said:

Looks like it’s got the Focus cabin filter location.

That would make sense!

[Jeffmaniac]

My wife had the basic end of the scale 1.6 petrol version V50 as baby transport for our first born.

Instead of chipping the car, look into good tyres and anything to stop it understeering. For such a small estate its handling was terrible when pushed.

[SirGriffin]

I had one of these V50's, a 1.8 petrol.

Handsome car, excellent build quality.

BUT...the 1.8 had the performance of limp salad, and had fuel consumption that would shame a naval destroyer. Then there was the ride, which was unbearable - clearly they forgot to fit any discernable suspension. And before anyone says "well you test drove it" all I can say is, the roads around the dealer must have been like glass. Given that that it was based on the Focus, what on earth did Volvo do with it?

I hated it so much I traded it after 2 months. Put me off Volvo's for life. Shame, I still think they are lovely cars.

[Max M4X WW]

I saw this on ebay, bit of a ropey advert and photos if I remember rightly but it seemed like it could be a good one. Seems I was right!

Nice to see it on here and being looked after and getting it back in order.

[850R]

Love me a 5 pot, ford chassis and build quality not brilliant, noticeable difference between the earlier stuff including seats and overall interior (P2 V70s etc, P80s) does this have the 320mm brakes on it?

Nice looking car though

[sgtbash]

850R said:

Love me a 5 pot, ford chassis and build quality not brilliant, noticeable difference between the earlier stuff including seats and overall interior (P2 V70s etc, P80s) does this have the 320mm brakes on it?

Nice looking car though

The brakes take up the entire inside of the front alloys - so I do think they are 320mm - new discs and pads too!

I took a magic eraser to the steering wheel the other day, it's come up wonders!

[snotrag]

SirGriffin said:

I had one of these V50's, a 1.8 petrol.

Handsome car, excellent build quality.

BUT...the 1.8 had the performance of limp salad, and had fuel consumption that would shame a naval destroyer. Then there was the ride, which was unbearable - clearly they forgot to fit any discernable suspension. And before anyone says "well you test drove it" all I can say is, the roads around the dealer must have been like glass. Given that that it was based on the Focus, what on earth did Volvo do with it?

I hated it so much I traded it after 2 months. Put me off Volvo's for life. Shame, I still think they are lovely cars.

Interesting that.

I had one of these too a few years back - I'd started looking for a Focus Estate before realising for the same cash you could have the same chassis with the nicer frock.

Mine was a bright red R-design, the nice two tone leather, big wheels, bodykit etc, I thought it looked great (like the one below I found a pic of) however it was also the 1.8 duratec petrol and it was considerably slower than I expected, I guess it a focus sized car mondeo type weight.

I later read that the Volvo "sport" suspension option was about the same spring rates as the Ford "comfort" option.

It's a real shame you couldn't get a properly sporty one, basically the 5 cylinder ST in the V50 shell with chassis and looks to match. The odd 2.4 engined one you see always tends to be SE spec, beige, auto etc.

I actually really liked mine as I could see the potential, but it just missed the mark of what had the basis to be a really great car ( no focus ST estate in those days!)

Edited by snotrag on Monday 28th December 20:30

[sgtbash]

So upon checking fluids as I do every so often, I found that the expansion tank seemed to have a minor crack causing it to lose pressure and leak a slight bit of coolant when hot. A new tank purchased, a gallon of blood lost trying to disconnect the hoses, and we are good as new!





I also noticed a bit of surface rust due to losing coolant? So I cleaned the area prior to the new tank



And the new tank fitted!



She also hit 160k today, she drives sweet as a nut!

[ChrisB992]

Love this! Took the T5 in my old V70 to 243k miles with very few issues. So much car for the money.

[sgtbash]

ChrisB992 said:

Love this! Took the T5 in my old V70 to 243k miles with very few issues. So much car for the money.

Good to hear! How often were you changing the oil?

[Paul S4]

That coolant tank.....
I have a 2010 C30 1.6D that now has 65K on, ( I bought it 2 years ago with only 33K) and I had to replace the coolant tank on mine for the same reason. It was not actually leaking, but it would have done so soon !

Mine has the R design 'sports' suspension, and I must say it handles very well, with good tyres ( currently Uniroyal Rainsports) : its as good as my previous Alfa 156 JTDM 150 Veloce.

I initially had a BlueSpark tuning box fitted to the C30 that lifted the power to about 140BHP, but for some reason when I renewed the insurance it made quite a difference to the costs, so I removed it... back to OEM 109BHP !! That is total honesty for you !

Although my commute is not motorway now so the extra torque is not so much of a loss. And it will protect the drivetrain as well.
Since I got my C30 ( bought for low running costs etc etc,) I have been tempted by a T5.... they are so discrete but quick as well. And they can be modified as most of the engine bits are common with the Ford ST I think. There is ( was) a C30 T5 on here that was modded up to around 300BHP

I have just had the front LCAs replaced ( with OEM Volvo ones that I got for a decent price) as the rear bushes were worn ( a common issue on the Focus chassis I understand ) and the car is booked in for the rear drop links as well as a Hunter 4-wheel alignment.

I probably would be tempted by a T5....but the fuel "economy" would be a real issue for me...... but may be worth it !

Having said that I only get about 42 mpg from my 1.6D drive E ( nowhere near the official 60 mpg Volvo figures !!!!) and that is diesel price as well, so the change to a T5 may make some sort of sense .....!

[sgtbash]

Paul S4 said:

That coolant tank.....
I have a 2010 C30 1.6D that now has 65K on, ( I bought it 2 years ago with only 33K) and I had to replace the coolant tank on mine for the same reason. It was not actually leaking, but it would have done so soon !

Mine has the R design 'sports' suspension, and I must say it handles very well, with good tyres ( currently Uniroyal Rainsports) : its as good as my previous Alfa 156 JTDM 150 Veloce.

I initially had a BlueSpark tuning box fitted to the C30 that lifted the power to about 140BHP, but for some reason when I renewed the insurance it made quite a difference to the costs, so I removed it... back to OEM 109BHP !! That is total honesty for you !

Although my commute is not motorway now so the extra torque is not so much of a loss. And it will protect the drivetrain as well.
Since I got my C30 ( bought for low running costs etc etc,) I have been tempted by a T5.... they are so discrete but quick as well. And they can be modified as most of the engine bits are common with the Ford ST I think. There is ( was) a C30 T5 on here that was modded up to around 300BHP

I have just had the front LCAs replaced ( with OEM Volvo ones that I got for a decent price) as the rear bushes were worn ( a common issue on the Focus chassis I understand ) and the car is booked in for the rear drop links as well as a Hunter 4-wheel alignment.

I probably would be tempted by a T5....but the fuel "economy" would be a real issue for me...... but may be worth it !

Having said that I only get about 42 mpg from my 1.6D drive E ( nowhere near the official 60 mpg Volvo figures !!!!) and that is diesel price as well, so the change to a T5 may make some sort of sense .....!

I do wish this was an R-Design, they look a hell of a lot better, but for the price I paid, I can't complain.

I average around 22mpg, however, I'm not often on the motorway so that is around town. I'm thinking of getting this remapped which would take it to 260 without anything else done to it.

The handling with this is a bit boaty, but honestly not bad at all, much better than the Civic it replaced.

[CarlosV8]

That's a bargain for a manual T5! I've had mine for a few years now and it's been a quick and comfortable daily. I fitted a set of Bilstein dampers (c£200 from Autodoc) which brought some of the body roll under control, but it is still very much boaty - suits my needs though.

[Challo]

OP what's the boot space like on these? Potentially might look at these in the future as a replacement for my Clubman.

I had a C30 last year, and fancy a move back to a Volvo but need the boot space for dogs and golf clubs.

[Macron]

sgtbash said:

The brakes take up the entire inside of the front alloys - so I do think they are 320mm - new discs and pads too!

I took a magic eraser to the steering wheel the other day, it's come up wonders!

Ooh, what’s a magic eraser?

Nice car btw, very sought after, especially in manual form. Volvo beards are very options sensitive on them, but they’re so thin on the ground, I think buying any is a good start.