Volvo 850 TDi Automatic Road Test Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ก.ค. 2015
- More budget-busting antics with the Volvo 850. Find out about racing estate cars, warbling five-pot engines, headlamp wipers, automatic gearboxes, noisy wiper blades and interior shades other than black. Mostly blue.
The car in question has covered over 190,000 miles and I think I want one. As ever, no script, no skills, no budget. Thanks for watching. Subscribe if you'd like to see more! - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
I absolutely love the sound of this thing! I need to find me TDI 850. I have wanted one for a while now
Love your videos mate. At last some real world motoring blogs. I have a 2001 Saab 95 aero. I would love to see your opinion on them. I love mine.
we need people like you Ian to save the revamped "Top gear"!
He'll focus too much on wiper patterns... But i get the idea...A hippie James May.
He'd have to wear sandals and insure the beard!
Over 190K on the clock and it's still running strong. Typically Volvo...if you take care of it, you'll bring the baby home in it and send the baby off to college in it 18 years later.
It's my car now, it's now on 223k and still going as well as ever!
My Volvo broke last night - it's a T5 and all! I just serviced it however I've not owned it for long.
Paid £1,200 ten years ago for a '98 V70. Passed its last three MOTs with no faults or advisories. Still starts within a second of turning the key. I love it.
1997 Volvo 850 Estate, definitely one of the best cars I have owned.
I am a die hard Volvo fan. I just love Volvo cars, especially from this era and previous eras such as the 70s and 80s. I love my old 345DL. And that 5 pot sound is just music to my ears.
+1100HondaCB Volvos definitely had a distinctive feel well into the 1990s.
My one is 34 years old and everything still feels like new. The sound of the engine is awesome.
That 5 pot sound. Love it. Reminds me of my Audi GT coupe.
Absolutely love the videos you have here! Only seen a few so far yet I can see i'm gonna enjoy 'em all :) Keep them up!
Thanks!
Oh you gotta love the 850 - I’m a huge Volvo fan
They're ace, and capable of racking up huge mileages.
That engine sounds gorgeous. I drove a vw LT...something a while back with the 5 cylinder and it sounded amazing. Proper beefy sounding
Young'uns today. Eh? I used to run a Volvo 145, which was this cars ancestor. It used to have an annoying habit of bleeping if the seatbelt wasn't engaged. Easily sorted by leaving the seatbelt plugged in and sitting on it😀 it was also one of the first 'normal' cars with fuel injection. It was a 72 if I recall correctly.
Love your channel mate. Keep up the good work.
Good review mate, underrated car imo. My 850 t5 with manual box is a hoot and handles better than people would think having the passive rear wheel steering. Volvo only dropped the estate in the bttc as the rules were changed so they had to use the saloon. Watching them race back then made me want one, volvos werent meant to be doing that😀
Love the sound of the Turbo Diesel engine. I once had a BMW 524 TD car and its pretty solid as long as you take it to the mechanic every 6-9 months.
I'm on my third "olderish" Volvo, a 2004 S60 with a five cylinder 2.5 turbo diesel, manual box and 151k on the clock. Bought in April and being Scotland it was snowing by the time we arrived to see it. Yeah doing all the wrong things when buying a 2nd hand motor. That said it, once we cleared the snow off of it, it was immaculate, we took it out for a "proper" drive, no accident history etc. It's got full leather and is a joy to drive. Even the aircon still works.
My first Volvo was an L reg petrol 1.5 440 (sure I know, it's a DAF) which was my brothers and sat under a tree for far longer than it should've done after he emigrated to New Zealand, this was in 1999 after I binned my ZX6R. I had to do some fixing up because sitting in an overgrown auntie's vegetable patch didn't do nice for this car's brake lines. Bloody loved that motor though and put around 60k on it until I sold to a student fella in the village with a decent length MOT. Amazingly this thing's TCO was the lowest of all the cars I owned.
The second was a 2004 S80 petrol 2.4 I picked up in 2014 for 850 quid with only 120k. But it was properly shady and then I became aware of "flipping". The bloke that sold it to me wasn't really truthful about the fact it was an auction heap. Not a great buy but its TCO was around 1200k over two and a bit years (including purchase price). I drove it to the scrappy after it failed its MOT. catastrophically.
There are more extended tales about these cars than I want to bore everyone with, so I'll leave it at that. That said, I still love Volvos, despite my recent one having just developed a power steering fluid leak :/
I could also talk about my '98 Saab 93...the money pit. But by god it was tremendous during that 2010'ish winters we had.
And my brief ownership of a '98 Honda Accord 3L V6 Coupe (725 quid) until an artic ripped the front off of it.
ps: love the channel.
The engine I think is a 5 cylinder version of the 1.9tdi which is about as fuel efficient as engines get. Better than the newer VW ones.
The engine is an Audi AEL 2.5 TDI, Forged internals hence bomb proof! Volvo took it onboard and improved it with better oil seals (Because in Audi/VW spec they piss oil out for a living!) And a more aggressive cam plate in the injector pump, I've got 2 850 TDI wagons and i love em! Also they are rare as rocking horse shit now!
Probably the best cars ever made.
Certainly amongst them.
Another enjoyable video HubNut
The 850 is the best car ever made. I'm on my fourth one now, an 850R. 250bhp as standard, mine's on about 280 at the minute. 17.8mpg though, but such fun!! I'll lend it to you for a review, but you'll have to come to Belfast to get it haha.
Nice review
Grew up next door to a local eye specialist who had one of these in grey with the grey interior. Solid car and such a nice place to be. He'd take us kids on trips and it handled well the way he hooned around in it. Every used one that comes up is usually completely shot though, with the leather always in a horrible way.
Thank you for making this video.
Thing is though, everyone remembers the 850 estate touring car - and I'd struggle to name a car it competed against! That must be seen as a success from a marketing perspective!
Dan Katz - those wide arched Alfa 155's were bloody lovely too.
P reg is my favourite year still had oldies being made and new ones.
Another interesting video! A P reg Volvo is a car I would consider buying.
This 850 is gorgeous....a 2.5 diesel...5 cylinders... automatic...fabulous..Had a test drive once in a 850r. Never forgot that and I've always loved the 850 since...would you rate the early s80 d5....to add too the xm🙄
the last of the "tank" volvos, the t5 was a beast!
Had one of these nearly new in the 1990's. Wonderful car. The 2.5 petrol 5 cylinder has this amazing sound. The deisel versions i had later didn't have this magic and it seems that as volvo/ford slowly "improved" the mpg over the years the deisels became more and more agricultural sounding from the outside (but still fairly quiet on the inside). Overall though lovely cars.
Good video 👍
I have a Volvo 740 TD VW 2.4 straight 6 (Lt van engine) 4 speed with over drive I would love you to review it when it's on the road
As soon as you turned the key I heard a VW Transporter start up lol. Never realised volvo used this engine. Having worked in a VW van centre it's a very familiar noise
Yup. I often drive a VW LT minibus with pretty much the same engine. Very distinctive, and oddly appealing.
I remember when the 850s first came out. they just looked brilliant compared to the more conservative looking 900 and 400 models in the range.
IIRC there was also a 'base spec' 840 available for a short time with a 2 litre 4-cyl engine.
I think you're confused with the 240, which had a 2.4 litre 6-cylinder diesel VAG engine out of the VW LT van (terrible engine by the way) but also came with a 2 litre 5-cylinder version out of the Audi 100 for a short while in some markets.
All 8-series were 850s with 5-cylinder Volvo petrol engines or the Audi 2.5l 5-cylinder TDI.
Always liked Volvos. My dad had a 1986 D, 740GLE when i was a kid, and coming round a blind corner one day collided with an Alfa, (i wasn't there so don't know which model). Thankfully no one hurt, and the Volvo needed a new headlight unit and front wing straightened. The Alfa was a write off! Ok, so given the choice, obviously I'd go for an Alfa, but not in an accident!
Yeah, I've never been keen on low profile tyres for exactly that reason.
I had a 940 some years ago, and was lent an S60 tdi auto when I took it to be worked on. Like you, my first though was diesel and auto would mean chugging along, struggling to get out of the black cloud of exhaust. How wrong can a man be? It was like being fired from a gun. Immediate response, perfect gearing. I don't know what they did to get that, but it worked a treat.
the same engine that was used in vw mk4 transporters and MK2 LT's
And audi 100/a6 2,5 tdi 115hp
Earlier Volvo TDs were 6 pot. Later on after the VW 5 pot they made their own 5-pot TD, the D5. I agree, there's something about the sound of a 5-pot, I've owned a 6 cylinder diesel car before & just think the sound from a 5-pot makes it a better travelling companion. The free-wheeling must be a Volvo thing with automatic transmissions, I own a 2008 C70 D5 Geartronic & that does the same, I end up using the gears manually to get some engine braking, especially on long hills, or it will run away. I was told the reasoning behind it is for emissions purposes, but I don't see how.
I've never owned an automatic before so I thought they must all freewheel like that. You get engine braking when the torque converter locks at 55mph, or at lower speeds if you select 3 or L- a feature I hadn't thought to use until I spent a week in Wales. I sometimes wish it was a manual but driving a 6 speed Transit daily does make you appreciate an auto.
The ride is definitely the worst thing about the car, and was even worse before I fitted 205/55-16 tyres in place of the 205/50-16 it's meant to have. The French seem to have a monopoly on good ride and good handling on the same car.
bobtoo probably saved a few quid getting 205/55/16
My 850R runs 215/40/17s, combined with the stiffer springs and lowered suspension (all standard) it is a bit of a backbreaker at times compared to the old 760s etc. Bloody quick and holds the road like nothing else I've driven though.
I like automatics - and nowadays, there's such a variety. The robustness of the torque converter is perhaps going out of favour with more recent developments in automated manual gearboxes. I though the CVT had died with the Volvos/Dafs but seemingly not having been reinvented with metal belts and all. It seems some of these new-fangled CVT had fairly reliable issues while others performed well over many years. I always felt the torque converter was a pretty durable device so was quite surprised to find some people had managed to break them.
Personally I believe the 850 as the last true Volvo. I have a friend and he drives his moms 2000 something Volvo S40 sedan ,I gotten a ride in it a few times and it was rubbish too Ford like and not roomy at all. I am not going to knock all 2000 something Volvos, but outside of a very few newer generation models if I was going to buy a Volvo it would have to be the PV544 upto the 850 or 960
i'd buy another if had the chance .... owned this car but the estate version in bright red
I like 5 cylinder engines. The Audi 100 converted me to the idea.
5 cylinder theeeee best sound over v6-v8 or any even number configuration. I had an Alfa 156 2.4. What a noise !!
0-60 test - at a leisurely pace ! It took you a whole second to get that pedal far enough down to activate the kick-down ! What were you parping about at ?
Please do a video on its daddy the 940 diesel if you ever get the chance ???
Oh yes. Six pot diesel goodness. Very keen to try one.
Needs 185/60/15 on it, it's not the low profile tyres is the problem. It's the fact that with the 16" wheel it's more wheel less tyre.
try a mega cheap rover 75, you'll be surprised how nice they are in diesel or v6 form
Had a diesel. Didn't like it...
I was going to get one, 2litre diesel. Can you tell me why you didn't like it?? I accept you as the older Car Guru.
hello Hubnut! have you ever driven a car without sunroofs??
hahah
great videos btw
I do like a sunroof, I must admit. Try the Jaguar XJS video, or the Honda Insight one for cars without.
HubNut i really like all your videos!! you have also good mechanical skills!! well done from Greece my friend
Thank you! My mechanical skills are distinctly average, but I put them on show anyway.
love those Engines man. but keep an Eye on the timing belt and water pump. do that and you got an Engine that will serve you good for years! unless you push it like a maniac.
give it new belts and pump and will live longer than most of us lol
The free wheeling sensation, the lack of engine braking - apparently that’s a quirk of 5 cylinder engines. The t5 is the same.
It's purely down to the gearbox. The Hilux Surf I just posted does exactly the same.
@@HubNut You may be right (you’re a lot more knowledgeable than I am!) but I saw an interview on “Geoff Buys Cars” channel where he spoke to a retired traffic cop who drove manual 850 t5s in the 90s. He said the police asked Volvo to upgrade the front brakes, after a series of accidents where police had come off the Mway onto a slip road, from 150 mph, let off the gas expecting the engine to assist braking, but it didn’t, and they had crashed. I don’t know if the manual gearbox shares parts with the auto? It’s certainly a very weird sensation, reminds me of 2 stroke motorbikes which also don’t engine brake.
Better engine than the later 2.4 TDi. 46mpg is good. Be interesting to see what real-world tank to tank result would be. Not as heavy as most people think either. Even the estate 850's were around 1,465-1,570 kg which is still lighter than my XM 2.1 hatchback auto which tipped the scales at 1670 kg.
***** Real world mpg is high 30s/low 40s locally and mid 40s on a long run.
+bobtoo That sounds about right. This one had just driven to Wales from Fife, so a pretty long run!
ClassicHub I know, I drove it!
+bobtoo Ha! Well thanks for letting me drive it too.
P80 platform: 850 flight 1 started in 1991 (small bumpers/simple armrest), flight 2 1994 (the 2.3 T5 R trick, bulky armrest and big bumpers, and yes there were 2L too, lot sold in Italy, don't know why, maybe something with tax max liters or due to weight class), flight III 1996 (2.3 R), V70 classic flight I 1997-98 (2.3 R) (Is a 850 facelift & the beginning of the designation V70, like Audi turned the 100 into the 1st A6), flight II 98-99 (re-enforced 2.3 R vvt elec ign..), flight III 99-00 (2.5 R 5spd aut 260+ hp..) Best is not to go for those 2L Turbo versions that pop up a lot now through import, people love these cars so..... and service them well when you get one, see ROBERT DIY youtube channel for EVERYTHING on those volvo's.
Thanks for the timeline. Incidentally, I have one of the originally Italian 2L models (a 1997 flight I V70) that was subsequently imported here to Finland, and this is the first time I see it mentioned that the 2L B5202 was more or less an Italian peculiarity.
Car still runs very nice with 310k km on the clock, and I plan to keep it for a couple of years. Had to do the motor mounts, but that seems to be a given with these.
Ha! We have an 850 2.5 petrol manual estate, and it flies!
how much Hp? if it's got 140 or 144hp it's a GLE/Se model. but most 850s you'll find are usally GLT model's mainly because 170hp was bit of an effective sales pitch.
I think it has 170, it's mainly the noise it makes that makes the car so nice to drive. that 5 cylinder growls
skeet skeet My brother got a '00 V70 Classic and that car hauls ass plus here's the kicker, it has clocked over 470,000 KM! (still Rising) and it still runs like it's came out of the Factory! meanwhile all i got is a Saab 9-5 Ecopower 2,3 Turbo. good car, bit qerky but comfortable and it too produces 170hp. which also hauls ass by the way even though it's an Automatic.
nice man, gotta love volvo's for their build quality, but saabs are cool too, you don't see them everyday. I'd love an old saab one day before they turn into big collectors classics!
Lol those wipers on the headlights, very 1980s 😁⚠️
I've never understood the need for them and why were they put on 'highend' cars, as if they were a luxury item? 😁⚠️👍😎😯
The 850 R was ridiculously rapid.
I have a v70 from 1997. 2.5T and auto. You want to try? 😉
I think the VW 5 cyl diesel may have been the foreunner to the Volvo 5 cyl diesel engine. No im wrong but 850's themselves though are undestructable. You can't kill them.
The engine is a Volkswagen unit. Not Volvos.
I know. Just done some research and Volvo D5 engine was based on their 5 cyl petrol engines. Our S60 had a D5 in it and was very nice.
Volvo's 5 pot petrol started out in late 70's / early 80's Passat's and Audi 100's and 200's, only to eventually end up being used in the Focus ST and RS.
No it didn't. Volvo's 5 cylinder petrol appeared much later, 1990. The VAG in-line 5 cylinder engine has nothing to do with it.
I have a 2.5 petrol automatic VW T4. Sounds exactly the same, but the economy and acceleration is pretty dreadful.
Make it a AWD one and that's the best car ever
Chris Hart - god no. I had the first gen v70 AWD on a 98R plate. Granted, the 5 pot engine sounded ace, it went like stink and it cornered like nothing else. I found out that despite the previous owner having the viscous coupling box rebuilt, it was making a racket 18months later. All the tyres have to be same brand, same depth and rotated constantly. They're renowned for failure, alignment problems and uneven tyre wear. Got rid sharpish.
I own a 850 petrol (2.5 20V) I bought last year for €995. Engine pulls really well (sound is even better that the diesel since it will rev much higher), body has no rust at all! Cheap to fix as well: parts are easy to come by, also lots of secondhand one too. They are being scrapped and disassembled for parts, because no one will buy them. If you get one you'll drive like a boss.
(although I cant find one of these on ebay.)
Getting rare and desirable now.
Increasingly being discovered by people who have been priced out of 240 / 740 ownership.
The 850 doesn't have the character of the old 240s and the engine isn't as reliable as a redblock either, but at least it still *looked* like a proper Volvo - boxy with lots of big, flat surfaces. I must admit I prefer the comfier, floatier ride of big 80s cars, including my 1982 Volvo 244 - and I'm sure that her 15" steel wheels and chunky tyres play a big part in that.
My 1990 740 TD estate fourspeed plus overdrive was a lot quieter than this....... but a great car nevertheless.
Hate to break the news - but it’s not a VW engine - they helped design the original 5 cylinder but the 850 engines are all Volvo - do your homework man!
Nope. This engine is the AEL, same as Audi A6, 5 cylinders 140hp...
Then its not stock!
The diesel is a VW engine. The petrols are not.
It's an Audi engine dude
SWE DEN Audi is owned by VW...
sonido horroroso