My very first car that was given to me by my father was a green 1997 Volvo 850 with the odometer stuck at 220,000. He bought it when I was really young. It was 2000 and at the time, this was one of the better Luxury cars on the road. I could attribute my love for luxury sedans to this car.
As a 17-year-old I thought this car was FAST. I would hit it every chance I got... I was doing neutral drops... Bad stuff.
The car has a 5 cylinder engine. Whenever I mention that to people that don't know about Volvos, the reaction is usually "Naw... It has to be 4 or 6... There's no 5 cylinder engines!" My reply would always be "You wanna bet?"
This engine is a great engine. It has a very high compression ratio. It only makes 160hp on the base model but when you put a turbo on it, it becomes a beast. Try to get an R model or at least any turbo one. Not only do these engines last a long time (300k is normal) but they will last just as long with the turbo unless you start messing with it.
However, if you mess with it... You have a frickin front wheel drive BEAST. By the way, I think the car looks great too. Anyway, you bump the boost up and you have 300hp for about $2-3,000. That's right in our budget. I believe you can buy a decent T5 for less than $2,000 and it will destroy these ricer civics (you know the type... exhaust sounds like a leak, doesn't go anywhere - boy racers [I am absolutely not ripping on Hondas because they're good cars. I'm ripping on these street racers racing economy cars]).
Check out the engine. I'm telling you - these people that don't know are so confused why there is 5 cylinders when I would lift the hood up.
This is a very reliable engine like I mentioned. Keep it at 300hp and you should be okay without upgrading internals. My favorite thing about it - and many agree - is the amazing sound this thing makes. I mean it has five frickin cylinders... It's gonna sound different. It has a roar to it. Very nice with a good exhaust system (don't do straightpipe on an NA - it needs backpressure to run right).
What are the cons? There isn't many. First of all, it's a cheap car, easy to work on, and parts are very accessible. And incase you're wondering, there is very little aftermarket support for these cars.
The 850 is a great sleeper car. First of all, even if you have dual exhaust or something, the car looks like what your grandma drives to the average person (I love the way it looks but it certainly doesn't look fast). If you're into sleepers, definitely look into this car.
I learned a lot about maintaining cars from my Volvo. Like I said, I would floor it for no reason... rarely check fluids... it was bad. It died when I had no more coolant in it (that should tell you where my mind was at) and it blew a head gasket. At this point, however, sometimes it would decide to run on four cylinders... Lost a lot of power... Long story short, we junked it.
I made sure to TAKE CARE OF MY CARS after that. Learn from me if you're buying your first car.
Onto the interior. Obviously this one is boosting... Nice. Anyway - this is certainly a luxury car. My LS400 has more seat adjustments but the 850 is close. As far as the seats themselves, they are extremely comfortable and slightly hug you because they're smaller than the huge LS400 seats. As far as amenities, well, you have all the standard 1997 luxury sedan stuff. You got your CD player (I had a 2001 Volvo S40 [turbo] that only had a cassette player!), AC that constantly dies (it's a problem with these cars), and an ergonomically designed interior. Very comfortable like I said. Depending on personal preference, you might like it more than the LS400. The car itself is more compact, weighs less, etc. The only other car I've owned that possibly has a more ergonomic interior is a 1996 Saab 900SE (turbo...).
Volvo did well racing the car aswell. The cars also have outstanding safety. Volvo has been the leader in safety for a long time if I'm not mistaken. I think one of their commercials said that their new car's safety features are so good that they pretty much guarantee that you won't die. Please correct me because I saw this commercial once and if they didn't say anything about a guarantee they still said you won't die. Pretty impressive.
This car gets probably 22mpg city and a little more highway (the base model). It's reliable, you can get the fast version, and you might become a Volvo fanatic. I almost did. I love turbo Volvo 240s. The stock engine on those cars, a 4-cylinder, is said to be able to handle 16-20 PSI of boost no problem. You can literally get one for a grand, crank up the boost, and have at it. They're rear wheel drive and a car that I definitely want to get in the future.
Thank you so much for reading. Guys, I have been busy but I should have time soon to fix the power steering leak from the ACV and also paint my rims flat black. Look out for those tutorials to come out soon. Much love.
Beautiful or ugly? Comment below. There is no wrong answer except one.
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