The Volvo 850 was my first car and boy did I feel like a pimp. The inside is covered in very nice, good quality leather. When you sit down, you sink in just a little bit. It's not an LS400 but it did have a decent sound system, good looks (in my opinion), and decent pick-up.
The stock car made only about 185 horsepower from an inline-5 transverse mounted engine. Yes, this car had five cylinders and no one believed it until I showed them. 185 horsepower is not much nowadays (in 1997, it was 'quick'). Having the engine mounted transversely, however, allowed a lot more horsepower to actually get to the wheels. The wheel-horsepower for this car was only a little less than brake-horsepower which is what the engine actually produces.
The engine has to then spin a driveshaft which may have to spin this part that has to spin this one... You lose power at each step. Having the engine mounted transversely where the crankshaft is aligned with the tires helps a lot with this problem because the engine's power goes to the wheels almost completely. That's why most 4-cylinder engines have a transverse mounted engine where the engine sits from side to side and not front to back. An LS motor in a Corvette, for example, is longitudinally mounted meaning it sits parallel to the wheels.
The 850, I believe, would have been a complete hit if they didn't make it front wheel drive like its predecessors. It's still a very sporty car so let's go over it. I want you to ponder a question though - can an 850R beat a Toyota Supra? Both modded, of course. Answer at the bottom.
First of all, you want the T5R trim level. That one came with a turbo and 227 BHP. I had the N/A one and it, still, had very good pickup going up an on-ramp, for example. Add a turbo and you got a sleeper if you leave it looking stock.
The 850 was made between 1991 and 1997. After that, it was replaced by the S70. The previously mentioned T5R model can be had for under 3 grand as well as 850 R's. For the full 3 grand, the car should have a minor problem at worst. You can get one with a couple issues for $2,000 and still be below $3,000 after a boost controller, depending on the problem.
The 850R came out in '96 and some came from the factory manual (not the book, I mean it had a "stick shift" [car slang...]). The car had a re-designed intercooler, reprogrammed ECU, and a bigger clutch. This bumped the power up to 250 bhp. Pretty impressive. Turn up the boost now, buddy.
Volvos are known to be reliable and these are no exception as long as they have been maintained well, like ANY car. They will make it to 400k miles. Also, I repeat, they are dirt cheap.
They're easy to work on (quite a bit of room). To this day it's probably the third most comfortable car that I've driven and OH! I almost forgot. The sound this motor makes is glorious.
Five cylinders, all firing in unison creating an orchestra of sound only heard from a few Audi's and that's about it. With a nice catback exhaust, these cars honestly make one of the best exhaust notes ever. Although you should never straight pipe an NA 850 because it needs back pressure (it is NOT a myth... Some cars DO need back pressure). If it's turbo, do it. Without a turbo, it just drove worse. But I had a 3" straight pipe. Get a 2 and 1/2 catback if you just want sound.
A straight pipe on a turbo Volvo... Chin drops to floor. I saw one shoot fire under a bridge and I almost creamed myself. You know that 5-cylinder sound I mentioned? Ohh boy.
So let's get to the good stuff. What can I expect to get out of this car if I want to mod it? Well here's the honest truth. There is not many aftermarket parts for these cars. However, a boost controller to raise the turbo's PSI and an upgraded intercooler will get you close to 320 bhp or so. A better exhaust (do it first... It sounds so good) will bump that up a little and you know what? For some people, that's plenty of power because it will spin the tires for a long time going from 2nd to 3rd.
I say there isn't a lot of aftermarket parts but yet there's 700 horsepower 850s driving around. Whooping Supra's butts. Check this video out:
I'm a big fan of rear wheel drive nowadays but sometimes I would love to drive what I just described. You point it and it goes there. Now that I think about it, the car handled pretty well.
I'm writing this article and subconsciously thinking how I could afford a 1996 850R and still keep the Lexus...
Truly, it's a nice car. I mean everybody knows it but I drove it. The amount of mechanical issues that came up was so minimal (remember, I had an N/A '97) that I miss it for that reason alone. The odometer was stuck at maybe 240k for years.
Until I killed it being a teenager. The first thing was that I let my friend drive and he promptly crashed it into a parked car going 30mph. Besides that though, I somehow didn't notice that there was no coolant at one point and my engine was overheating until I saw smoke. There goes the head gasket.
Before that, I remember sometimes it would suddenly run on 3-4 cylinders because I had no idea where to start changing spark plugs at the time. Man, that car was neglected! After that one, I always check my oils and watch my gauges.
What's my point? It's really reliable. Turbos, of course, come with their own issues but ultimately it's just another system in the car. There's things you have to consider like maybe idling for 30 seconds when you start the car to get oil to the turbo. Same thing when you park - give it a moment to stop spinning. This will make your turbo last longer. Volvo also makes a lot of turbos giving you the choice of swapping in a bigger one. Most of them bolt on or need little fabrication.
Will a stock turbo make it to 400k with the car? I believe so as long as it's maintained and definitely if it is rebuilt or replaced at 200k or so. You will probably want to do that anyway... Just saying. The turbo, not the motor. Also, I had a '96 turbo Saab 900 with 292k miles and the turbo worked fine. Just saying. It's a different car both they're both Swedish so that makes them the same? No really though, Volvo and Saab are similar in reliability in their 80's and 90's cars. And like I said, you can swap the turbo!
Overall, this car is good for economical usage. You can even get it in wagon form and it has some of the best crash test safety ratings. That's what you tell your wife. And it also has a bulletproof engine.
A little side note; when Volvo came out with the 240, it was so safe that the government bought 250 cars to crash them to make that the new 5-star safety. They had engine mounts that would break and send the motor underneath your car rather than into your crotch and some other intuitive features. The government made that the standard!
Now in 2018, I believe Volvo has a car that guarantees that you won't die in a crash. So if you buy one and die, you should sue - straight up.
The car is very quick and fast if modified even a little bit. The looks are timeless (not like the 240 or 740... Sorry) and you can keep it a sleeper or turn it into a beautiful car.
If you really need more to convince you, most of the time... Old people drive them. Old people take care of cars. You can find a pristine car being sold by an old person for dirt cheap. Just saying...
If you're going to buy one, you can probably find a decent one with about 150k miles for $2k. You will get a very nice turbo one for $3k (you can still get a turbo with $2k). It's okay if it has more miles if it looks well taken care of. Inspect the turbo. See how it drives and spools up. That's honestly the most important part to check on these cars simply because turbos don't tend to last as long as some other things but Volvo has a good one here. Have it rebuilt one day.
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