Whats Volvos AWD system like?

[Palmer]

In the earlier cars like the P1 V70R?

[cumbrianmale]

The early early ones were very prone to damage from uneven tyre wear but the later Haldex transfer boxes are more reliable. General consensus is keep tyre wear within 1-2mm and rotate front to rear every 5000 miles, it can also mean 4 new tyres if you get a puncture unless you can get a part worn the same depth.

[Palmer]

Are they good at road holding?

The 0-60 times seem a bit less to other 4WD/AWD cars of the same power....

[cumbrianmale]

No idea mate, never owned one.

[Volvo6]

Are they good at road holding?

When you say road holding do you mean mechanical grip, ie the ability of the suspension and tyres to keep themselves stuck to the road surface or the ability of the 4wd to apply power to the road effectively, ie traction?

In terms of grip the cars are generally very good, their low stance (the Rs..) and suspension seems to hold them to the road very well, although of course, especially in the wet mechanical grip is more than anything determined by the tyre's ability to adhere to the surface although the suspension's ability to keep the tyre in the best position to do so is also important.

Under power though, ie traction they are by modern standards...a bit rubbish. The 1st gen V70 was never great at applying its power effectively to the road surface anyway, indeed for me that is what makes driving a T5 for example in the wet/snow so amusing...esp with just the 205 tyres on wheelspin is very much the order of the day! The TRACS system is hopeless compared to modern spin control. Adding what is a rather slow to respond viscous coupling AWD system was an improvement but again it is agricultural by modern standards and while it can kill the power induced understeer that the FWD V70s suffer from to a point it is not as good as the modern haldex systems that can send variable amounts of power to different wheels in the blink of an eye.

My take on the V70R AWD is that it is a heavily turbocharged car with still essentially front wheel drive driving characteristics; the engine feels lazy at lower RPM and then wakes up rather suddenly when the turbo spools up which puts a big demand on the front tyres that the system struggles to keep up with pushing on. I would still characterise it though as a good handling car though; it shares the same general weakness of the 1st V70 by modern standards of a rather flexible structure which makes it feel a bit vague in the corners sometimes but it can tightened up with braces etc but apart from the that the 'R' treatment really improved it. It rides nice and low which balances the handling and actually probably the AWD system improved the car more by virtue of moving some weight backwards than being AWD in of itself! I'm not sure about this but I think having the IRS at the back rather than the delta link of the FWD V70 has also improved the ride a bit.

In short it will hold the road well in the twisties although will not feel particularly agile on really windy stuff...it is after all an estate car not a go kart! Just don't be too disappointed if you find the power delivery to the road a bit inefficient, 250hp is quite a lot to send to mostly the front wheels if you have no system of traction control to speak of (TRACS is not very effective and only works at low speed anyway) and only a relatively slow viscous coupling to distribute power to the rear. If it is just better traction in snow you are after then obviously that doesn't really matter because you'll be going slow...

I while back my dad pulled a very severe evasive maneuver prompted by another car at motorway speed, it held the road like glue (OK it has good tyres on which obviously helps...) to a degree that is quite impressive for a car that has no ESP systems at all. It does feel stuck to the road...but I guess you wouldn't expect anything less from a Volvo!

The 0-60 times seem a bit less to other 4WD/AWD cars of the same power....

What are you comparing it to? The manual time is pretty good considering the power/weight ratio. What I would say is that the V70 T5/R engine is not about 0-60 time which as you say is not outstanding...what it is really about is 50-70mph! I believe in its day the 850R could give a 911 a run for its money on that count. The overtaking power of the manuals especially in that range is probably the car's strongest point.

[Palmer]

Well to cut a long story short my RWD converted 300bhp Scooby shat its gearbox and I am currently in the market for a new car. Due to the reliability of my previous Volvos (Havent broke down once![ 3 x 940, 1 x 440]) im debating coming back. I really love the T5's get up and go and the engine note, but im a bit sceptical of going back to FWD or a (excuse the French) p!ss poor AWD.

I was being sensible and looking at a diesel until I stumbled back on the forum haha!

[SwedishVillain]

Go on! Come back! We miss you haha You could always see if you could find a 5-pot Diesel like the TDi's in the 850/ph1 x70's or even a D5, they have a lot of go and seem to be robust