V70 R or T5?

[Nuisance]

A timely post over on VPCUK that may be of interest..

http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?t=25561

[s60ben]

Originally Posted by Nuisance

A timely post over on VPCUK that may be of interest..

http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?t=25561

Shame I won't post over there or I'd help the bloke out.

He's having the proverbial taken and there is a fairly easy way to get on the way to having all the problems resolved.

[ovlov25]

Its always nice to have the big boy R badge and all the toys!

I'd love an AWD car for the extra grip in bad conditions but in fairness you wouldn't notice the difference day to day.

Why not? Its a question of what you want, not what you need Find a nice example and do it!

[Terry Westley]

Seems like the chap has had some major issues with his R. Sometimes you can just get the wrong car. I know i bought a SRI Vectra which was a wrongan. I had the engine blow at 65k on the clock. Others who have had the the same car have had now problems at all. And i guess if we asked the same questions with regards reliability for the T5, you may get some horror story replies, when to date my T5 has performed impeccably. It would be interesting though as a poll whether all you V70 R drivers out there given the chance again would you buy another R. Which i guess is the acid test.

[s1monc]

I have an 03 plate V70R manual, had it for just over 18 months & covered about 20k in it including 2 holidays driving down to the South of France. Not had many problems really, in the 1st few weeks i had the updated software for suspension which made a minor improvement to the rear skipping about over bumps, after about 6 months i was getting a clonking when changing gear, a driveshaft retaining bolt had worked loose,new bolt fitted. Its had 1 service & 4 tyres in that time. Have been getting a slight knocking from n/s/f suspension area for months now (only slight the wife doesn't even notice it) but not bothered to do anything about that at the moment. In the last 2 weeks the drivers heated seat pad has developed a fault a buring sensation on my backside ! So can't use that at the mo !

I love the car & plan to keep it to at least 100k/ another 4yrs or so, main draw back is its heavy on fuel. The thing i like about them is they are a very rare sight on the road & not many people even know what they are.

Simon.

[s1monc]

Sorry just to add a friend of mine is a traffic cop who drives a T5 , we went out for a drink a few months back & i gave him the keys to the R, i'm a bad passenger but i trust his driving he did drive harder than i have ever done & went round a roundabout a couple of times trying to get it sideways but it just kept gripping ! He thought it drove a lot better than the T5,most noticeable was no torque steer or wheel spin when gunning it off & the handling & brakes where better, he said they did test a S60R for a pursuit car but because the turning circle was so poor they went for 330td BMW.

Get yourself an R

Simon.

[Terry Westley]

I need to wait a good year yet, but the great thing is i am picking up some of the issues to look out for, that's if i go for the R that is

[dodgyken]

R looks the business and is more expensive to run.

But then any 300PS car with complex suspension systems and drivetrains is never going to be cheap.

There is 1 that parks outside work almost everyday - each time I see it I think - thats the car for me.

[foggyjames]

In a straight line, I'm quite sure the R isn't much faster (if at all) than the T5...but almost everywhere else, an R will walk away from a standard T5. The brakes are incredible, and it can actually put the power down in a sensible way.

My S70 struggles to put down its 165 bhp, never mind the 250-odd the new T5s have. It's a nice car and it's reasonably brisk, but it doesn't remotely feel like a performance car. Ryan's 850 T5 is worse.

To be fair...if the car lives on the motorway all day, it's not such a big deal, but I drive a mixture of all sorts of roads, and the FWD stuff really isn't fun in the twisties. Why the motoring press raved about their handling so much when they first came out I'll never know - they're less composed than my 300s, which they slated! I'll forgive a lot for that 5-pot howl, though

Personally, I'd either get an R and have the real deal, or get a D5 (almost as quick as a T5, and significantly better on fuel) and admit that I've bought a(n excellent) fast motorway cruiser rather than a performance car.

Those are my impressions based on driving P1 cars, and spending a few hundred miles riding in a 'new' V70R. I have no direct input to the reliability side of things, other than that some of those stories are pretty shocking. I'd like a P2 R myself in a few years, but there's no chance I'd buy one if they're that much trouble.

cheers

James

[s1monc]

I also have an M3 Evo but much prefer driving the V70R

Simon.