240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[loki_the_glt]

Originally Posted by Othen

Good morn John,



That was some years ago; when I bought the 244 the 'Royal Barge' seemed like an apposite name because it changed direction so slowly compared with our Porsche - and even our Skoda Superb diesel estate. The Royal Barge name has stuck - it reminds me of a good tour: working with some exceptional people and contributing a tiny bit to making the world a slightly better place - it suits the 244 as well.


Alan

Interesting remark about the steering, because my 244DL (Olaf) was anything but ponderous; my father was convinced it had PAS when he test-drove it, so accurate and reponssive was the steering. Inspection of the engine bay showed only a conventional rack set-up. With tyres at the high-speed/heavy load setting the steering is anything but barge-like.

I also had a drive, a few years later, in an early 240GL or GLE that had a very quick manual rack; I suspect it had been fitted because the vendor used it as a rally car and he wanted the razor-sharp response for the wooded sections of the Scottish rally scene.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by loki_the_glt

Interesting remark about the steering, because my 244DL (Olaf) was anything but ponderous; my father was convinced it had PAS when he test-drove it, so accurate and reponssive was the steering. Inspection of the engine bay showed only a conventional rack set-up. With tyres at the high-speed/heavy load setting the steering is anything but barge-like.

I also had a drive, a few years later, in an early 240GL or GLE that had a very quick manual rack; I suspect it had been fitted because the vendor used it as a rally car and he wanted the razor-sharp response for the wooded sections of the Scottish rally scene.

Everything is relative: the Royal Barge steers very well for a ton and a half car that is 16' long - it has PAS which works very well indeed. It isn't a modern car though, our other cars are 35 years younger :-)

[Laird Scooby]

Interesting story about the RB Alan, thanks! I've only really driven one 240 with any sort of regularity and that was a long time ago now. That also had steering that needed advance warning by carrier pigeon of a change in direction! It was sharply contrasted by the 360GLT that i also drove almost every day for work and my own Mk1 Cavalier Coupe, both of which had very sharp steering by comparison.

Since then i've driven a couple of other 240s that had much sharper steering, i believe Volvo used different racks at various times which may be the reason for the differences or possibly they altered some other factor like the camber or caster angle that could effect the response.

[john.wigley]

That is a lovely story, Alan; thank you for sharing it. I had an idea that there might be an actual 'Royal' connection.

I don't recall the 240's steering as being that bad! But, like 'L.S.', it is a long time since I have driven one; I suppose it probably does feel a little 'vague' after your modern cars.

It was, however, light years ahead of the worst example in this regard that I once owned. That dubious honour goes to a 1959 Austin (Nash) Metropolitan - a sort of scaled down American car based on BMC 'B' series running gear. It had a body by Nash-Kelvinator, who, quite frankly, would have been better advised sticking to making 'fridges!

Anyway, the slab sides and narrow track so restricted the steering lock that one measured the turning circle between towns rather than kerbs. Any change of direction needed a multi-point turn where a RWD Volvo required only a 'U' turn.

Regards, John.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Everything is relative: the Royal Barge steers very well for a ton and a half car that is 16' long - it has PAS which works very well indeed. It isn't a modern car though, our other cars are 35 years younger :-)

I always thought the 240 series was closer to 15' long Alan? The 7xx is 15'9" and to me, looks longer than the 240, perhaps because of the lower bonnet line. My Rover is 16' all bar about 1/2-3/4" and is definitely longer than my 760, easily seen when they are parked side by side.

As for turning circle, i frequently shock many people locally with both my beasts as there is a particular place where i park when visiting my local Co-op where it's easier to simply swing round in the road to turn round to come home (avoiding a half-mile extra dog-leg return trip) and many modern cars , even the so-called small ones, just can't do it.
Both of mine can, even the FWD Rover, with ease. You should have a nice tight turning circle on the RB and the steering shouldn't be vague at all, maybe it's just a chacteristic of a 1980 244?

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Othen

..... making the world a slightly better place ....

By whom will history be written?





P.S. In my limited and ignorant experience you do the 240 steering a grave injustice.

Stay Safe

Comrade Stephen Edwin

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

By whom will history be written?





P.S. In my limited and ignorant experience you do the 240 steering a grave injustice.

Stay Safe

Comrade Stephen Edwin

The 240 in general or Alans particular car? All 4 of us that contributed to that part of the thread agreed that in general, the 240 was quite a responsive animal on the steering, however it seems we have all individually experienced at least one car with "woolly" steering.

That, to me at least, is not doing the 240 in general an injustice, more a case of objective discussion with the conclusion being some cars were just like that, perhaps because a different make of rack was fitted to those cars.

A criticism often leveled at my other beast in general, the Rover 827 is that of "hide'n'seek" steering where the steering wheel seems to go "dead" at a certain point with little or no directional control. It has taken me over 20 years to finally experience that and not only have i now experienced it, i know the exact cause of it and the cure. Strangely, it was my 760 that led me to the solution.

Plain and simple, the rack was not centred correctly before executing a wheel alignment.

Mine is now almost exactly dead centre when it should be now but still needs a minor tweak as i can still find that "hide'n'seek" point if i'm driving fast through bends.

The 760 took a lot of trial and error to get the rack centred exactly before executing the alignment and has remained how it should be for a long time since. However, catching a new pothole recently has knocked the alignment out so i need to tweak both cars.

It's entirely possible that Alans Royal barge has a similar problem or it could be down to the McPherson strut top mount bearings being a bit worn causing camber and caster changes under dynamic conditions. Maybe everything is exactly as it should be and it's just one of those cars.

Just to reiterate, no injustices, just an open conversation about the fact some 240s have woolly steering.

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Othen

.... it has PAS which works very well indeed. ...

Interesting. I do not remember PAS in my old T reg 244. I miss that car. Is this my admitted increasing senility* or were there early PAS examples or has someone improved your jam jar in that respect?

*Yesterday was a milestone birthday. But please do not tell anyone.

Stay Safe.

Comrade Stephen Edwin




.

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The 240 in general or Alans particular car? All 4 of us that contributed to that part of the thread agreed that in general, the 240 was quite a responsive animal on the steering, however it seems we have all individually experienced at least one car with "woolly" steering.

That, to me at least, is not doing the 240 in general an injustice, more a case of objective discussion with the conclusion being some cars were just like that, perhaps because a different make of rack was fitted to those cars.

A criticism often leveled at my other beast in general, the Rover 827 is that of "hide'n'seek" steering where the steering wheel seems to go "dead" at a certain point with little or no directional control. It has taken me over 20 years to finally experience that and not only have i now experienced it, i know the exact cause of it and the cure. Strangely, it was my 760 that led me to the solution.

Plain and simple, the rack was not centred correctly before executing a wheel alignment.

Mine is now almost exactly dead centre when it should be now but still needs a minor tweak as i can still find that "hide'n'seek" point if i'm driving fast through bends.

The 760 took a lot of trial and error to get the rack centred exactly before executing the alignment and has remained how it should be for a long time since. However, catching a new pothole recently has knocked the alignment out so i need to tweak both cars.

It's entirely possible that Alans Royal barge has a similar problem or it could be down to the McPherson strut top mount bearings being a bit worn causing camber and caster changes under dynamic conditions. Maybe everything is exactly as it should be and it's just one of those cars.

Just to reiterate, no injustices, just an open conversation about the fact some 240s have woolly steering.

Lucky me. None of my 240s have had, woolly steering.

Othen's 244 does seem to have a disproportionate accumulation of troubles. One of those cars indeed. I am sure he will sort it out.

Comrade Stephen Edwin



.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

Interesting. I do not remember PAS in my old T reg 244. I miss that car. Is this my admitted increasing senility* or were there early PAS examples or has someone improved your jam jar in that respect?

*Yesterday was a milestone birthday. But please do not tell anyone.

Stay Safe.

Comrade Stephen Edwin




.

Power steering was optional on 240s i believe.

I hope you weren't born at 6am for that is the number of The Beast! Belated birthday greetings anyway.