To 'R' or not to 'R' - that is the question...

[aland]

Background...
I have an '04 V70 D5, which I've had for 11 years. It's now on 257k miles and everything works, i've just resolved the dreaded ECM-6805 issue and it pulls like a train once more. It consistently returns around 46MPG.
It's been a great workhorse and is far from perfect condition, but to me it's like an old shoe and i'm rather attached to it.

A friend of mine has just offered me first refusal on his V70R. It's 6 months older than mine, on about 50k less miles and has plenty of options. He's had it about 2 years and I've helped with a few jobs on it, and know the car well. It's generally in good condition.
It'll probably need a pair of (expensive) active front shocks soon and I think the propshaft centre bearing is getting tired - noise from there sometimes.

Obviously V70R's hold their value quite well, and my starship mileage D5 isn't worth much now, but based on completed items on ebay it would cost me about £3k to upgrade to the 'R'.

So the question is - should I buy it??!
I don't do many miles any more so i'm not too concerned about the extra fuel costs.
The road tax is about £50/year more I think.

Has anyone made this switch who can add any advice?

[T5R92011]

I would personally go for a 2.4 T5 over an R.

1. Angle Gear on the R can still fail even on the 'upgraded' parts.
2. The Turning Circle is 13m, compared to 11m on the rest of the S60/V70 range
3. Tyres and Brakes look pretty expensive.
4. Split liners can happen even on unmodified engines.


Also, there are tonnes of R's for sale on Autrader, whereas T5's are hard to come by at the moment.

If you can live with all of the above then go for it. The Four C suspension is available much cheaper (direct from monroe?) than it used to be, so suspension not so much of an issue.

[Georgeandkira]

No diesels in No. America so no experience.
Also, no idea of your financial situation. Seems like a bit of work & money for a none too different experience.
Is your D5 on the diesel "hit list"? Aren't your leaders trying to purge the UK of diesels? Is yours grandfathered?

The 50K in mileage won't square up with the unknowns.

R's hold their value and there are lots available? Does that jibe?

Do you need the quickness of a petrol R over the familiar pull of your D5?
I'm ignoring whatever passions you may have. Stick with your old shoe.

Save up for a "next tech" vehicle.

Just throwing these ideas at you.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by aland

Background...
I have an '04 V70 D5, which I've had for 11 years. It's now on 257k miles and everything works, i've just resolved the dreaded ECM-6805 issue and it pulls like a train once more. It consistently returns around 46MPG.
It's been a great workhorse and is far from perfect condition, but to me it's like an old shoe and i'm rather attached to it.

A friend of mine has just offered me first refusal on his V70R. It's 6 months older than mine, on about 50k less miles and has plenty of options. He's had it about 2 years and I've helped with a few jobs on it, and know the car well. It's generally in good condition.
It'll probably need a pair of (expensive) active front shocks soon and I think the propshaft centre bearing is getting tired - noise from there sometimes.

Obviously V70R's hold their value quite well, and my starship mileage D5 isn't worth much now, but based on completed items on ebay it would cost me about £3k to upgrade to the 'R'.

So the question is - should I buy it??!
I don't do many miles any more so i'm not too concerned about the extra fuel costs.
The road tax is about £50/year more I think.

Has anyone made this switch who can add any advice?

The R is a special car just about every part is different to the standard one , fuel bill will double , will you ever be going over 100 mph which is the area they come alive ?
The old D5 is my favourite diesel should do 55 mpg if you can stick to 50 to 60 mph , very fast mid range performance cross country ...

[100K+]

I have a 2004 V70 AWD R. Love it to bits. - currently 110K owned 8yrs

I had a 2002 V70 T5 Loved it to bits a little more. died at 240K. owned 11yrs

I ran both cars together till 2014.

Bought the R cos in 2008 when I bought the R I could not find an acceptable T5 as I was then looking to replace my T5.

Both cars are/was manual gearbox. You should NEVER EVER, IN A MONTH OF SUNDAYS buy these cars as an Auto/geartronic.

I also currently also run as my main car a 2014 V70 D5 @215BHP. Currently 30ishK.
Of these three cars its my least favourite.

My head says go with a T5 every time. its a financial no brainer. You can need deep pockets to keep an R running well.
The R when all is well will make your smile a bit broader and last longer, but when things are bad it can make you want to set a match to it.
A T5 is about 85% of the R without the heavy financial ( as discussed above) worry.

Cheers
Bob.

[aland]

Thanks all for the info.
The car in question is a manual.

I've said that I'll not buy it. As well as the feedback here, I have many D5 spares and a set of 16" wheels with winter tyres, none of which are compatible with the R.
While the R is great fun to drive, I don't need it, I'm happy enough with my D5, and the potential maintenance costs concern me. If I didn't already have the D5 then I'd probably jump in!

[Turbodave]

I have both...

2005 V70 D5 SE with the 163bhp engine and a 2005 V70R Manual.

Day to day, the D5 is infinitely better as a car for a multitude of reasons including it being softer with 17" thus less chance of destroying a hugely expensive wheel and tyre combo, it's much more simpler and thus far cheaper to maintain and the performance is more than adequate, more so when mapped and if the liar of a trip computer is to believed, mine is currently doing 73mpg average... lies, lies I tell thee!

However...

For the sense of occasion, the drama and the sheer performance than it takes a lot to better an R. It's a completely different machine, anybody who says it's just a glorified T5 is frankly talking utter ****e... it's not, it's as far removed as you can be and it's a fantastic thing to drive, more so as it still settles down and returns high 30's with ease and can do all the load lugging the D5 can. Granted, yes the costs can be biblical... in the past 12 months I've spent more then I paid for the car just on maintenance but it's a £4k0+ car with 300bhp, AWD, active damping and Brembo brakes... that costs a lot when it goes wrong and it does, but then so does any car.

I'd advise driving it, get a feel for it and go in eyes wide open to the potential costs... and as for running one day in, day out... wouldn't be me!

Good luck.

[aland]

The 'R' has sat on my drive for the last week, awaiting an MOT, which I took it for on Saturday. Passed with a few advisories. Had the chance to look underneath it while over the pit for MOT - very clean underneath, looks like the rear diff has a slow leak, nothing major.

And my friend (selling it) reduced the price a bit as it needs a service and a few niggles sorting.
So i've agreed to buy it.... it's a rare manual and considerably cheaper than the only other manual for sale in the country right now. - And has 100k less miles than I thought, only 113k.

Compared to my trusty D5, it's nuts.

[T5R92011]

On the flip side, if you're feeling extra fruity, you could find yourself a manual V50 T5 AWD (about 5 of them exist in the UK) and mod the hell out of it 'Focus RS' style for some AWD Volvo 5 pot performance.

I think you can get the 2.5T AWD in the S60, but not in the UK.

[Turbodave]

Originally Posted by aland

The 'R' has sat on my drive for the last week, awaiting an MOT, which I took it for on Saturday. Passed with a few advisories. Had the chance to look underneath it while over the pit for MOT - very clean underneath, looks like the rear diff has a slow leak, nothing major.

And my friend (selling it) reduced the price a bit as it needs a service and a few niggles sorting.
So i've agreed to buy it.... it's a rare manual and considerably cheaper than the only other manual for sale in the country right now. - And has 100k less miles than I thought, only 113k.

Compared to my trusty D5, it's nuts.

Good work and yes, they are completely different animals and anybody who says a remapped D5 offers a similar experience is talking utter garbage... as for those who say you can only really benefit from the R's power at 100mph+ are again, talking garbage. I hope it works out for you and that it's kind on the wallet though to be fair, they're nowhere as near as ruinous as some like to make out.