Big thirsty Swede (N+1 V8s)
Discussion
I'm not too sure about how PH-worthy this is, but there's only one way to find out...
Earlier this year I was in need of a people-mover at short notice, and I stumbled across a local XC90 D5 for not a lot of money. It had 176k on the clock, was poverty spec, and smelled strongly of dog, but against my better instincts I found myself rather liking it. I have three kids in car seats, a requirement to tow every once in a while, and I live down teeny tiny country roads that never get gritted and are 60% mud throughout winter, so it slotted into my life very easily. It was even surprisingly fun yomping through the backroads on long travel suspension and big squishy tyres.
However, it wasn't a permanent solution. The kids' nursery is only 4 miles away, and I could foresee many expensive diesel-ey shenanigans coming my way with this kind of short journey/low annual mileage combo. Plus it was slow. Like really slow.
Fast forward a few months and, with a healthier budget, I set about finding something more suitable. I like the size and general winter-proof-ness of the XC90, but really wanted a petrol and something with a few more creature comforts. I started looking at T5 and T6 XC70s which did look perfect for what I need.
And then I discovered that Volvo put a V8 in the XC90. So obviously I had to have one of those instead
So anyway, here it is. 98k miles, 4 previous owners and - mercifully - it doesn't smell like Battersea Dogs Home.
In case you forget:
With its other V8 stablemate
And the moneyshot...
So, what have we got here then? Well it's a bit of a car-dealer special, admittedly - initial test drive revealed a knackered torque converter, it was wearing odd tyres, bits of the interior trim were damaged, it has pretty limited history and carries the general air of a car that hasn't been looked after too well in recent years.
A sensible person would probably have left it, but (as anyone who's seen my high-miler M5 thread will know) I am not a sensible person. So instead, I sat down with the dealer, talked through what needed doing, and agreed a price. Did I mention it has a V8?
I picked it up earlier this week with a freshly-rebuilt torque converter, full service, MOT, repaired interior trim and a new set of Michelin CrossClimates. I'm still in the "I think there's going to be stuff that requires attention" phase of new car ownership, but while the gremlins bide their time in making themselves known it's been thrown straight into daily life.
How does it drive? Well, it's an XC90, so it's big, heavy and soft. But the character is so different to the old D5. It's smooth. Really smooth. And quiet. Until you poke it with a stick, in which case it moves at really quite a startling pace with a very pleasing old-school V8 growl
It's also remarkably quick off the line. The old oil-burner was very reluctant to get moving as you waited for the turbo and the auto-box to remember what they're supposed to be doing. 60mph comes in around 7 seconds, I think - impressive for something comfortably over 2 tons - but it really shifts out of junctions. A few launches on loose surfaces also confirm the Haldex AWD system works as it should
So there we have it. I suspect this thread won't be entirely plain sailing, but in the meantime I'll be here making my kids giggle on the nursery run
Earlier this year I was in need of a people-mover at short notice, and I stumbled across a local XC90 D5 for not a lot of money. It had 176k on the clock, was poverty spec, and smelled strongly of dog, but against my better instincts I found myself rather liking it. I have three kids in car seats, a requirement to tow every once in a while, and I live down teeny tiny country roads that never get gritted and are 60% mud throughout winter, so it slotted into my life very easily. It was even surprisingly fun yomping through the backroads on long travel suspension and big squishy tyres.
However, it wasn't a permanent solution. The kids' nursery is only 4 miles away, and I could foresee many expensive diesel-ey shenanigans coming my way with this kind of short journey/low annual mileage combo. Plus it was slow. Like really slow.
Fast forward a few months and, with a healthier budget, I set about finding something more suitable. I like the size and general winter-proof-ness of the XC90, but really wanted a petrol and something with a few more creature comforts. I started looking at T5 and T6 XC70s which did look perfect for what I need.
And then I discovered that Volvo put a V8 in the XC90. So obviously I had to have one of those instead
So anyway, here it is. 98k miles, 4 previous owners and - mercifully - it doesn't smell like Battersea Dogs Home.
In case you forget:
With its other V8 stablemate
And the moneyshot...
So, what have we got here then? Well it's a bit of a car-dealer special, admittedly - initial test drive revealed a knackered torque converter, it was wearing odd tyres, bits of the interior trim were damaged, it has pretty limited history and carries the general air of a car that hasn't been looked after too well in recent years.
A sensible person would probably have left it, but (as anyone who's seen my high-miler M5 thread will know) I am not a sensible person. So instead, I sat down with the dealer, talked through what needed doing, and agreed a price. Did I mention it has a V8?
I picked it up earlier this week with a freshly-rebuilt torque converter, full service, MOT, repaired interior trim and a new set of Michelin CrossClimates. I'm still in the "I think there's going to be stuff that requires attention" phase of new car ownership, but while the gremlins bide their time in making themselves known it's been thrown straight into daily life.
How does it drive? Well, it's an XC90, so it's big, heavy and soft. But the character is so different to the old D5. It's smooth. Really smooth. And quiet. Until you poke it with a stick, in which case it moves at really quite a startling pace with a very pleasing old-school V8 growl
It's also remarkably quick off the line. The old oil-burner was very reluctant to get moving as you waited for the turbo and the auto-box to remember what they're supposed to be doing. 60mph comes in around 7 seconds, I think - impressive for something comfortably over 2 tons - but it really shifts out of junctions. A few launches on loose surfaces also confirm the Haldex AWD system works as it should
So there we have it. I suspect this thread won't be entirely plain sailing, but in the meantime I'll be here making my kids giggle on the nursery run
Edited by seiben on Tuesday 2nd July 11:53
d_a_n1979 said:
V8 with another V8.. What could go wrong
Looks a cracking stablemate
Man maths is telling me the V8 has less to go wrong than the D5. Engine and gearbox aside, everything else (I think!) is the same as every other XC90....Looks a cracking stablemate
outnumbered said:
@seiben, have you moved (I always enjoyed your house renovation thread) ?
I have, yes. I'm afraid that thread won't be continuing.BrettMRC said:
Fantastic!
I've had a soft spot for these for ages
Thank you! Big fan of your Supra thread, btw. One day..... I've had a soft spot for these for ages
GreatGranny said:
Big fan of the XC90, had 2, both D5 185bhp diesels with the slowest autos ever.
Great as family wagons with 3 kids and a caravan to tow.
Mine were very reliable but barely did 30mpg, God knows what the V8 does, late teens?
Keep us updated OP.
Cough... er yeah... late teens.... sure....Great as family wagons with 3 kids and a caravan to tow.
Mine were very reliable but barely did 30mpg, God knows what the V8 does, late teens?
Keep us updated OP.
Court_S said:
That’s pretty cool.
An aunt had a D5 XC90 of this era and it was fabulous; terrible gearbox and an even worse turning circle but it had a shark of its own. It never caused any issues either. I drive it a few times and weirdly really liked it.
One unexpected bonus is the turning circle is noticeably better than on the old D5. I guess the engine is shorter!An aunt had a D5 XC90 of this era and it was fabulous; terrible gearbox and an even worse turning circle but it had a shark of its own. It never caused any issues either. I drive it a few times and weirdly really liked it.
6 (ish) month update.
The old Volvo had a fairly bumpy start, all things considered. As the previous picture will allude to, one of the pulley tensioner bearings shat itself pretty early on, earning it a recovery back to the supplying dealer to rectify. Shortly after receiving it back, I noticed a certain whiff of unleaded when near the back of the car - an issue that became more prevalent when I fueled it up and ended up with about a litre of Sainsbury's finest 95-RON on the floor of the forecourt.
So, back to the dealer again to rectify what was a leaking fuel filler-neck and a couple of other niggles I'd spotted along the way. To their credit the work was carried out without quibble, but it was still something of an inconvenience.
So it was with some trepidation that I got it back, with an air of "what's next"?" hanging over it. Fortunately (fingers crossed....) everything has been more-or-less well in the world of big thirsty Swedes, and it's racked up about 3k miles mostly yomping around the manky back-roads with the occasional longer trip.
There are still a few little niggles - some light clunking from the suspension, a slightly loose mirror casing (my fault, I suppose, for hitting a pheasant at 50mph) and a bit of driveline vibration at motorway speeds - but as a do-it-all daily that can ferry the kids around and be surprisingly entertaining in the process I'm rather enjoying it. The heater is excellent, as are the heated seats, and because it doesn't sound like a canal boat I can let it warm up on the drive for 5 minutes defrosting without pissing off the neighbours.
It spends most of its time looking like this...
I haven't yet got it as manky as I managed with its predecessor, but I'm sure there's time
Oh, and in case you're wondering: 16mpg.
The old Volvo had a fairly bumpy start, all things considered. As the previous picture will allude to, one of the pulley tensioner bearings shat itself pretty early on, earning it a recovery back to the supplying dealer to rectify. Shortly after receiving it back, I noticed a certain whiff of unleaded when near the back of the car - an issue that became more prevalent when I fueled it up and ended up with about a litre of Sainsbury's finest 95-RON on the floor of the forecourt.
So, back to the dealer again to rectify what was a leaking fuel filler-neck and a couple of other niggles I'd spotted along the way. To their credit the work was carried out without quibble, but it was still something of an inconvenience.
So it was with some trepidation that I got it back, with an air of "what's next"?" hanging over it. Fortunately (fingers crossed....) everything has been more-or-less well in the world of big thirsty Swedes, and it's racked up about 3k miles mostly yomping around the manky back-roads with the occasional longer trip.
There are still a few little niggles - some light clunking from the suspension, a slightly loose mirror casing (my fault, I suppose, for hitting a pheasant at 50mph) and a bit of driveline vibration at motorway speeds - but as a do-it-all daily that can ferry the kids around and be surprisingly entertaining in the process I'm rather enjoying it. The heater is excellent, as are the heated seats, and because it doesn't sound like a canal boat I can let it warm up on the drive for 5 minutes defrosting without pissing off the neighbours.
It spends most of its time looking like this...
I haven't yet got it as manky as I managed with its predecessor, but I'm sure there's time
Oh, and in case you're wondering: 16mpg.
k being filthy 
MustangGT said:
Greendubber said:
What a great wagon, isn't it a Yamaha engine in these? I'm seem to recall they had something to do with it.
I think you are correct, a 4.4 V8 by Yamaha.We only got the modified versions (there's an engine number cut off) sold here in automotive form, funnily enough using all the changes Yamaha suggested. There's a lot about this on US forums with a class action suing Volvo for selling that design. No idea how that panned out.
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