Bluff lorry (Volvosaurus content)

[Leonard Hatred]

Waiting at a junction for an oncoming car to pass, someone rear-ended my Xantia and pushed it into the path of traffic - luckily no one was hurt and he admitted liability, so a cheque to the value (£430 - I thought they were going to offer scrap money) of the uppy-downy car was sorted out quickly. Bit of a pisser because the Xantia had recently flown through an MOT test - the first car I've owned that's gone straight through.



I spotted this Volvo 940 TD a couple of weeks before by chance, delivering a slightly broken camera to my friend's parents' house.
The guy who owned it is great, he's owned all sorts of rubbish diesels from Morris Oxfords to Ford Granadas and Sierras - and some silly plastic cars. Sadly he's had to thin down his fleet due to terminal illness.



The engine is a Volkswagen D24, turbocharged and intercooled (you could buy a non turbo diesel 940 in Europe - GRIM) with around 120bhp and 177lb-ft of torque. It's languid off boost, but push the very long travel accelerator pedal down, twiddle your thumbs and it goes quite well once the turbo kicks in.

It must be one of the least refined engines fitted to a modern passenger car, other applications for this engine include the VW LT and Steyr-Puch Pinzgauer, but it's quite charming, with a deep-chested burble (& knocking injectors...) at low speeds, and a gruff straight-six soundtrack at higher revs.
Revving the engine at idle, the engine's torque (and poor mounting) makes the car wobble like some 1970s American V8 with jelly suspension.

It's fitted with a 4 speed + O/D gearbox, it's relatively low geared for a big diesel, so the engine is vocal all the time - cruising along, it reaches a peak of noisiness at about 75MPH.



That photo was taken after rigourous testing* on the A93, the highest public road in the UK.

Handling is good for a wobbly, heavy (it's not that heavy by modern standards, my neighbour's Golf TDI weighs more) RWD car with a live rear axle.
It's no Peugeot or Citroen in the chassis department, but you can chuck it about and it's quite docile, I did accidentally DRIFT it uphill somehow though.



BLUE. I should get a better picture of the blueness really, without a sheet in the way. It's a great antidote to the blacks, greys and beiges in the usual 1990s cars that I buy. The driver's seat is a bit cramped for me with the manual sunroof stealing headroom, but once settled in it's mega comfy.

I'm driving it down the road to visit a friend in Kent soon. 1200 miles round trip. It'll be fine*.

[I.K.Brunel]

Splendid.
I do like a good old Volvo. The blueness is particularly pleasing. I think the only other 'alternatives' were cow skin or itchy grey cloth [depending on spec]'. The blueness also featured heavily in the 240 that I had briefly and my dad's late lamented 760 Turbo.

[Paul H]

In terms of rpm, is 75 still well within its comfort zone? Also, I still find it amusing that Volvo continued to use overdrives as late as this.

Handling is good for a wobbly, heavy (it's not that heavy by modern standards, my neighbour's Golf TDI weighs more) RWD car with a live rear axle.
It's no Peugeot or Citroen in the chassis department, but you can chuck it about and it's quite docile, I did accidentally DRIFT it uphill somehow though.

Funny that you should compare it to a Pug - back in the very early '90s, my mum had a new 945 SE Turbo (dad's company car), which was replaced by a second hand Pug 405 GRD wagon when my parents divorce started. Yup, the non turbo diesel version. She hated it, due to the complete lack of anything resembling performance, but did admit that it cornered a heck of a lot better than the 945 - a very good thing since the glacial acceleration meant that maintaining decent progress required maximum speed preservation through the bends. A benefit though of the performance* was a far slower accumulation of speeding points.

As a result, I quite like both 940s and 405s

[Leonard Hatred]

I've owned three 405s, they have the best ride and handling balance of any of the cars I've driven.
Not sure about the license preservation benefits of a slow car! I end up driving them quickly everywhere to retain momentum - a couple of cars back I had a non-turbo diesel Citroen Xantia...

75MPH is only 3100rpm, but it's such a loud engine. They didn't improve the sound deadening noticeably over petrol versions, comparing it to scrapyard petrol 940s.

The overdrive is quite cool I think, it's nice to flick in and out of fifth* by dipping the clutch a little and pressing a button. 1992 was the last year for the 4+O/D gearbox. I'm not quite sure why it lasted so long, they had a 5 speed gearbox on the go in the 1980s I think.

[Leonard Hatred]

I've just measured the fuel consumption using some jugs of spurious fuel. 11 litres, 85 miles.

35MPG, that's not bad.

[Jon]

Blue cars with blue interiors and outmoded straight six dervs are obviously for winners, though admittedly you upset that apple cart a little with all that performance* you have, being turbocharged and all. Low technology points gained back though for overdrive. I remember being ferried around southern France one afternoon in a LHD MKIII Transit minibus on UK plates (E reg I think) and it had a 4 speed with overdrive on top, so am guessing it's a continental Europe thing, as I'm sure they weren't available on UK spec MKIII vans.

35mpg sounds pretty good, especially as I'm guessing you're a fair way from most motorways? I once calculated 37mpg from the Nissan Commodore, using Googlemaps and brimming the tank twice (since the speedo/odo are tosh), so have steadfastly stuck to that claim since. Would gladly trade 2mpg for extra oomph though!

[Leonard Hatred]

Performance*? It's pretty quick I think!

35mpg was on a quick run to Inverness and back, the A9 is the closest to a motorway we have and it's a slow 1300ft vertical ascent on the way home that kills fuel economy a bit.
I bet the Nissan Commodore is more refined. Does it have a live axle or IRS?

[Paul H]

I've owned three 405s, they have the best ride and handling balance of any of the cars I've driven.

My in-laws out in NZ have a first gen 405 - think it's only a 1.6 (definable a carb engine though). Being rhd, it's a UK market car so has the speedo in mph, & km/h secondary despite being sold new in NZ. Didn't get the chance to explore the handling fully, but I found it drives a lot more nicely than any other modern car I've driven recently. I'd happily own a wagon version, but preferably in GLOT or GROT spec First gen though, as I really don't like the look of the second gen interior.

Not sure about the license preservation benefits of a slow car!

This one wouldn't cruise above the ton, unlike the 945 - iirc, it refused to ever do more than 95 flat out, and that was downhill.

The overdrive is quite cool I think, it's nice to flick in and out of fifth* by dipping the clutch a little and pressing a button. 1992 was the last year for the 4+O/D gearbox. I'm not quite sure why it lasted so long, they had a 5 speed gearbox on the go in the 1980s I think.

In Amazons, & I think also early 140s, the o/d switch is a column stalk, so can be reached without taking a hand off the wheel. Really intuitive, and makes for a more relaxed driving experience. No idea why they persevered with o/ds , but I guess it was well proven, so they weren't fussed about changing something that was tried & tested.

[Jon]

I just assumed that 120bhp wouldn't equate to much in a Volvo 940, though I suppose it's always assumed that they were as tank-like in weight as they were in design cues. The Commodore usually weighs 1600kg on the local tip scales though that's laden with junk, driver and fuel so probably near 1300-1400kg, which isn't bad for a 'full size' family wagon. Seems to be the same for your 940 if Google is to be believed, so I'll retract my *!

It seems that live rear axles were en vogue in Commodores until the late 90's at least but regardless, it handles sufficiently to maintain momentum (running on 8 ply commercial tyres), so long as no-one dawdles in front. Acoustically, the wagon body accentuates engine noise inside, despite what Wheels magazine stated at the time. Not only that but it's a rather terrible diesel noise, whereas on the couple of occasions I've heard it being driven off by someone else, it sounds brilliant outside - if burbling diesels are your thing....

[Vulgalour]

bluuuueeee... I see you've modified the grille there.