Comments on: 2009 Volvo S80 Range

By: NotTheStig

NotTheStig — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:42:46 +0000

Pious,

I have a wagon – so no parcel shelf !

A good friend of mine made the hat and tweed jacket joke often and then after seeing my car and having a look around the market, bought a XC90 for his wife…

By: pious

pious — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:52:42 +0000

NotTheStig – do you ever get tired of people asking why there isnt a hat on the parcel shelf? I must have heard it 100 times when I drove the volvos, and every comedian who said it thought it was original. I have to say, though, having the volvo was a great conversation starter, particularly with the R which really bent people’s perceptions of volvos, being faster than most v8s. Now with a jag, I suppose people will ask me where the oil stain is…

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:34:21 +0000

NotTheStig,
Point Accepted.

By: NotTheStig

NotTheStig — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:29:25 +0000

Nick,

When you use your car (as I do) for business purposes, driving a BMW/Merc is a serious issue, especially when you roll up somewhere that, um, the people may be a bit “less fortunate”…

Don’t seem to get the dagger looks in a Volvo like you do in other european cars in the same circumstances. Doesn’t matter that my Volvo is full to the brim with cool features and options – people only see the badge…

By: Sgt.Sweetchuck

Sgt.Sweetchuck — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:34:00 +0000

Nice house in the background.
Don’t like the car.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:30:34 +0000

Try BMW M3 = 4.0L = 300kw

By: pious

pious — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:28:24 +0000

yeah, the figures are deceptive – the V8 has 0 – 100 in 6.6 from memory, and it certainly feels faster than that off the line with a sweet engine noise. Just a little disappointing at 80 – 120, where you might want some more in overtaking.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:20:27 +0000

232kw from 4.4 v8, the 350z makes close to that. less torque though

volvo – 232 kW and 440 Nm
Nissan – 230kW and 358 Nm

By: LloydS

LloydS — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:58:37 +0000

It would probably be a nice car if it had a gearbox. Can’t have everything, I suppose.

By: Frontman

Frontman — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:46:53 +0000

Nick, most upper Euro’s would rather “Give Away” the safety equipment and then let the end user decide what Gizmo’s they want. The others tend to want to give all the Bling and and then leave the safety packs to the customer to option.
In my experience, less than 3% of buyers (all demographics & price ranges) choose to improve the safety level, but over 50% will choose some sort of upmarket stereo or Satnav or such if it was offered.
However I do quite like these things, and if (heaven forbid) Falcon had to go away from it’s current platform this is the Floorpan I’d prefer they went to. This one is good enough to even replace the Tuarus pan.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:33:26 +0000

Why don’t Volvo make satllite nav and other goodies standard? Not sure a BMW would give you a wrong image. I do like the interior, very elegant.

By: pious

pious — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:29:31 +0000

I have had 5 volvos (most before I was 40), the last being the s60R. They are a great car, terrific performance for the price in the turbos, but the ride can be hard. The good quality leather (i.e. higher spec cars) is a semi analine, pretty much as good as it gets in a lux car (not arguing, Alex, maybe you experienced the cheaper stuff). I drove the s80 V8 when it came out, and thought it was pretty good, but the front end is nowhere in appearance and its looks didnt grab me. Acceleration was great up to 80kph, then tailed off just where the boost in the R would be kicking in, so probably safer for traffic fines. Volvo service has been great, though we had a lot of teething issues with the s40T5 – in and out of service dept several times with fiddly things – software etc, but that was the first of the model, and you expect that. all told, very happy to have been a volvo driver and to be married to one.

By: NotTheStig

NotTheStig — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:49:20 +0000

Leather smell ?

My Volvo is 5 months old and there is no odour at all – so it must go away, not that it ever concerned me before. My last new BMW had odours that stayed with the car for some months so I just can’t see that being a valid point at all…

I must say one thing – driving a Volvo is a lot more “client friendly” than being in a BMW whose image seems to get you on the wrong side with many people. Volvo drivers are just percieved to be a bit eccentric, but I can live with that !

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:27:18 +0000

I like this car. I always get the feeling that I’d be happier with a Volvo than a BMW. The reason why I will never have a Volvo though is that I cannot stand the smell of Volvo leather, and it doesn’t go away. The cabin stinks of strong leather forever and it makes me feel sick, so I suppose I’ll be off to the BMW dealer then…