Is the turbo worth it?

[heelstriker]

I am not a Volvo owner yet, but would like to be soon. I really want an 850 Turbo, but the ones in my price range are few and far between. Is it really worth it to get the turbo? Are there any cheap and easy mods for a non turbo car to make it fun to drive? I'm not a racer or anything, but I would like to know that I had power if I should need it.

[jaljamma]

Get the 850 Turbo, it

[White850Turbo]

Get a turbo model! Everyone that has the N/A models wishes they had a turbo model. The turbo model is rather quick and even in stock form can hold it's own against V8 Mustang GT's, 350Z's pretty well and will pretty much embarrass the crap out of the typical V6 mustang/firebird/camaro. There is a guy over on VPTuning sometimes named Mike that ran an 11.8 1/4 mile just the other day. Once he gets his chip and boost dialed in, that number will be closer to 11.2 or 11.3. To give you an idea of how fast that is, the 996 Porsche 911 Turbo runs a 12.3 1/4 mile.

[8fiddy]

My parents have 96 855 5-speed NA and it's only feels fast because of the manual tranny. I just recently got a 94 855 Turbo and the difference is amazing. Even as an automatic it can scream up hills and pass easy. The 850 turbos are usually trouble free if you can find one thats been taken care of. Be sure the seller has service records and take any potential cars to a mechanic that knows Volvos and have them check it out (compression, leaks,etc).

[BWSmith201]

Definitely worth it! We've had an NA 854 (97) and a Turbo S70 (00) and the turbo is a MAJOR difference. Both have been GREAT cars, but the turbo is more fun to drive by far. I have also driven the Turbo 854s, (I looked at getting one as a project car a few months back but decided I already had enough cars!) and they are much like my S70, maybe even a little quicker.

If you can find one you can afford, go for it. Once you've driven both, you'll understand!

Impressive machines.

[66 GT350]

I HAVE TWO WAGONS BOTH FIVE SPEED MANUALS (SEE BELOW). I DID NOT WANT TO CHANCE BUYING AN OLDER TURBO BECAUSE THEY COST BIG MONEY TO REPAIR IF THE TURBO DIES. THE TURBO GNEREATES MORE HEAT AND THAT SHORTENS ENGINE LIFE. TO ME ON HIGHER MILEAGE CARS STICK WITH N/A AND MANUAL TRANNY.
ALSO, IF IWANT TO GO FAST I DRIVE MY '66 SHELBY!!! SEE YA TURBO!!

[Depends]

I own a 97 850 t-5. I love the turbo as one of my friends had the same car which was a glt. The glt's are a light pressure turbo. I don't know everything about your situation but it would seem the glt would be a better choice. It's the kind of in between model which provides the luxuries of teh turbo but not as much strain on the engine. Also the turbo needs a greater detail in terms of maintance I would think it would make more sense to go with the glt.

[tina]

If you're nto a "racecar style" driver, you'll find the naturally aspirated model in sport mode to be more than adequate for passing, getting onto the highway etc. I had a '94 850 nonturbo wagon and now '98 S70 base 5 speed and both are *plenty* peppy for me. I did have an '87 740 turbo in the past that was nice too but honestly it didn't seem any more powerful than my other cars in normal everyday driving (and I am not a granny-driver either).

Turbo is another thing to worry about - you must use synthetic oil, premium gas, and more things that can fail. Buying a used one is a bigger risk because they are the first thing likely to go. Have it checked well fro leaks etc and make sure they have been using synthetic oil in it all along.

[Jaxx]

with a turbo, you have power there when you need it, my mom loves to drive our 850 T5, and she doesnt like to drive anything else without a turbo... she says that no matter what car it is, it must have a turbo for her to drive it regularly. when she drives a NA car, to her it feels sluggish.

turbo - increases fun to drive factor, power there too... and you have a nice deriviter valve sound too...

stay away from the 1st gen turbos, they were crap... but after 94, they are fine, we have yet to have a problem.

[8fiddy]

FYI heelstriker I paid $5300 for mine with 145K and that was a little high in my area. I've had the car less than a month and the things I've done is maintenance (filters, cap,rotor, plugs, timing belt, serp belt), a motor mount, and an endlink. I had the engine flushed too which was well worth it for $150. If you do an engine flush DO NOT have a quick lube place do it unless they hook it up to a machine that pumps detergent through the engine. I paid $80 to a quick lube and all they did was pour a $6 bottle of cleaner in the engine and run it for 10 minutes. The pro shop did it like i described above and three weeks later my oil is STILL clear, and better acceleration and gas mileage. I don't know your price range but I looked for two weeks before I found one in the Seattle/Portland area. I drove 4 or 5 turbos even if I didn't like the color/interior just to get a feel for different car wear patterns, meaning some felt more powerful, some had a louder turbo spoolup, some stunk,etc. I recommend driving as many as you can before you make a decision. I talked to a few mechanics about the trubo life and they say their experience is that the 850 is a well designed turbo (relative long life), granted if you up the boost it will wear out quicker but the car is pretty fast without doing that! If you do find a car, take it to a mechanic, the hour labor cost is well worth the trade off of getting the car home and having something bad come up. Also if your in a tight budget income (like me) plan on working on the car yourself as much as you can! Turbo is the way to go for fun!