Hi from Australia

fuel · Post by **fuel** » 06 Jan 2013, 22:44

Hey guys,

My name is Phil and I'm from Brisbane Australia.

Just picked up an S70 T5 2.0 turbo, I've previously had an 850 T5 along with a 244 GL. It has a few little issues but I'm slowly working my way through them so no doubt I'll be heavily using this site!

Post by **precopster** » 07 Jan 2013, 06:08

Hey Phil welcome to MVS. Hope to see more of you and your car as time goes by.

The 2.0 litre wasn't sold here to my knowledge. Is this a NZ car?

fuel · Post by **fuel** » 07 Jan 2013, 23:52

It did indeed do a brief stint in New Zealand from 2003 until 2006 but it was actually originally sold new in Singapore. I would imagine Singapore had the same engine size tax restrictions as some of the European (ie Italy) and other Asian markets. I am fairly sure all the New Zealand domestic markets are UK/AU-spec clones and therefore had the same 2.3 engine.

Post by **precopster** » 08 Jan 2013, 00:19

I had a customer from NZ with a 1999 S80 with a 2.0 litre 5 cylinder. They all got the six cylinder in Oz and USA in that model year. It was a NZ market car according to the owner.

NZ seems to have greater restriction in regard to fuel consumption and emissions.

What year is yours?

fuel · Post by **fuel** » 08 Jan 2013, 01:55

mine's a 12/97 build and according to the VIN number it is a 98 model year, however it was registered as a '97 when it landed in NZ and therefore subsequently was registered as a '97 when it hit Australia too. Interestingly, it was mistakenly registered as a 2.3 T5 in Australia despite the paperwork from both Singapore and New Zealand stating it was a 2.0L model. The B5204T3 engine code confirms it is a 2.0 as well.

As far as the 90s in NZ were concerned there was no restriction on fuel consumption or emissions, it wasn't until the early to mid 2000's that the NZ government had a knee-jerk movement after decades of unrestricted imports which now clamped down on frontal impact standards and emissions regulations - however this mostly applied to Japanese vehicles imported in from Japan as used cars as this was the primary source of used imported cars flooding into the country.

I probably should have mentioned that I am originally from New Zealand and had only come over to Australia to live a couple years ago. Most of my family however is Australian as my mother is from Sydney.

Most of the car manufacturers who sold new vehicles in NZ were somewhat lucky they could pick and choose models destined for multiple export markets so long as they were RHD as after 1997 there was no longer local assembly of any vehicles (Mitsubishi were the last to shut up local assembly end of 1997). That means many models sold were often UK models, Japanese models or even Australian market models. I am unsure why the 2.0 5cyl S80 was offered in NZ - perhaps it too was a Singapore import? Many used dealers were importing Europeans in from Singapore as opposed to Japan as it was a cheaper source of vehicles, many of which had a dubious service and odometer history.