VOLVO is vying for the hearts and souls of BMW M3 and Audi S4 buyers with its V70R hot-rod, an unlikely concoction of Swedish industrial design and industrial sledgehammer performance. It’s also value-packed and practical to boot, but the guys and girls from Gothenburg have a hurdle or two to handle before the Germans start running scared. That said, this insane Volvo remains worthy of further investigation, especially if versatility as well as velocity is vital.
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Volvo 850 T5
Released: October 1995
Ended: January 1997
Family Tree: V70THE V70R's most direct ancestor is the 850 T5 wagon sold here from October 1995. Packing 166kW/300Nm from its turbocharged 2.3-litre five-cylinder, the front-drive 850 T5 was available in five-speed manual and four-speed auto trim for around $74,950. Later 850 wagons received a facelift, Volvo's new naming convention and even more performance - witness the V70R models that packed 176kW (1997), 184kW (1998) and then 195kW (1999) - but none were as hot as the V70R tested here, the first real performance variant of the new V70 range that appeared here in 2000.
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