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I'm pretty sure there was never an 850 AWD. In 1999 and 2000 there was an S70 AWD, but I don't think they were made in large numbers. They don't seem to be very common, nor do they seem to be very desirable because of the engine choices (I think they were all non-turbo, but the LPT engine may have been available). Either way, the added weight of the AWD system makes them kind of sluggish, based on what I've read. The only market for them seems to be the northern US or Canada because of the inclement winter weather.
 

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Noah

I own a black 1997 850 awd wagon. You can read the particulars of this car if you go to the Swedespeed want ads and search on the past year. I tried (unsuccessfully)to sell the car in December.

Volvo Canada reports that 285 such wagons were sold in Canada in MY 1997. Even more rare is the 1998 v70 awd equipped with a manual transmission. Only 259 wagons (manual and automatic combined) were sold in Canada.

If you want to see the sales brochure for the 1997 wagon, go to http://au.geocities.com/ozbrick850/
This is an Australian site, but it has a good deal of Canadian content, including information on the truly rare 1997 850R wagon (250 hp) equipped with a manual transmission.

Neil
 

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Noah

As others have pointed out, the wagon is sluggish off the line. I have considered adding a Wetterauer chip. There is a current thread on Brickboard about the Wett chip, and one contributor reports great results on an awd wagon.

I live in a rural area about 1 1/2 hour drive north of Toronto, so I don't spend a great deal of time in stop and go traffic. Consequently, the sluggishness off the line isn't an issue for me.

Once rolling, the car is a treat to drive. It is equipped with 16" wheels and a fairly stiff suspension. Not much body roll on turns, and a real joy to drive in the winter (which was entirely too long this year).

The reason I tried to sell it is that I don't have a Volvo dealer nearby, and much of the diagnostics on these cars requires a dealer's test equipment. This is very different from my last Volvo (a 1986 740 GLE), which I had good results having serviced by a local indie mechanic.

Neil
 

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The engine is the 190 hp lpt. I don't know if there was an 850 awd R in other markets - certainly not in Canada. I am part of a discussion group with other 850 awd owners, and one of our contributors (from Europe) owns a v70 awd R with a manual transmission. We did not receive the manual tranmission awd R in Canada.

Neil
 

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quote:

Originally posted by [email protected]:
The US did. I had a friend who had a manual tranny V70R. Your car sounds nice. I wonder how hard it would be to import it into the USA?
George

I know of others who have imported manual transmission awd wagons. One person in our awd discussion group imported a manual transmission v70 awd to the DC area. Also, I pointed one Brickboard discussion about importing these cars to two Canadian dealer websites that featured manual transmission awd wagons. While I cannot say for certain that those cars were purchased by US customers, they disappeared from the used car inventory within a couple days of posting that information. There are a couple of dealers who post notices on their website that state that they hav specialists on staff to assist US customers.

eg. http://www.newportmotors.com/

Neil
 

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Discussion Starter · #11 ·
That sounds like a nice car you have Neil. That would probably be a good project car to work on, and make as fast as atleast the 850 T-5. Thanks for all the info Neil.One more question, do you know how much power the car would have if you chipped it?
 

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Are they really that rare? There's a Platinum Edition AWD 850, with white pearl paint sitting in my local dealer's lot today, and another 850 AWD. One is a wagon, and the other a dark green sedan. I've checked both out, and they're definetly both AWD, pretty good condition, but I've no clue on the prices. I'll check if anyone's interested. It's a far drive, but it might be worht it.
 

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Re: (Neil)

Quote, originally posted by Neil »
There might have been a 1997 AWD sedan in some other world market, but I doubt it. When I owned an 850 awd wagon, I exchanged email with a group of owners that ranged through Canada and Europe, but all were owners of wagons.

If you want more information on the car, my original sales brochure is hosted here http://www.geocities.com/ozbri....html

Neil

My bad. 850 AWD was only available as a wagon.
 

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AWD club joiner here =)

I have V70 AWD 1997 with manual gearbox, i suppose it's also relatively rare, even here in Finland, where manual cars at least used to be majority. I was curious to ask, if there is 800-models equipped with M56 manual gearbox?
 

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Re: AWD club joiner here =) (karnage)

The 850 awd is equipped with an M58 (modified M56) transmission - the same as your 1997 v70 awd.

As I am sure you know, the "model year" 1997 in North America differs from year of build. My 850 awd was built in September 1996 and into service November 1996, but was considered a 1997 model year.

Other than North America, these were 1996 cars.

Neil
 
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