Here’s What You Should Know About The Volvo 850R

In 1994 Volvo launched the 850 T-5 R, the first performance variant of the 850 series, and during its launch, Volvo also announced that the T-5 R will participate at the BTCC. later when the legendary 850 T-5 R’s popularity rose even more when the car was introduced at the 1994 Geneva Motor Show, The Swedish brand moved ahead to launch the 850 further with the 850R Sportswagon in 1996 but Volvo said the 850R was not the direct predecessor of the T-5 R. The R in the 850 R was to add essence to the T-5 R with a couple of significant improvements. This car was stocked with a lot of better features which made it the fastest Volvo car in the mid-1990s. It's been 27 years since the car was launched but even now you can see some craze among car enthusiasts for this car.

By Joshua Burnett

Published February 12, 2024

Here’s What You Should Know About The Volvo 850R

Volvo’s sportiest offering from the 90s was the 850R. The Swedish brand tried to set a standard for both luxury and performance with its cars and the brand succeeded in its plan, the car even now is highly reliable also and is like an open canvas that allows car enthusiasts to easily express their creativity. As said by enthusiasts, the car was way ahead of its time and the car even offers better features than a lot of mid-range cars of today. The brand entered the British Touring Car Championship in 1995 with the 850R following the 850 T-5R which entered the championship in 1994. The 850R Sport Wagon later ended up as the most important car to date for the brand.

The Most Powerful Volvo Of Its Period

Volvo 850R Engine

The Volvo 850R was an iconic sports wagon of its time, at the heart of the car lies a 2.3-liter turbocharged inline five-cylinder engine with an additional 10.1 horsepower, and with its FWD drive train it delivers 253 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque. The power of the car is transmitted through a 5-speed manual transmission, there is also a 4-speed automatic transmission available with this car. In terms of speed, the 850R was no slouch, it was capable of reaching 0-60mph in just 6.4 seconds, offering an exhilarating driving experience that helped the car go up to a top speed of 155 mph. The 850R even after having a FWD configuration has a very good handling experience. Talking about its brakes, the car has impressive brakes even by modern standards, the 11-inch ventilated front disc brakes and the 11.6-inch solid rear disc brakes that can easily stop the 850R from 0-60mph within just 142 meters., quite an impressive figure at that time.

Revolutionary Progress

Volvo 850R dashboard, rear seats, front cabin, cargo space, Volvo 850R interior

Apart from the 850R’s sporty exterior and powerful performance, this car came with a lot of features and luxurious touches that made it look way ahead of its time. This car provided a comfortable experience to its passengers and driver. One of the standard features found in the car was Alcantara leather seats that came with heated and power-adjustable functions for the front seats. There are dark walnut or light birch-colored inserts found in the interior of the 850R, leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear shifter were also offered. Besides these features, an electric sunroof, radio, cassette, and a cd player with 8 speaker audio system were offered as standard. Now if we talk about the optional add-ons we can see Madison Plush or Dakar Plush leather seats, heated back seats, automatic climate control, extended wooden interior trims, and several other interesting features were available. The cargo space of this wagon is pretty impressive, it offers 28 feet of standard cargo space making it the right car for touring and traveling. Also, traction control and cruise control were available to assist the driver. Being a sports wagon, this car was much more practical than its sedan models.

Championship History

Volvo 850R BTCC Sports Wagon

The most impressive 850, is the BTCC racing wagon. Yes, neither the 850R nor the 850 T-5R comes at first. Volvo took a racing wagon at BTCC which only took part in the championship in 1994, but it failed to perform well and finished only 8th. Later, due to a change in rules, Volvo was forced to use their 850R sedans, the aerodynamic lessons that Volvo learned from their last participation helped their sedans finish 3rd in both 1995 and 1996. The 850R Sports Wagon had a racing-spec 2.0-liter five-cylinder engine which was not turbocharged but it produced around 290 horsepower and it redlined at an impressive 8500 RPM which was the first time for a car participating in BTCC.