Volvo vs. Crown Vic???

That's a tough one. It really depends on the Volvo and the CV we're talking about here. Turbo Volvo's rock and I wouldn't touch a pre-01 CV with a 10-foot pole unless we're talking old school box ones with 351's. What budget are we looking at and year ranges?

when you say vintage and add granada in the same sentance is assume the vintage that you are thinking of is mid eighties. volvo territory for sure.

740/940 Turbo.

Only wagons count though.

Volvo for wagons and manual.

CV for reliability and RWD, and moving more people in comfort.

4K would get you a sub-10K mile creampuff of a 94 CV, and it would suck royally. 4K will also get you an unmarked, 03+ P71 or if you're lucky a really nice civvie Vic or GM. 03+ CV/GM is the winner.

But if you insist on 2000 or older no way! I'd take the Volvo every time. 2000 and older CV/GM's suck! They have horrible engines with no power, smaller brakes, and weaker frames, plus REALLY crappy interiors.

So, in recap, 1990-2000 doesn't matter what Volvo, the Volvo auto-wins. However for your price range you can have an 01-02 or 03+ CV/GM and do much better then anything short of a 740/940 Turbo.

95 CV:

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ctd/930086794.html

03 P71:

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/929977517.html

97 GM (MUCH better interior):

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ctd/923954286.html

95 Turbo Volvo Wagon:

http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/ctd/930446339.html

89 Volvo 780 Bertone Turbo 2-door Coupe :

http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/929687266.html

Ah hah. I have both a P71 and a turbo brick. 2001 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor vs 1986 Volvo 740 Turbo wagon

Just talking performance, they are pretty evenly matched. Mine both get about the same sort of mileage (low 20s on my regular commute to work, I just don't do a lot of regular highway driving) and parts, whether maintenance or hop-up, are similar in cost.

The water pump for the Vic was a hundred bucks and it was only $30 for the Volvo's, though. Most of the other items seem about the same.

Now, for the Volvo, making it faster is just a matter of more boost from the hairdryer. So a bigger intercooler, exhaust, and boost controller is a pretty good bump in power for not a lot of money.

With the 4.6, everything seems to come in big increments. Cams are supposed to do wonders, but that's a few hundred for a set. I keep hearing about new 2v heads that offer great performance. $$$ Superchargers, $$$. Every hot rod mod Mustang seems to have forced induction and it's not cheap. Easy enough to find and install, sure, but not cheap. The Volvo has tweaking built in.

Anyway, I also favor the Volvo right now because it has a stick and the Crown Vic doesn't yet. (I have everything ready to go and I am off all Thanksgiving week.) But I love both of them. I think they're great fun.

They both fly under the radar. Nobody really notices them. And nobody ever asks what kind of car either one of them is!

$3500 is tough. On the one hand, that will net you an 03+ P71 or a clean 01-02 P71 with the civvie pack. On the other hand a turbo wagon with a stick (albeit 10 years older) is in the same range. Obviously in real life I chose the P71, but I only paid $2450. If I had wanted to spend an extra grand I still personally would have gone for a P71, just an 03+. See, I think they're a dead tie, both have plusses and both have minuses, but at the end of the day a CV/GM is RWD with a V8. So it makes all the right noises with a simple exhaust (I still grin like a little kid every time I start it ) and it does big, smokey powerslides. So in the event of a tie, RWD always wins.

Now that I have the RX-7 though, let's take a hypothetical and say my P71 went away for whatever reason, what would I replace it with? Tough, very tough. I'll have to think about a bit and play my CL game again...

OK, I quit. I'd get this $3500 Volvo...

http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/927659217.html

P71 wrote: OK, I quit. I'd get this $3500 Volvo... http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/927659217.html

I love amazons. There was one in the Baltimore( I think) with a rat rod paint job and smoothie stainless wheels. It had a fuel injected B engine in it with a cam and a full IPD suspension. The guy ran it in autocross. If anyone can find pictures of it... That car is hot.

Now for the original post. If you want a good sturdy beater with cheap parts I'd say do P71. The parts are cheap.. dirt cheap. Plus any performance volvo will require premium and I'm not enthused with the volvos from the ford infulenced years. My B-I-L had a volvo cross country wagon and It was in the shop more than it was running. They owned it for nine months. What were we saying before about consumer perception??

It's easy to lose a customer but hard to gain.

I have a 1999 Volvo V70 GLT. I Love it.

I'd go with a Volvo Wagon all day.

I'm about as hardcore Crown Vic fan as there is, go with a Volvo, you'll be happier.

before P71 goes perpetuating any more myths, the 98-02 vics have the same frame and brakes, 03+ changed.

i'd look hard for a nice clean turbo volvo wagon, the vic is nice but not for everyone. i mainly narrowed my search to a p71 because it was the newest bigger car with the lowest miles i could get for the $

Go Volvo.

Ahem The pre 98 cars have smaller brakes and different suspension bits as well as a slightly different frame that is considered weaker. They also have a lower towing rating. 98-02 get updated stuff, and then 03+ got the best.

"In 1998, the Crown Victoria's exterior styling, rear suspension, and ignition system were updated, while the interior remained the same. The 1998 to 2002 "Crown Vics" had a revised 4-link rear suspension with a Watt's linkage."

"1998 Marked the first year for standard 16" wheels across the model line, to accommodate the larger brakes used on the refreshed car."

"For the 2003 model year, the chassis was again redesigned with hydroformed steel. The front and rear suspension were also completely overhauled. New inverted monotube shocks were now used (replacing the old twin-tube shocks that had been used since the 1960s). In the front, new aluminum control arms, and rack and pinion steering (replacing the recirculating ball units) have been implemented.[9] The rear suspension was redesigned for durability in police-duty applications and the rear shocks were moved outboard of the frame rails for better handling and ease of maintenance. As a result, the road-handling manners of the Panther platform cars had improved significantly. The engine output increased due to the addition of a knock sensor for more aggressive timing."

Considering how easy it is to hop up the power of a turbo Brick, I'd say the Vic doesn't really stand a chance. Not without a lot more money and a lot more work.

For me, this isn't even a decision; it'd be Crown Vic all the way.

However, this is based on my having a good amount of Mustang knowledge, where to find parts, who's good for aftermarket parts, etc, and knowing just about zip about Volvos. I also know that every junkyard and partshouse I'll ever be in will have parts I can use for a CV. I can't say that for a Volvo.

Again, that's based entirely on my knowledge set. The Volvo may be a much better car, but I know what I can do with a CV and where to go to get the parts to do it.

There are over two dozen turbo Volvo wagons under $4000 in my local area. Unfortunately only ONE of them is a manual! What the hey?

derekshannon wrote:

ReverendDexter wrote: but I know what I can do with a CV and where to go to get the parts to do it.

Do tell, do tell. I'd like to hear your insight into the CV, junkyard parts and other stuff you've learned. This turned out to be a better thread than I thought it would.

Well, the biggest thing is that the basic drivetrain components were shared between the CV, Mustang, Lincolns, and Thunderbirds. Everything that can be done to a 4.6L Mustang motor can be done to a CV, including swapping the block for a DOHC aluminum block (if you know where to look, the right ones are an Italian casting, good to ~1000hp with forged internals, and start you off by already having forged cranks). PI heads can be found from '99+ Mustang; superchargers and turbo kits abound for pushing that motor over the 500hp mark. And that's if you don't feel like swapping a wiring harness. If that's the case, you can pull the full DOHC motor from a Lincoln or Cobra and start with 305 crank hp and a motor that loves some boost.

Transmission options abound, including and talking to D&D Performance can net you a Viper-spec T-56 with Corvette synchros, or if you're not feeling spendy, you can pull any number of T-45s and Tremec 3650s out of the 'yard; just remember to use an aftermarket shifter on the T-45 ;)

If you're into automatics... well, you're on this board, so I'll assume you're not.

Rear end is the ubiquitous 8.8". I can't sneeze and not hit an 8.8" rear end. Again, whatever gears and limited-slip unit is your preference, you can find, and all V8 mustangs from the mid-80's and up have the (albeit weak) Trac-Lok clutch-type LSD. Ford Racing gearsets (the only way to go and not have diff whine) are easily found for under $200 if you're more into 3.73s or 4.10s instead of 2.73s and 3.08s.

P71 wrote: There are over two dozen turbo Volvo wagons under $4000 in my local area. Unfortunately only ONE of them is a manual! What the hey?

Mustang T5s swap in I loved my 91 945 turbo. Upped the boost this weekend--now I really REALLY love it! $1300 to buy it and another $500ish in maintenance and mods and its still way under kbb. Hauls the kids and their crap and with sways goes fast enough in the twisties to make them hurl-ask how I know

P71 - i wasnt begging for a complete breakdown, just you said 2000 and earlier had weak frames and smaller brakes.

question on a 305hp dohc 4.6 swap - does the engine harness plug into the CV's main harness or is work needed in rewiring things?

P71 wrote: There are over two dozen turbo Volvo wagons under $4000 in my local area. Unfortunately only ONE of them is a manual! What the hey?

Aw come on. You can't use that as an argument. There are dozens upon dozens of Panthers in my area under 4 grand and NONE of them are manuals!

patgizz wrote: question on a 305hp dohc 4.6 swap - does the engine harness plug into the CV's main harness or is work needed in rewiring things?

I know you at least need the DOHC computer, other than that I'm not really sure.

I'm not a big fan of dealing with wiring, so I'd be much more likely to do the PI head/cam swap, and get a twin-screw supercharger.... or just buy a DOHC in the first place (see sig )

Well yeah, but no CV came with a manual

The DOHC drops right in, even the wiring. That's one of the nice things about Fords. All you need is the engine and ECU.