850 RACING
The Volvo 850 succes-storie at the racetrack starts back in 1994 when Volvo re-entered touringcarracing after an absence of nearly 10 years. Volvo decided to pull back from European Touringcar Racing back in 1986 after they had won almost everything there was to win with the almighty Volvo 240 Turbo. It all started again in 1993 when Steffanson Automotive in Sweden built and prepared a 850 Estate, this car generated great interest within Volvo and demonstrated the potential of an 850 racecar. Later the Estate-shell proved to be a great media-puller. It was Volvo's Senior Vice-President Martin Rybeck who made plans to persuade the board that a return to the racetrack would make an ideal marketing tool for the new Volvo 850. Soon a partnership with Tom Walkinshaw's TWR Racing was formed and the Volvo 850 Racer was a fact, in the first year (1994) as a media-friendly Estate and later-on the Saloon as one of the fastest front-wheel drive touringcars that participated in the British Touring Car Championship.
1994
For the first year TWR recruited the young Swedish driver Rickard Rydell and the experienced Dutch driver Jan Lammers to drive the Volvo 850 Estate. The car was fast on the straight and in fast corners but it was a handful in very slow bends. Still the car astonished a lot of people by qualifying third in only the fourth round of the 1994 BTCC. Also there was a fifth place at Oulton Park for Rydell and at Brands Hatch Jan Lammers was running fourth and gaining on car no. 3 when he was pushed roughly of the track by another competitor. At the circuits which suited the car it was always very clear that the car had potential to become a winner. Mostly 1994 must be considered as a learningyear for the "Volvo 850 Racing" team. At the end of the season Jan Lammers decided to quit because of the fact that he didn't like the rough drivingstyle in the BTCC.
1995
Due to changed regulations Volvo couldn't use the Estate-shell in 1995 and the Volvo 850 Saloon was introduced, which did much better than the Estate. With wins at Donington, Silverstone, Oulton and Knockhill and several other high rankings. They where driven by Rickard Rydell and Tim Harvey . At the end of this succesfull 1995 season Rydell was third and Harvey fifth in the BTCC points table. In the manufacturers' competition Volvo ended at the third position behind Renault and Vauxhall (Opel).
1996
The season of 1996 was to become the best for the Volvo 850 Racecar, it was the car with the best front wheel drive package in that year. The only real rival on the track was the Audi, which was 4WD! The cars where driven by Rickard Rydell and Kelvin Burt (he experienced a dreadful 190 kmh crash at Oulton Park). After Kelvin's crash a young rookie called Jamie Davies took his place. Kelvin Burt returned as a driver at Brands Hatch but it was too late for Volvo to claim the manufacturers-title..... This was the last year for the 850, but TWR was already shaking down his S40 replacement for 1997. Being smaller and more rounded, that agressive looking S40 was able to bring Volvo and TWR the championship in 1998! Too bad that Volvo withdrew competition from the racetracks in 1999.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
BODY : four-door saloon, RHD, welded rollcage, TWR front splitter, rearwing to FIA specs
ENGINE : built & tuned by TWR, watercooled, inline, transverse mounted, five cylinder, DOHC, 20 alloy valves, 1.999cc, bore x stroke 83mm x 73.9 mm, alloy block, alloy cyl.head, Zytek Motormanagement, dry-sump unit, race catalytic-converter, Champion sparkplugs, Q8 full-synthetic motoroil
POWER OUTPUT : +290 BHP @ 8.500 RPM
TRANSMISSION : frontwheeldrive, 6-speed Xtrac sequential gearbox, limited slip differential, AP Racing 5.5" triple carbon-fibre clutch
SUSPENSION : TWR McPhersons struts front, Ohlins gasdampers, anti-roll bars, Volvo Delta-link rear, semi-independent trailingarms rear, Falkner coil springs
BRAKING SYSTEM : AP Racing & Brembo, hydraulic assisted dual circuit, ventilated discs 355mm front, ventilated discs 270mm rear, AP 8-piston calipers front, Brembo 2-piston calipers rear, carbon metallic brakepads
WHEELS & TYRES : BBS forged magnesium alloy wheels, 8,20J x 19inch, Michelin (1996) and Dunlop (1995) 215/650 x 19 raceslicks
WEIGHT & MEASURES : total weight 975 kg, wheelbase 2.670mm, length 4.670mm, width 1.760mm, height 1.430mm