1997 Volvo 850 855 (Estate) T5 review from UK and Ireland

Not 'wrong' exactly, but I decided to spend some money on it to get it up to scratch.

This is an ex-police car with a good police service history.

Goes like stink.

You can hardly keep up with the acceleration when changing gear.

Like everyone says, it's hard not to spin the wheels under 20 - 25 mph. Better to get it up to speed then floor it.

The car feels solid, nice heavy doors, boot door and bonnet.

Considering how heavy and well built it's quite shocking the acceleration power it has.

Will both throw you back in the seat and also fool you gradually into thinking you are doing less than 100 depending on how you accelerate, either way you get there faster then most other cars you meet. This was an ex police car and as such had to keep up! This is no exaggeration, the car is 7 years old, but will still comfortably cruise behind Audis and BMWs just waiting to fly past when they eventually realise (like it or not) that a Volvo is coming past.

Absolutely loads of space inside in both the front and back seats, extremely comfortable seats, very adjustable cockpit and efficient fans, heaters, electric mirrors and so on.

Great reception from built in aerial (looks like a window heater).

The engine looks superb when you look under the bonnet. Huge 2.3 20v block and great 'Turbo' labelled air intake box.

Cool alloys on the T5 as standard.

Great big disks all round combined with ABS and TRACS mean that you know that when you inevitably have to slow down it will stop fast and controlled.

Although its still got the Volvo boxiness this was the first Volvo estate that actually manages a few curves. When you look at this car from behind, the amount that the rear wings flare in towards the rear door is larger than you would imagine and adds a bit of style to the car. I would compare it to an early (but extended lengthways) Golf in terms of styling, I think that in both cases the speed and excitement of the ride covers for the efficient design lines.

Mine has hard suspension. I suppose to keep it on the road in corners.

The Turbo sounds great and the exhaust really hums. It was funny taking the car to have it MOT'ed and hearing the engine from outside the car - sounds sporty.

Great power steering makes it a doddle to park despite its length.