850 saloon or estate - which handles better?

[T5Dave]

I always thought that estates handle worse than saloons cos of the higher centre of gravity, but chatting with an ex volvo mechanic mate he reckons the 850 was designed and developed primarily as an estate and as such the handling is better in the estate than the saloon. What are you guys thoughts?

Dave

[Phuturephantasy]

Having had a mixture of half a dozen of each I'd say the difference between the state of each individual cars suspension, tyres etc makes a bigger difference than the shape of the back end - at a push I'd say the saloon was better from the factory but each car I've had has been slightly different irrespective of shape.

[p fandango]

i've only ever thrashed my saloon round corners, it does handle well but the back steps out quite easily which is where the estate will have the extra weight & should help keep it in place

when Volvo wanted to come back into BTCC in 1994 it was claimed that they tried both saloon & estate side-by-side & came back with no difference in lap times, they choose the estate over the saloon purely to get extra attention.

saloon spec suspension on an estate is meant to be a good combination

[nobananas]

Swings and roundabouts I reckon. They say that estates are more aerodynamic (although it is a Volvo !) but maybe saloons have a more rigid chassis and a little less weight (anyone got the kerb weights of the two ?). At the end of the day the difference is probably negligible and I would go with whichever shape you prefer or whichever one is more practical for you. (saloons are probably a little quieter and less rattly !)

[scr8pdo]

I have read in a few different places that the estate is supposed to be more aerodynamic, I have driven both 854 and 855 t5s and on first impressions before you drive the estate you expect it to be more wallowy/cumbersome just because its an estate and most other estates i have driven can be like that but after owning a saloon I was suprised just how well these handle for such a biggish heavy car then driving an estate i honestly cant feel the difference, what i mean is you expect the saloon to handle better but it doesnt feel any different, brilliant cars!

PS my saloon was definatly quieter, especially when the estate tailgate trim on the estate is loose (very common) now repaired

[LiamT4]

i've only ever thrashed my saloon round corners, it does handle well but the back steps out quite easily which is where the estate will have the extra weight & should help keep it in place

when Volvo wanted to come back into BTCC in 1994 it was claimed that they tried both saloon & estate side-by-side & came back with no difference in lap times, they choose the estate over the saloon purely to get extra attention.
saloon spec suspension on an estate is meant to be a good combination

I'd heard that they chose the estate because of the regulations regarding rear wings at that time and that the rear of the estate help to increase the downforce over the rear slightly.

[p fandango]

I'd heard that they chose the estate because of the regulations regarding rear wings at that time and that the rear of the estate help to increase the downforce over the rear slightly.
being based on the 2litre NA cars (not T-5R's) no they weren't allowed to have spoilers as they weren't on the production car.

could only find that the estate has a co-efficient of 0.32, got no numbers for the saloon

[thunderace]

weight must vary with spec but i found these...

1994 sedan 3100-3290 lbs.
1994 wagon 3270-3390 lbs.

also found drag coefficient of .29, but no clue to whether saloon or estate

[scr8pdo]

I suppose it relly boils down to what look you prefer, I personally prefer the look of the saloons but the estate is growing on me