tell me about volvo 340's

I have a 360, but have mates with 340's - who will be able to tell you more - buy one mate. make sure it's a 1.7 though. Clio valver engines drop straight in then.

Chop the front springs, refill front shocks with 80/90w oil and fit Escort lowering blocks to drop the back. Land Rover Defender 90 front shocks are a direct fit for the back of the Volvos and stiffen them up a treat.

Good little drifters. Even better if you weld the diff up.

If you get one, find a solid one, which goes without saying, 340's can be had for buttons.

The 340 comes with a 1400 or 1700cc Renault engine and are OK on fuel. None of them are great though TBH.

thanks folks. Anyone got an y idea of MPG figures for a manula 1.4? I wanna get cheap tax basically. haha. mercenary that i am.

I'm really liking one i found locally but the guy insists it can only be sold for spares and not go back on road as yet i don't know why, he wont say. I'm trying to find out why (if its a scrappage scheme victim or something surely he shouldnt be selling it at all)

Drove one recently. Couldn't really get on with it to be honest, though even though it was a 1.4 Vario, it hung the tail out a treat on a damp roundabout. Oops. Nice and solid but a touch uninspiring. Which is why people weld up the diffs on manual ones and install bigger engines I guess!

steering is quite heavy to most people but its something that is easily forgotten about after a while

brakes are very good as in not fading and suprisingly powerful (early vw/audi 239mm brakes on these)

they are quite average weight wise @ 900-980kg in 340 guise and 1005-1090kg in 360 form

a 1.4 driven very enthusiastically will do about 20mpg (as per mine did when in good tune)
drive it normally and it'll do 30+
wind resistance and the carb they have is what makes the fuel economy less than expected

they feel reasonably modern due to the rather good refinement and handle very neutrally due to around 50/50 distribution

the only thing to worry about is the light alloy propshaft as they are very fragile but decent high tensile M8x40 cap head bolts replacing the origionals in the clamps keeps the splines tightly clamped

the main draw to these cars is tuneability,,good handling,,,reliabile if not neglected,,seem to resist rust better than most cars,,,good build quality

and another little note if you fancy
you can direct swap a renult 5 gt turbo engine into the 1.4
just got to fab up inlet and exhaust maniflods but you have to do that with the bigger engines anyway drivetrain can only take about 200hp from what ive read

I love the things! ;D

340's... choice of the 1.4 or 1.7 litre Renault based engines... the 1.4 is a OHV old school engine with timing chain. With a 5 speed box they perform admirably for what they are really, mainly due to the sensible gear ratios.

1.7 is a nice unit, but plagued by carb trouble and carb/manifold flange warpage leading to bad running. But perhaps the nicest unit when it's running correctly.

360's are a little different with a 2.0 reblock engine from the bigger Volvo's either carbed or fuel injection. The Bosch LE-Jet system fitted to the GLEi's and GLT's is fairly curse word though, so expect sluggish performance and economy is never great. However these are probably the most bombproof and the stronger drivetrain. The 2.0 carbed engines are similar in terms of performance to the 1.7 but in my opinion the 360's generally feel a little more refined.

Great handling (and I've had an MX5 to compare!), lots of feedback, and an ever increasing supply of performance parts coming about. A replacement set of shocks and springs works amazingly.

And if you just want a car to run about in, they have excellent seats, visibility, turning circle and are quiet (as long as it doesn't have the metal Golde sunroof) compared to the competitors... eg. the 1.4 was marketed against the Mk3 Escort.

Manual 1.4 mpg... around town not great, probably 25mpg mainly hampered by cold starts and a carb. But on a long motorway run a 5 speed car should get into high 40's. My old 4 speed 343 did 38mpg regularly on long runs. Not as heavy as people think - a 3 door 1.4 weighs approx 950kg for example!

Definatly my old 480 Turbo was a riot in a straight line especally with Rich mod (a home brewed remap which alters the ignition map loads and increases boost to 12psi), but show it a corner and it was awful! Masses of understeer! Still was great fun mind, used to suprise 325 owners

Glad to hear some handling praise, I thought it was just me and a select few...!! ok it might be a bit softly sprung but for balance and with decent tyres I was always very impressed with my old 360's ;D I think I'm convincing myself here

People, this is all making me want one, it will be a daily plodder tis all. Just wanted something a bit retro and different thats all So now one needs to turn up at the right place/time

I joined the forum mentioned (as steve P will attest as he replied to my post on there )

i found the ideal car at a local scrappy, weirdly the guy there had said that the previous owner took it there as he doesnt want it going back on the road, i sorta said to the chap, what if i bought it and just applied for the logbook? he said he wouldnt sell it to go back on the road, not that he couldnt, just wouldnt. When did yards refuse poeple with cash waiting?