Volvo V90

[Jcloughie]

Hi Folks
I hope this is not too late for anyone considering a V90 i have a 2020 D5 R Design Pro+ so it has all the bells and whistle it is a great car on the road solo my only complaint is road noise.
Now for the bad bits it tows the van with issue oddles of power gets down the road very well. There is however an issue with the rear suspension (not air self levelling)when the caravan is on the back it drops by about 2 inches this has the effect of lifting the nose and causing stability issues.
Now before any one says its the nose weight no it not the car has a limit of 110kg the van is at 100kg.
Would i recommend the Volvo as a tow car no chance as drivers car yes take my advice and think about another vehicle if you want it to tow with.

Regards
.

Thanks for your excellent review. After a lot of consideration I decided to stay with my V70. (Mainly because of the disappointing p/x offers). I have now had the wheels repainted and a new cam belt. It does all I need so will be happy with it for a few more years.

I am sorry to hear of your issues and a little surprised. But I used to have a Peugeot 4007 (Mitsubishi Outlander). Surprisingly for a 4x4 that really dropped at the rear end when the van was put on. I ended up fitting MAD progressive spring assisters which sorted the problem. Might be a solution for you as you are happy with the car in other respects. If so, don’t forget to inform your insurance, make sure you tell them it’s for safety. As they automatically assume it’s for racing.

John

 

[Hutch]

I was going to change my Vauxhall Vectra 3.0 V6 for a Volvo XC70, I really liked it, but when my wife drove it, she has her seat almost vertical, and the head rests which are not adjustable , pushed her head forward.
So that was a No Go.

 

[Jcloughie]

Prof JohnL

The cars suspension is jut not man enough for the job it use a transverse leaf spring last time i saw one of these was on a Triumph Herald 50/55 years ago

I did not know that it had a transverse leaf. (Don’t they make the rear wheels spread out when loaded).

My suggestion of the MAD progressive springs would not work. Perhaps look as air assisters like those fitted to motorhomes.

You may also get good info from the Volvo owners forum. I find them to be very good.

John

PS just found this:



Another thought might be self levelling shock absorbers, I used to have them on a Scorpio. They worked really well.

PPD. Just found this info, someone having the same issue as you. But in the topic he does not get it resolved.

 

[RogerL]

Prof JohnL
Have towed for m30+ years so not some wet behind the lugs rookie
The figures i have given are factual figures obtained using Milenco noseweight gauge calibration checked!!
The cars suspension is jut not man enough for the job it use a transverse leaf spring last time i saw one of these was on a Triumph Herald 50/55 years ago
My licence is correct.
I repaet the car is great solo but forget it as a towcar

There's nothing inherently wrong with a transverse leaf spring - the AC Cobra uses one with great effect.

 

[Jcloughie]

There's nothing inherently wrong with a transverse leaf spring - the AC Cobra uses one with great effect.

Evidently Volvo have used them for 20 plus years on some models, developed with Lotus, using composite materials.

John

 

[Buckman]

We had a brand new 2004 S80 and there were issues with the rear suspension. Volvo eventually replaced the whole rear suspension and also the towbar. We took a loss and traded in the car when it was 18 months old. Also auto gearbox was terrible!

 

[BWT]

Hi Jcloughie
Have just read your response I had a V70 about 10 years ago again D5 R-design again a great car had it for nearly 3 years and never had anything but routine maintenance in 80000miles. Put that away and bought 6 month old Saab 95 Areo new shape what a car that was.
Anyhow i digress i am the guy on the Volvo forum with the V90 and so far have had no joy getting this car to sit up with anything on it bum. So as i said there i now have £85000 of car and caravan which are unsafe for the road.
I have last week obtained a pair of Bilstein sport shocks which they say are for heavily loaded estate cars so here hoping they work.
For what its worth i think you have done the right thing

Regards
Brian T

 

[Jcloughie]

Hi Jcloughie
Have just read your response I had a V70 about 10 years ago again D5 R-design again a great car had it for nearly 3 years and never had anything but routine maintenance in 80000miles. Put that away and bought 6 month old Saab 95 Areo new shape what a car that was.
Anyhow i digress i am the guy on the Volvo forum with the V90 and so far have had no joy getting this car to sit up with anything on it bum. So as i said there i now have £85000 of car and caravan which are unsafe for the road.
I have last week obtained a pair of Bilstein sport shocks which they say are for heavily loaded estate cars so here hoping they work.
For what its worth i think you have done the right thing

Regards
Brian T

Good luck with the shocks, stupid of me not to see you have the same name on both forums. Seems you have had the problem for a while now.

Are the shocks self levelling?

John

 

[otherclive]

Good luck with the shocks, stupid of me not to see you have the same name on both forums. Seems you have had the problem for a while now.

Are the shocks self levelling?

John

For some reason the latest generation Forester has SL shocks but they take a share of the rear suspension load together with the coil springs. There have been some cars with problems caused by spring failure. Clearly the springs are marginal. If mine should have a problem I will fit Pedders non SL units which have stronger rated springs. I used Pedders suspension on my off road Pajero shortly after they set up on UK. They were excellent even though they did not have the three way adjustments of the Mitsubishi originals.

My Sorento had Sachs SL shocks but fully rated springs. Absolutely ace

 

[Jcloughie]

For some reason the latest generation Forester has SL shocks but they take a share of the rear suspension load together with the coil springs. There have been some cars with problems caused by spring failure. Clearly the springs are marginal. If mine should have a problem I will fit Pedders non SL units which have stronger rated springs. I used Pedders suspension on my off road Pajero shortly after they set up on UK. They were excellent even though they did not have the three way adjustments of the Mitsubishi originals.

My Sorento had Sachs SL shocks but fully rated springs. Absolutely ace

My only experience of SL shocks are on the Scorpio Estate I mentioned earlier, they were excellent. Shame about the rubbish Gardiner Diesel engine.

I see that some replacement shocks available now have a coil spring which must assist the standard suspension.

Best suspension for towing and every day use though. Has been my Citroen’s BX and XM.

I have learnt from this topic. I had no idea about the transverse suspension on the V90. And it’s limitations. I believe the air suspension is good, but not in combination with electrically deployed tow hitch as it settles too high.

John

 

[otherclive]

My only experience of SL shocks are on the Scorpio Estate I mentioned earlier, they were excellent. Shame about the rubbish Gardiner Diesel engine.

I see that some replacement shocks available now have a coil spring which must assist the standard suspension.

Best suspension for towing and every day use though. Has been my Citroen’s BX and XM.

I have learnt from this topic. I had no idea about the transverse suspension on the V90. And it’s limitations. I believe the air suspension is good, but not in combination with electrically deployed tow hitch as it settles too high.

John

Had a BX 16 estate and it lived up to its marketing slogan “ loves driving hates garages” It was also nice to have the comfort that in the event of a puncture it would stay level. A rear puncture would allow the journey to continue. Brilliant concept.

 

[Buckman]

Had a BX 16 estate and it lived up to its marketing slogan “ loves driving hates garages” It was also nice to have the comfort that in the event of a puncture it would stay level. A rear puncture would allow the journey to continue. Brilliant concept.

Off topic by the DS19 and DS20 were way ahead of their time. Super comfortable and very safe.

 

[otherclive]

Off topic by the DS19 and DS20 were way ahead of their time. Super comfortable and very safe.

Yes they were nice cars. I bought the BX after I sold a Volvo 245 estate that was a bag of nails ( pinking) and started to rust at only 2 years old. The second Volvo a 7 series estate self immolated, and strangely enough we even went for third. That model range a 2010 XC70 was affected by the self filling sump. Although ours did not show it as we only used it for long journeys.

 

[Jcloughie]

My BX was a non turbo diesel. 60 and a little bit hp. Yet it towed an Ace Rallyman to the Baltic in 1989.

The XM was fantastic. Until some French idiot in a Golf rammed the back, I was doing 40, so god knows what he must have been doing, I could only open 1 door, even the sun roof was creased. No one was hurt. Amazingly the Golf drove off.

Bring back hydrolastic. It would have been good for the OP

John

 

[Beachball]

I am also a fan of the XM never owned one but a friend of mine did and he love his

 

[ProfJohnL]

Prof JohnL
Have towed for m30+ years so not some wet behind the lugs rookie
The figures i have given are factual figures obtained using Milenco noseweight gauge calibration checked!!
The cars suspension is jut not man enough for the job it use a transverse leaf spring last time i saw one of these was on a Triumph Herald 50/55 years ago
My licence is correct.
I repaet the car is great solo but forget it as a towcar

Thank you for explaining your position. As it was your first post on this forum, We had no frame of reference about your experience. The problem you described and the exact round values you gave suggested you may not have been new to caravanning and thus may not have understood the issue.