Hot Five: 1,203 Horsepower Out Of 2.7L Of A Turbocharged Volvo Inline-Five


Hot Five: 1,203 Horsepower Out Of 2.7L Of A Turbocharged Volvo Inline-Five

I’m a little partial to Volvos. The first burnout I ever did was in a 1976 242D two-door, and after watching hours upon hours of rally footage, I’ve come to appreciate the capabilities of the boxy brand best known for safety above all else. But the first Volvo that I genuinely went nuts over was the C70 coupe. It didn’t look like a Volvo. It looked like Volvo called in a favor with Aston Martin and got a coupe body for the 850 platform. Yeah, it was still a front-driver Volvo, but the shape was stunning, and I spent the better part of a summer in Colorado Springs drooling over one that cruised around near where I was staying. Then I kind of forgot about the car. I’d see one every now and then, remember that I really dug it, and would keep moving. And that was that.

Right up until this beauty popped into my YouTube suggestion file. All you need to know about this second-gen C70, besides the converted race car part, is the engine, a psychotic 2.7L turbocharged five-cylinder that has that unearthly howl that only a boosted five can shriek out. At idle, it sounds as punchy and raucous as any V8 we’ve ever heard and on the low end it has a growl, but once the turbocharger steps into the program, it’s all shriek until well past 8,000 RPM. If you don’t feel a shiver down your spine on the dyno pulls, check your pulse.


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