The Volvo 850 is a compact executive car produced by Volvo Cars from 1992 to 1997 and designed by Jan Wilsgaard. Available in sedan/saloon and station wagon/estate body styles, the Volvo 850 was notable as the first front-wheel drive vehicle from this Swedish manufacturer to be exported to North America. It is often considered the vehicle that gave Volvo its reputation as a high-end auto maker in North America due to the level of features available in this model that were not offered in previous models. At the time of its development, the 850 was regarded as one of the largest engineering endeavours in Sweden.
The Volvo 850 was introduced worldwide as a 1992 model, but arrived in the U.S. in the 1993 model year. It was sold as a sedan with a wagon model on sale from 1992 in Europe. The 850 was the first Volvo model in the U.S. to feature front-wheel drive and an all-aluminum 20-valve five-cylinder engine. The 850 was Volvo's top-seller in the mid-1990s. In markets outside the U.S. a 10-valve variant of the five-cylinder was popular for its lower cost and better fuel economy.
All U.S. 850s received standard equipment such as dual front airbags, antilock brakes, head restraints and three-point seat belts for all passengers, power windows, door locks, and mirrors, cruise control, and dual zone climate control. Side torso airbags became a world first when introduced as an option for 1995. Some other options during the model run included features such as traction control, leather interior, power glass moonroof, power seats, heated seats, remote keyless entry, automatic climate control, and automatic transmission.
The 850 sedan features an interior space of 2.80 m³ (99 cubic ft). This is slightly more than the 2.78 m³ (98 cubic ft) of the 2004 Mercedes-Benz E-Class even though the car is reasonably compact on the outside. This space is achieved by mounting the in-line 5-cylinder engine transversely (from the left to the right of the car) under the hood. The road-holding and handling are vastly improved over the previous rear-wheel drive Volvos.
The 850 Turbo Wagon is one of the fastest production station wagons in the world, capable of 250+ km/h (160+ mph) when ungoverned. Production models of the wagon and sedan are electronically governed to approximately 142 mph (229 km/h). In 1996 a "Platinum" edition of the 850 Turbo was available. The exterior paint for these models came in a metallic pearl platinum-color and had special 16-inch (410 mm) alloy wheels. The interior was fitted with leather seats and burled walnut accents. Only 1500 of these were manufactured in sedan and wagon model and imported for the U.S. market.
For the last model year (1996/1997) 850 was available also with 5-cylinder Volkswagen/Audi turbodiesel engine (D5252T) with 140 bhp (104 kW; 142 PS). As well AWD (All Wheel Drive) model was introduced with a new 193 bhp (144 kW; 196 PS) low pressure turbo 2.4 litre engine (B5254T).
In 1998, the model line was updated, and renamed the Volvo S70 (sedan) and Volvo V70 (station wagon). These vehicles were sold in the U.S. through the 2000 model year when there were still many 850's waiting to be sold. This allowed for an alternatively designed vehicle; the 2001 Volvo S60 and Volvo V70, during the 850's production hiatus.
For the 850, Volvo created what it called "Delta-link semi-independent rear suspension". Volvo held a U.S. patent for rear axle bushings that compress under load, giving the Volvo 850 passive rear steering. The automobile also has a tight turning circle, 10.2 m (33.5 ft), and is considered very maneuverable. By comparison, later large Volvos had a 11.9 m (39.0 ft) turning circle.
Legendary Australian race driver Peter Brock drove a Volvo 850 touring car in a one-off Bathurst 12-hour endurance event in 1994, and drove the car in the 1996 Australian Super Touring Championship. Volvo joined forces with the famous and very successful Tom Walkinshaw Racing team (TWR) in 1994 to build an 850 Estate touring car to compete in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). Despite much criticism, the 850 Estate performed well, with a best placed finish of fifth, and a best qualifying spot of third. It was driven by Rickard Rydell and Jan Lammers and Volvo finished sixth in manufacturers' standings in the 1994 season. In 1995, TWR and Volvo built the 850 Saloon BTCC Racer and this won five races, qualified on pole position 13 times with Rickard Rydell and Tim Harvey and finished third in the championship. The switch was due mainly to the change in BTCC regulations which allowed aerodynamic aids (spoilers) which effectively ended any chance of the Estate being fully competitive. In 1996, an improved 850 saloon raced which boasted eight wins with Rickard Rydell and Kelvin Burt and finished third in the championship. Volvo were also prevalent with the 850 in championships across Europe and in Australia.
In 1995 a special limited edition race-bred model was released as the 850 T-5R. The vehicle was based upon the 850 Turbo with the B5234T5 engine with a special ECU known as the Bosch #628 ECU, that added 3 psi (21 kPa) to turbocharger boost pressure, giving the engine an additional 18 horsepower (13 kW).
The 1995 850 T-5R was limited in exterior paint color choices:
cream yellow - 2500 worldwide including sedan and station wagon, 185 to US market
black - 2500 worldwide including sedan and station wagon, 1,815 to US market
emerald green metallic - 500 worldwide including sedan and station wagon
Also included in the 1995 T-5R package is a front bumper with a lip, polished aluminum door sills, special leather and Alcantara (the fire-retardant version of Toray Industries' Ultrasuede (tm)) seats in dark grey, and a two-tone interior with deep birch wood grain accents. The T-5R had an additional badge to the left of the "850" on the trunk, referred to as "The Motorsport badge". Aftermarket Motorsport badges are available and are often added by owners but only the 1995 T-5R came standard with that badge. The standard wheels were the 5-spoke 17×7 "Titan". 1995 was the only year that the race-bred model was badged as a "T-5R". All subsequent models are badged with just the simple addition of "R". Example: 1995 850 T-5R, 1996 850R, 2004 S60R, etc.
For the Italian market, the T-5R was based on the 2.0 litre 850 Turbo. The transmission was the standard AW/50-42 used in all U.S. 850's, the M56H being available in other countries.
The 1996 and 1997 (the final year of the 850) R models were not as limited in production as the T-5R was. Some outside sources stated about 9,000 R's were produced. Flame red, black, anthracite grey, olive green metallic, turquoise and white were the only color choices. "In the US market only Red, White and Black were available." Also, a new rear spoiler was introduced on sedans. The interior was still two-tone but the layout changed — in 1995 the leather was in the center of the seats — later models had it on the outside bolster portion. The standard wheels used in these model years were the 17×7 "Volans". For 1996, Volvo introduced a new manual transmission outside the US market, called the M59, that came standard with a Torsen differential. Furthermore, the M59 cars were equipped with a slightly larger turbocharger, the TD04H-16T, and upgraded software enabling these cars to produce 250 hp (190 kW) versus 240 hp (180 kW) for the automatic transmission equipped cars. Torque was also significantly increased in the manual models from 300 N·m (220 lb·ft) to 350 N·m (260 lb·ft).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_850
I hope you all find this slightly interesting -- I did

 

Unless something is wrong with my car, I must disagree with the turning circle. The 744 I had and the 244 both had very tight turning circles, I think something like 31'. Also, my 960 has a very tight circle, something like the same. I would be surprised if my 850 T-5R has a 35' circle, really sucks in comparason. My daughters S70's is a little better, but still not close to my 960.

Maybe something is wrong with my 850 or maybe that passive rear steering was limited to certain models.

 

it also has to do with the tyres and rims you have on your car that can effect your turn radius too - maybe you need to have your steering system looked at -----///------because people always say "they got this car or that" - i posted just to clarify what models had what and when they came out and how many were made-- if your car didnt fall into any of these categories then-- you---DIDNT GET A "T5-R" OR A "1996 PLATINUM EDITION 850 TURBO" ---THEY ARE QUITE TYPE SPECIFIC ON COLOR AND STYLE --- T5-R IS A RARE CAR // PLATINUM EDITION IS GETTING MORE RARE // "R" IS QUITE COMMON ON THE ROAD-- sorry everyone if you think you had whatever car --- if you are in doubt about this information
run a V.I.N. check with Volvo for exacting specs of your car

 

I have a 95 T5R and a 97 R. You can tell from the VIN. They have a '58' in positions 6-7. Another thing I noticed that Volvo does not say it that in 96, for sure, and possibly 97 there were two different shades of Red. There is the bright Red which came with the Charcoal Interior and there is a an Orangish Red. Pretty sure the latter had the tan interior, at least the one I looked at had the tan interior. Wife put the foot down when I wanted to buy it. Said who do you think you are the Dukes of Hazard? Thats when I bought my white 97 R. I still want either a yellow or red R or T5R wagon though, but I also want an XC90 V8 in red.

 

well you basically repeated what i said about vin check - but the colors are quite specific - the 2 diff reds had to be from 2 different years maybe at the end of 1 run into the next but they never put out 2 different reds in the same year unless special request

 

my moms 96 850 GLT is the orangish metallic looking red, i have seen other 96s that are just red red

 

I don't get what the color argument is?

T5-R= black or yellow
R= red, black, or white

That's for the US. There is at least one 427 R in the US.

The Autumn Gold that you're talking about is the orangish red, kinda rare-ish, just like the purple/gray color, couple people on vs have those. I think the Autumn Gold is one of Volvos best colors, but I would still pick black though.

 

^ +1 on autumn gold being one of their best colors. the dark blue was nice too

 

This one is rare as well.

 

My aunt would of bought a Autumn Gold but my uncle didn't like it, ended up with the most popular color there was, the blue/green metallic. Also it was the last 850 in the lot, they had to order the blue/green one, which is the one I have now from Minnesota. I would have liked it in Autumn Gold. :P

 

My favorite part:

"The 850 Turbo Wagon is one of the fastest production station wagons in the world, capable of 250+ km/h (160+ mph) "

 

Here are a couple pictures of the orangeish red that I almost bought. I found this one in Pa and I thought maybe he had it painted that color, but I searched and found others the same color.





Tech, here's my first 850 Turbo. Never saw another one like it either:



Your wagon looks to be the same color. Mine was a 94. I took the Columba wheels off and put on 15" wheels when I lived in Colorado Springs.

 

I forget the color code but that is my daughters wagon I am fixing for her. But the Manual to Auto is proving to be a Nightmare!!!!

But I really like the color.Not many Purples out there.

 

I always called it charcoal.

 

I think yours was the charcoal. The wagon is more of a purple. It is hard to see in the pics though.

 

That's the 427. And are you sure that the 850R that looks orangeish isn't just red that's faded. I've seen other red cars like that that look orange in pictures but it's because it's really faded, and a good wax/buff brings it back to red.

 

that red-orange color is SICK!

 

yes but if you read all of the post i put in here it is type specific for "T5R" and "PLAT 850 T" the "R"modelcomes in all sorts of colors including customer request paint
not the t5r or the platinum edition turbo- thats what im getting at fellas ( and gals if any here) iposted this for all the people that say i got a limited run t5r in "pukegreen" or i got a platinum edition that is "black- that is why this post is here "R"models came in a range of colors for example the pumpkin colored "R"

 

I still think that's a faded red R. Never ever heard of a red/orange R.

And I know they came in several colors, just none of them were brought to the US. There was an olive 855R in the US I think.

 

Not sure if this helps finding the color you guys are looking for.
http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/default.aspx