Not really, as it turned out the Estate had better aero than the sedan..
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When Volvo released the T5 variant of their 850, the Swedish automaker wanted to boost its profile in order to gain market share. Instead of a traditional marketing campaign, Volvo took the 850 racing in the British Touring Car Championship.
How the decision to use the 850
estate came about wasn’t intentional though. Volvo commissioned Steffansson Automotive to develop a BTCC prototype, but when they went to collect a body shell only estate variants were left. This news quickly reached the Volvo board, who saw it as a golden opportunity to break the stereotype of only selling estates to middle-aged geography teachers.
As it turned though, the 850 estate’s long roofline actually proved advantageous, with the race car producing more downforce over the sedan equivalent. A longer wheelbase and more glass did equate to increased weight, but being below the minimum meant there was still opportunity to move ballast around.
From when the 850 estate first lined up on the BTCC grid at Thruxton Circuit in April 1994, competitors saw it as more of a marketing exercise than anything else. The Volvo team was undeterred, and as a tongue in cheek measure stuffed a toy Border Collie in the back for a parade lap.
Sadly, the 850 estate only saw competition for the one season, where Volvo placed sixth in the constructors championship. For the 1995 BTCC championship, TOCA altered the rules to permit additional spoilers, but these could not extend past the bumpers or the roofline. Sadly, any advantage the estate had was now gone, so the T5 850 sedan took its place for the next two seasons, where Volvo drivers frequented the podium more often.
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www.gtplanet.net
, because if i rank all cars i ever owned, it was overall the best one. V60>CRX, A3, A4, Octavia VRS, 3008gt-l)
