This or That 226
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Poll May Switch Choices
Welcome to This or That; Where I choose 2 vehicles (but probably can't afford) and you choose which one you'd rather have with the poll.
You can explain your choice below, or not.
European Wagon Day
First up is a Techno Violet 1997 BMW 320i Touring M-Sport [Euro]. It has a Naturally Aspirated 2.0L Inline-6 [M52] Engine with 148hp, 5-Speed Manual Transmission and RWD. Inside is a Black Interior with Heated Sport Seats, Sunroof and Pioneer AM/FM/CD Player.
ExhaustToo much show and no go?
It’s up against a Silver 2006 Volvo V70R. It has a Turbocharged. 2.5L Inline-5 with 300hp, “Spaceball Shifter” 6-Speed Transmission and AWD. Inside is a Atacama Orange and Black Interior with Heated Leather Front Seats, Automatic Climate Control, and Retrofitted Kenwood Head Unit.
Bolt-on, Suspension and Wheels
1997 BMW 320i Touring M-Sport [Euro] - Sold NR $21,759 USD – 101,100mi / 162,700km
Link to listing for more information
2006 Volvo V70R - Sold $22,000 USD – 113,400mi / 182,500km
Link to listing for more information
Link for more information on This or That or to make your own.
Hey, thanks for voting. I hope you enjoyed today’s poll.
Have some vehicles you’d like to see in the poll? Send me a message! -
@Exage03040 E36 for me, mainly cause high school me really wanted an E36.
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One of those is lovely. The other, good grief, Volvo used to make great boxy wagons what went horribly wrong?
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@Exage03040 said in This or That 226:
It has a Naturally Aspirated 2.0L Inline-6 [M52] Engine with 148hp
I must be spoiled by modern cars, because that sounds downright anemic. Still... One hell of a wagon. Especially in that color.
The Volvo comes with stock Pegasus wheels which would be swapped over ASAP, and a laundry list of good modifications. The dyed Atacama seats look to have been done quite well—definitely looks better with silver than the blue Nordkap.
They're both gorgeous manual wagons that are hard to find, but the Volvo gets my vote here as it feels like the better all-around package as apposed to a the Beemer which would come out of the garage on sunny days for a quick cruise. It's closer than you might think though!
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@Exage03040 Why is that Volvo twice as expensive as it should be? For $20k Im going with the rarer purple one.
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@Exage03040 BMW has double the age and half the HP, so Volvo all day for me.
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My birthday is September 19, which is also Talk Like a Pirate Day.
So that makes this easy for me.
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
Hate the wheel setup, though...
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@AestheticsInMotion said in This or That 226:
I must be spoiled by modern cars, because that sounds downright anemic.
You also gotta remember, this doesn't weigh anywhere near what modern cars weigh, it doesn't need 300+ to move it's fat ass.
My 94 only has 180hp, yet it's quicker 0-60 than my 2018 that has almost 300hp and 2 extra gears.
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@Just-Jeepin said in This or That 226:
One of those is lovely. The other, good grief, Volvo used to make great boxy wagons what went horribly wrong?
Not long after this, they got a little weird, but the current batch of Volvos look amazing to me. It's so nice to see actual wagons around for a change.
Just a shame about the weird combo powertrains and "all screen, all the time" interface on the modern ones.
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@Milky that's the going rate unfortunately. Manual wagons have become increasingly rare, especially in a condition like this. If the seats were Atacama from the factory, this would have been sold on BaT for 20% more instead of C&B.
@Long_Voyager94 it's light at 3000lbs—I'm sure it's a blast—but even so, 148hp is barely more than the 3000lb Miata made out of a 1.8 4-cylinder during the same era. It's just a dissapointing power figure.
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@Exage03040 E36
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@Exage03040 The BMW is better looking, but it's just too slow.
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@AestheticsInMotion I was going to say it should be alright for such a lightweight car, buuuut the E36 touring is 3100lbs so, yeah. So yeah, I'd want some sort of inline 6 swapped in there. I don't even care which one. 4 cylinder BMW are sad..... says the guy with a 2.0t BWW crossover.
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@Exage03040 Not many times I would pick a Volvo over a BMW. But here I am.
Volvo for the win.
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@HFV It is a straight 6 but still HELLA slow. I'd stuff an S52/S54 in there right away.
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@Tripper hun. little baby 2l straight 6. huh. it should at least still be toruqier than a 4 cylinder.
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@Exage03040 one is purple, one is not. The choice is simple.
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@AestheticsInMotion said in This or That 226:
it's light at 3000lbs—I'm sure it's a blast—but even so, 148hp is barely more than the 3000lb Miata made out of a 1.8 4-cylinder during the same era. It's just a dissapointing power figure.
I think the bigger problem here is people are too hung up on power numbers instead of when/where the power is delivered, weight, and torque.
148hp is barely more than a Miata, but the 150ft-lbs of torque coming in right off idle is substantially more than the Miata ever thought to have, which in turn make the car feel substantially quicker than it is.I understand the sentiment, but 148hp in a 3k car is more than enough to have fun with. I'll take a sub-3k car with a sub 2k motor that has a wonderful powerband over any of the 4500lb cars with 300hp peaky engines we have today, they're just so much more fun without needing to wring them out.
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@Long_Voyager94 The problem of course is that the BMW is not a < 300lb car, and the Volvo is not a > 4500 lbs car. Granted, as a P2 S60 driver, I do think that the S60/V70 is too big and too heavy (and the V70R's AWD makes it a few hundred pounds heavier than my S60). Maybe not massively too big and too heavy, but I'd prefer to be lighter. But the BMW just isn't going to have much zip with that engine. If we were talking about a 200HP engine in the BMW, I think that would be enough to turn the tables in its favor.
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@facw said in This or That 226:
@Long_Voyager94 The problem of course is that the BMW is not a < 300lb car, and the Volvo is not a > 4500 lbs car. Granted, as a P2 S60 driver, I do think that the S60/V70 is too big and too heavy (and the V70R's AWD makes it a few hundred pounds heavier than my S60). Maybe not massively too big and too heavy, but I'd prefer to be lighter. But the BMW just isn't going to have much zip with that engine. If we were talking about a 200HP engine in the BMW, I think that would be enough to turn the tables in its favor.
The conversation was in terms of modern vehicles vs the BMW, not the BMW vs the Volvo.....
In this particular instance, I'm taking the Volvo, but that's not because I think the BMW will be slow or boring to drive. -
The Volvo all the way for me. The BMW in this case is the one for people who just wanted the badge.
The Volvo is a better vehicle as far as wagons go
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@HFV
No. A 2L I6 will have less low end torque and have more top end power than a 2L 4 cyl…. All other things being equal (such as 4 valves per cyl and DOHC)
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@Exage03040 voted Volvo against my instincts, mainly for novelty reasons. But parked next to reach other, I have a hard time guessing which would draw more attention.
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I picked the V70R, but only afterwards realized it's an auto. Ugh! For that price it should have had the spaceball..