Hi,

First post did not seem to make it to the C70 forum...

Does anyone have a comprehensive (okay, any!) list of differences model year by model year for C70 model? I noticed several comparing my y2k to a 98. These included:

98 had:

1. Stitched leather door panel middle section which contains door switches,etc as compared o y2k plastic leather look.

2. Traction conrol tha works until only about 30 mph compared to y2k works at all speeds.

3. Thrttle cable as compared to throttle "fly by wire" in y2k.

I have been told in 99 engine changes were introduced, wih a corresponding detrement to 0-60 performance:

1. Seimens engine management system.

2. Cam shaft with less duraration, generating less torque above 5100 RMP compared to 98 and previous.

3. Variable valve timeing, exhaust only, used only when engine is cold for emmisions. Can really feel performance impact with cold

engine.

4. Engine rubber top motor mount is in aluminum cast instead of metal support previously.

I noticed Volvo Swedish web site chenged 0-60 specifications from 7.2 I believe to 8.0 recently for automaic C70. (Not intending to start performance only discussion :-) )

I have been told early production had only adhesive connecting hinge to rear window on coupe, but bolts/rivets were added after these windows popped loose. Is that urban legend?

Is there a more authorative list with such details, more so than dealer glossys?

Thanks, if you have other facts (or rumor labeled as such) feel free to send them to me off list (abdj@rmi.net) . I am thinking of making a list.

Carl

There has been a retro fit campain going on by Volvo for the 1998 c70s related to the rear side windows I recently had the work done on my 98 C70. The work entails converting from the hinge setup to a 3 bolt setup. The change was to correct a problem with water leaks that develop around the original hinge bolt that goes through the glass. In heavy rain or through a car wash water ran into the car from around the hinge bolt. The change was not related to windows popping out or anything else like that.

Charles

When my "98" C70's Rear windows were replaced, the seal and window were replaced, with a different type of seal and a larger rear window the “fix” the leaking problem that didn’t exist. Once replaced, the left rear quarter window, started to leak. That leak was fixed by a tech disassembling that window again and cleaning the seal & resetting the window. The latches were never replaced the hinge is part of the window.

P.S. Volvo Techs dislike working on C70's, because of either inconsistencies of being hand built, or the differences between other Volvo models. And then, finally also because when there is something

Wrong, its usually time consuming and difficult to fix.

So again many of the changes between newer C70’s and older C70’s was to allow Volvo to maintain a consistency with the regular 70 series, Also Remember that the earlier C70s were being build “By hand”

at the TWR owned and controlled factory, After the Strike Volvo cars took greater control and started to standardize the production… For those of you who have been around for a few years, you’ll remember the

C70 was marketed and intended to be a limited production Touring Coupe, for empty nesters who wanted to make a Statement.

If you don’t believe me, look at the original sales education pamphlets (not the sales brochure) and Look

Up any of the older Rolling or SEES magazine along the URL for the C70 Factory, I’ll supply the URL latter when I can remember it.

Thanks for this feedback. The Autonova plant web page has been re-directed to Volvos home page as of around November when Volvo purchased controlling interest in Autonova. There are some details available at www.volvospy.com, but forget exact path to them.

Okay, due to my copius free tmie (NOT) I think I will start a list of differences.

I have started a very small collection of reviews, etc and you have peaked my interest in the magazines you mentioned. Do you by chance have the issue number for SEES, Rolling, or other magazines I might want to try obtaining? I subscribed to these for a bit with my 1800ES, but let subscription lapse for no good reason ;-). I als remember seeing a Volvo marketing magazine that was mailed out on occasion that had a feature on the C70, but forgot magazines name.. Ah well...

Carl

I'll have to look up the magazine numbers etc,

if you would like I'll also send you Photo copies of the various articles.

I have a decent collection of dealership & other Volvo based articles dating back to about 94

I’m personally always looking to add info that I don’t already have.

Hi,

Here is the C70 model year changes list so far... Hope this line breaks okay ;-) thanks Chris, Charles, Jeff, recollections from others, and folks I have talked to in past, bt can't recall names.... Any comments welcome here or offlist abdj@rmi.net

Carl

DRAFT C70 model year differences. This is a mix of opinions, much of which can not be substaniated (disclaimed enough?)

Options:

Premuin Leather that is thicker. Door panels have stiched leather around latch.

Misc

First models were called ‘Prestige’ . There is a C70 Prestige spiral bound book describing C70. (Exact conents not known)

Interior changes:

1. In 99 glove box door latch changes from Chrome finish to black

2. In ?2001 Wood replaced with simulated wood.

3. Europeans offered two tone leather (white/blue, black/brown, Red/??)

4. Europeans offered wood inlaid steering wheels.

Exterior and body changes

1. Rear side windows differ after 1998.There has been a retro fit campain going on by Volvo for the 1998 C70s related to the rear side windows. The work entails converting from the hinge setup to a 3 bolt setup. The change was to correct a problem with water leaks that develop around the original hinge bolt that goes through the glass. In heavy rain or through a car wash water ran into the car from around the hinge bolt. The change was not related to windows popping out or anything else like that. (Charles)

When my "98" C70's Rear windows were replaced, the seal and window were replaced, with a different type of seal and a larger rear window the “fix” the leaking problem that didn’t exist. Once replaced, the left rear quarter window, started to leak. That leak was fixed by a tech disassembling that window again and cleaning the seal & resetting the window. The latches were never replaced the hinge is part of the window. (Chris)

2. Side blinker lights replace Volvo emblem in ?1999.

3. Rumored increase in body stiffness in 1999.

4. Color selections change.

1997? Coral red, black, White, Casis (purple) Safron.

1998? Red, Black, Silver, Safron, Casis

1999?

2000?

2001?

Wiring/Electrical

1. Wiring moves to multiplexed system decreasing wire harnes complexity and weight. (True on V/S series, also on C?)

Engine/Transmission

1. Engine management system changed from Bosch to Seimens in 1999. Prevailing view is performance loss occurred too. The throttle is “drive by wire’” replacing throttle cable. Volvo uses VADIS system used to download software. The emissions are cleaner.

2. Engine intake manifold takes new shape.

3. Engines cam has lesser duration to increase low end torque, decreases high end.

4. Engine is distributerless.

5. Engine top mount changed from steel with cutouts to cast aluminum in 1999 (cheaper)?

6. TRACS from 1998 changes to Stabiliy Control (STC) in 1999+. STC works at all speeds limiting throttle, whereas TRACS works at about 30mh and less using braking.

Tech View of C70 (opinion)

P.S. Volvo Techs dislike working on C70's, because of either inconsistencies of being hand built, or the differences between other Volvo models. And then, finally also because when there is something wrong, its usually time consuming and difficult to fix.

So again many of the changes between newer C70’s and older C70’s was to allow Volvo to maintain a consistency with the regular 70 series, Also Remember that the earlier C70s were being build “By hand” at the TWR owned and controlled factory, After the Strike Volvo cars took greater control and started to standardize the production…

Marketing and market Positioning of C70

For those of you who have been around for a few years, you’ll remember the C70 was marketed and intended to be a limited production Touring Coupe, for empty nesters who wanted to make a Statement. If you don’t believe me, look at the original sales education pamphlets (not the sales brochure) and Look Up any of the older Rolling or SEES magazine along the URL for the C70 Factory, I’ll supply the URL latter when I can remember it.

Options:

Premuin Leather that is thicker. Door panels have stiched leather around latch.

Add color choice for Model Year 2000: Venetian Red Pearl

The C70 Factory's URL is Http://www.AutoNova.se

It currently appears to be down.

Here’s an interesting article I found About AutoNova:

By Daniel Howes / The Detroit News

UDDEVALLA, Sweden -- They're hoping for a windfall here once Ford Motor Co. becomes the biggest carmaker in Sweden.

It was just four years ago that Volvo Car Corp. joined with racing mogul Tom Walkinshaw's TWR Group of the United Kingdom to revive a shuttered Volvo assembly plant and form AutoNova AB, a joint venture that builds Volvo's self-described "image car" -- the C70 coupe and convertible.

Now the plant's 1,000 employees and their managing director, Mike Flewitt, are hoping the luster of the sporty C70 in the U.S. market and Walkinshaw's ties to Ford will entice the Dearborn automaker to consider AutoNova to build a niche vehicle, perhaps for the European market.

""There's no reason we couldn't build a Ford product over here," said Flewitt, who left Ford in 1995 after 14 years with the automaker's operations in the United Kingdom. "AutoNova can only make cars if someone makes them for us."

It's too soon to tell whether Ford -- which is buying Volvo Car from parent AB Volvo for $6.5 billion -- would consider a deal with AutoNova. Since restarting production two years ago, the plant has been criticized for failing to meet production quotas.

"We are producing the cars we want to produce" in Uddevalla, said Tuve Johanesson, president of Volvo Car. Yet he concedes "there have been some problems" at the plant, where cars are built at single stations -- not as they roll down an assembly line.

Last year, AutoNova assembled 11,000 cars for Volvo -- 4,000 shy of the break-even target of 15,000 cars. The plant, opened in 1985 on the site of an old shipyard and idled seven years later, has the capacity to build 40,000 cars per year, Flewitt says.

That's not likely any time soon, despite the increasing popularity of Volvo's C-line cars. For now, Volvo is concentrating on introducing its mid-size S40 sedan and V40 wagon to the North American market. They come from Volvo's joint venture with Mitsubishi Motor Corp. in the Netherlands, far from Uddevalla.

/

/Copyright 1999, The Detroit News

It sounds like you have the most reliable and comparative list

by being able to compare the two model years side by side,

Personally by having a good relationship with my dealer and some of the service techs, I've noticed and seen many of the changes that your referencing. Most of the changes that your referencing came about with the upgrades of the entire 70 series platform.

The main difference’s is that the newer 70 series cars became digital based cars as aposed to the older analog based thus decreasing the physical weight and amount of wire used in the wiring harness.

As to some of the silly detail things, such as the leather inserts in the door panels that’s just a difference between premium leather and standard leather .

Traction control working in all speeds is now called stability control or STC, some of the S80’s have what’s know as Dynamic Stability Control or DSTC.

Engine modifications are based off the fuel management and environmental standards to decrease the over all emissions.

Changing the engine mount was a way to “improve” the earlier style and decrease production cost.

and the rear window thing is a myth.

Beyond that, depending upon your preference’s and use both analog and digital based cars

Have their disadvantages and advantages, I prefer my analog based cars.

66 1800S, 72 145E deluxe, Yellow 95 850 T-5R sedan, 98 C70m (HPT) or T5 with a manual transmission.