The P80 chassis designation for Volvo cars extended from MY 1993 to 2000 in the US market. Towards the end of its run a rare but useful vehicle was created in the form of the 1997 Volvo 850 AWD. It was essentially an 850 GLT, but featured Volvo's first all-wheel-drive system. As the chassis evolved, there were three different rear brake setups utilized on the various models, all improving with time.
Matthewsvolvosite.com
'97 - Early '99 Style
Volvo's first iteration of all wheel drive wasn't actually an all new system, in fact it re-used many components from the late 960 and S90 vehicles including the RWD components and brake calipers. The rear differential is said to be identical, along with the calipers, and brake pads. These are the easiest brakes for the AWD models to find, as they are extremely prevalent on older RWD models.
The early Girling caliper style was used in 1997 Volvo 850 AWD models all the way up to the 1999 S70 and V70 AWD models. (Up to chassis #596635 on S70, and #588639 on V70 models)
Late '99 - 2000 AWD (exc. 2000 R)
Late '99 caliper retrofitted to my early '99 S70 AWD
Late '99 vehicles got a nice upgrade in the form of thicker rear rotors (non-vented) and ATE branded calipers. These calipers function much like the front calipers on P80 Volvos, with lubricated slide pins that aren't encased in an accordion boot. In addition to the slightly larger rotors, these made use of larger brake pads that took advantage of an increase in swept pad area on the rotors.
If you have an early '99 AWD Volvo and want to reap the benefits of thicker rear rotors and a better, more modern caliper, these can be retrofitted. Due to the rotor's thickness, it will drag on the dust shield of the early '99 vehicles. This can be remedied by gently prying it back using a pry bar against the wheel hub. A few millimeters is all it needs. Replacing the dust shields with the updated part isn't feasible, as the wheel hub needs to be removed in order to get them off. This involves complete knuckle removal and a bearing press - not exactly worth it for a minor brake upgrade. Do it only if you can get the parts cheap at a junkyard - I got a full set of lightly used rotors, pads, and calipers for under a hundred bucks. Lucky for me the previous owner did a full rear brake overhaul before junking the car.
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2000 V70R
The 2000 Volvo V70R got the crown jewel of rear brake setups that was the best of the range. It utilizes similar ATE calipers from the late '99 rear brake setups, but benefits from vented rotors for increased fade resistance. A V70R-specific dust shield and caliper were also used. Unfortunately, these vented rotors are no longer available. All V70Rs equipped with this will need to be converted to the non-vented setup.
NLA - Volvo Disc Brake Rotor Rear (V70) - Genuine Volvo 8617026
Photo: IPD
About the Author: Alex Fiehl
Alex is FCP's Blog Editor and an IT technician from Endwell, NY. He has over 8 years of experience working on a wide array of import makes, but lately is partial to Volvo . For some reason he just purchased a Volkswagen, and is excited to see what breaks first.
