Volvo 850 Lowering Springs

Definetly speak with Ash @ DVS in Melbourne , I did my 850R through his advice , very happy with results

B6 front & back , H&R 30mm lowering springs , rear converted from nivomat , front original vulcanised bush sway bar position with adjustable link rods to compensate for chassis 30mm lower than standard , so sway bar still sits in factory horizontal neutral unstressdd position when sitting still or straight line movement.

It's important that when car is just sitting the link rod ball joint is at 90 degrees to vertical to allow equal up & down movement when cornering.

Car has settled about another 5mm lower since these photos were taken but before link rod installation.

Very happy with the result after everything installed , also added delrin inserts to the sub frame about 6 moths ago , that combined with the 003 Bridgestones on a Bob Jane buy 3 get 4th free deal seems to work well for 850's.

Before you go putting coil overs in , talk to your insurance company.

I recently changed insurance companies , when discussing the policies for each car , they asked had I modified any of the cars suspension to coil overseas as if I had they would reclassify the policy for that car , eg: standard to modified , Ive never been asked before , why I was asked don't know , but best ask first.

If your fussy about genuine sensor windscreen also discuss this with your insurance company as some won't agree to genuine coverage.

How long have the new shocks and springs been in the car.

@morch_66479 Bilstein b4 isn't really a performance shock and not really suited to a 30-40mm drop if that makes the decision easier

Hey all, thanks for the kind words and name dropping. I'm jumping into the conversation a bit late but there's some good info in here.

I view the Bilstein B4 and Sachs offerings as interchangeable with one not really being any better/worse than the other. I see both as a oem/oem+ option, with both being a little better than what was fitted to the cars when new.
They'll both be ok with small ride height drops and spring rate increases.

There's no short-stroke Bilstein B8 option for the P80 platform, but the B6 is well suited for H&R and Eibach lowered spring sets.

There's been a bit of a supply issue with H&R P80 springs for a little while and they've been thin-on-the-ground. Sometimes we can source them, sometimes we cant and have/had no ETA. That should be resolved in late September.

No Bilstein B12, B14 or B16 kits for the P80 platform.

The Koni STRT is a good consideration now too, while not up to a Bilstein B6, price point is lower and is a good fit for most lowered spring options. Non-serviceable though.

For coilovers, options are (generally) garbage or really-good.
BC, Pedders, XYZ, D2, MaxSpeeding all fall into the low-end of things. BC can be 'ok' if you spec your own spec rates though and, to be fair, they're probably reasonable for their pricepoint.

KW V2 and KW V3 are very good options, as are GAZ and JRZ.
Typically, these are all servicable, can be spec'd with spring rates to suit your application and have a decent service life.
While we dont offer KW, we will service/rebuild them (depending on model) and we can have GAZ build us something to our spec or where we provide significant input and/or have variations made on their offerings to suit a specific pupose etc.

Of course, you can go really low if you want to in terms of ride height, but you'll need to consider geometry issues and driveshaft longevity.
If you achieve that really low right height with a low-end coilover options, I'd be pretty sure you'll come back to it later in favour of something else.

Pics below -

1997 V70T5.
Eibach springs all round.
Bilstein B6 rear shocks.
Ohlins front struts with solid/adjustable strut mount and bearing for the upper spring seat to minimise spring movement type noise. This adds a little to ride height; ~5mm ish.

It probably looks a bit higher too, simply due to wheel and tyre size. Wheels are 18x8 and tyres are 225 40 18.