Why 240 So Special ??

As time passes, this model had 'classic' in the modern people's eyes and hearts. But driving one, you will always defend the car that with quotes that others will definitely deny. Examples of quotes; "i had never drove a car with such good handling like this 240, even the new generation of Volvos"; "this car is a computerized, even its ignition is regulated electronically"; "the car saves fuel"; "to maintain the car is very easy & cheap" & etc.

In this post, I would like to highlight the facts & figures of why this Volvo 240 is so special; in terms of its' technology advancement and technical specifications, of which among the items, there are still things that cannot be found on modern vehicles. Please do bear in mind that all these technologies had been used since 1970s!

1 - Braking power varies with speed.

This is one of the safety features of this car. Your 240 should react like this; the faster you drive, the more braking power you have. For instance, when you are driving slowly around town area, you need to apply brake a bit harder to have the braking effect. However, when you are driving on a highway with speed excess of 100km/h, you will find that you need to apply less to get more braking power (apply less on the pedal, but the braking is more).

2 - Collapsible steering column.

The steering column of this car is not though! It can collapse into parts! Why? In the event of accident, the U-joints on the steering column is designed to break away, and even some area inside the column and the steering itself designed to collapse. This to ensure that the steering will not hit the driver; given that he fasten his seat belt!

3 - Day running lights (DRLs).

Yes, this feature applies to certain model in certain country. I feel very lucky to drive one with DRL. It is very important to be able to see & to be able to be seen clearly as well. This feature provides 6 times more visibility of your vehicle to the other road users.

4 - Triangle-shape brake circuit.

Generally, cars will have 2 circuit brakes. And generally, one circuit will be connected to 2 tyres each. Volvo invented that this model use triangle-shape brake circuit where each circuit holds 3 tyres (in triangle shape circuit, 2 front tyres & 1 RHS rear tyre + 2 front tyres & 1 LHS rear tyre). The main purpose of having this setup is if either one of the circuit fails, the car still have 80% of the braking power.

5 - Less flank angle windshield.

You may have noticed that 240 have rather 'straight' windshield. The advantage; the vision is less affected during rainy days due to the less angle & surface area. Less drops have a chance to even drop on the surface of the windshield itself. However, this setup is beleived to decrease fuel efficiency because it is not aero-dynamic and creates wind drag.

I guess this is all for now. There's a lot more to be written here, but let it be saved for later posts. See you soon guys. Good day :)