BodenM

It's not that bad, just lots of waiting thanks to bureaucracy and red tape I think it's a silly system TBH, it was created as a kneejerk response to a string of morons offing themselves in big domestic RWD sedans (most of which are still legal to drive under the new scheme anyway....) and then people yelling "someone think of the children!". No, not really, because anyone who would try gets labelled as a child killer by the media pretty much. And of course I've seen Mad Max

No problem! In Australia, when you first get your licence, you hold a learner's permit for 12mo, where you have to drive with a fully-licenced adult at all times, plus 0.00 BAC, no hands-free, etc. After that you progress to a Provisional licence, which comes in 2 stages - P1 (which you hold for 1 year), and P2 (which you hold for 2 years), after which you progress to a full licence. The Provisional licence allows you to drive on your own, however you must display P plates in the front and rear window of your car, in the correct colour that corresponds to your licence. In most states of Australia (such as mine) this comes with restrictions too. In my state, P platers must always have a 0.00 BAC, cannot carry more than one non-family member in the car between the hours of 11pm and 6am, cannot use hands-free of any sort (those last two don't apply to P2 licence holders) and are also subject to vehicle performance restrictions, which ban cars that are considered "high performance", which includes cars with forced induction, 8cyl or more, or any engine with more than 210kW (about 280HP). With the recent surge of cars coming out with small engines and turbos to increase fuel economy, they had to implement a way for P platers to be able to drive these cars because they allegedly aren't at risk of making people crash (yet anyone with a brain knows you can just as easily off yourself with a crappy econobox as with a high-powered turbo/V8), so they implemented the Moderately Powered Vehicle exemption as part of the High Powered Vehicle exemption scheme. Unlike the HPV exemption, which requires you have a valid reason for needing to drive the car (e.g., only car available, can't afford to buy another, need to drive them as part of work, etc.), the MPV exemption only requires the vehicle be below 125kW/t, and for you to be able to prove that using official documents, like specs from the manufacturer's website, a scan from the owner's manual, or a letter stating the car's max power and kerb weight on the official letterhead. Since the S80 is a land barge, it comes in at approx. 119kW/t in T6 form, and hence qualifies for a moderately powered exemption, all I had to do was submit a scan of my car's manual, more specifically the front cover and front page, and the two pages with the kerb weight and maximum power on them. You send those off, wait a bit, and they return a letter that states whether your application was successful, unsuccessful or if they require more information/proof. You keep the attached certificate in the glovebox with your normal registration documents, and have to be able to produce it when requested by a police officer. The penalties for driving a HPV or MPV without an exemption are pretty steep, and since P platers can only accumulate a max of 4 demerit points before receiving a licence suspension, the two fines that make up the penalty are enough to result in an instant licence suspension.

So some things happened over the past few days.... 1. My exemption was approved and arrived in the mail! 2. Drove it to uni for the first time. 3. On that same day, came back after classes to discover that it had decided to puke a rather large amount of Volvo coolant all over the ground of the carpark. Welp. Called RACQ (took out cover literally 2 days prior), got the car towed home, where it sat for a few days. Diagnosis was the fittings to connect to the heater core on the engine side of the firewall were leaking. 4. Today, I bypassed the heater on the car until I can get a fresh set of hoses and fittings from Volvo. Now I can drive it again

Got the car phone working, just needed to throw a SIM card in it Works great, reception is flawless and the call quality is pretty good for something out of the late-90s/early-2000s. You can even send SMS with it if you really want to, might get a bit tedious for anything but short responses though Interesting info about the phone modules, at least for non-US markets, 1999, 2000 and early-2001 cars had the SIM slot in the phone module in the boot, and take a standard/large size SIM (that credit-card sized piece you get from a carrier when you buy a SIM from them, before you pop it out to put in your phone), whereas late-2001 cars with the module had a conventional mini-SIM tray in the keypad on the dash instead.

Ah yes S8ET6's build, I already know about that one haha, he was part of the inspiration for me getting an S80 T6 and building it up. (does that mean I can blame him for all the costs? )

Of course! Oh and hi to you too Mike :)

And that's why Triple Edge Performance rebuilds exist S8ET6 and RKH404 from here are both running rebuilds by TEP (S8ET6's was done by TEP, RKH404's was done with a parts kit from TEP).

So, after 2yrs of deliberation, procrastination, saving, indecisiveness and working, I finally have a car to call my own. It's a 1999 S80 T6, with a full service history and only 148,000km on the clock. Picked it up for a steal at $3500, and it's in pretty decent condition. First S80 I've ever seen in Tropical Green too. It does have a bit of paint damage on the plastic boot garnish, and the interior has some wear and tear, but nothing some TLC, a weekend and a box full of new parts won't fix. Fairly grunty for a barge too, won't set the world on fire but it's enough to give Skylines, S-chassis and turbo/V8 Falcons and Commodores (large domestic RWD sedans) a good scare. Will eventually get a trans rebuild and some stock R34 GT-R turbos or something to replace the tiny little TD03-08G stock turbos, should be decently responsive, and be able to net me my eventual ~400fwhp target. For now, custom catback, 18" wheels, grippy tyres, Koni FSD shocks and chassis bracing should make it more enjoyable to drive quickly, without ruining the smooth ride it has already too much. And now, for pics, because we all know the golden rule, "pics or it didn't happen"... When I brought it home a few nights ago: Dat beige interior, full grandpa spec: Original plush factory floormats with "S80" monogrammed into them: Rear seat looks like it's never been sat in: The less-nice parts: More to come soon!