Volvo S40 Flexifuel

DaveCol

Is anybody else driving an S40 Flexifuel?
How do you find fuel consumption on E85 Ethanol compared to petrol?

DaveCol

Am I the only one?

colm_mcm

mick_irl has one. don't know if there are any others

DaveCol

Just curious. It seems very heavy on the ethanol driving around town

superjosh9

When test-driving a Saab BioFuel I was told that to run it on E85 that the fuel consumption would increase by approx 25%. Now, if the dealer, which was a little girl that didn't know much about cars, was prepared to tell me that it would use 25%, it made me wonder just how much the consumption would *actually* increase by? I decided that it would be too expensive.

Hows the Volvo, in general? Very tempting prices - would have bought an S80/V70 Flexifuel if they'd done an Auto.

brettmirl

I do indeed have the S40 Flexifuel, but as of yet, have not tried Ethanol in it.

There's nowhere near me selling it. I think its only some Maxols that do it for now.

As for the Volvo in general, have to say I love it. Great, comfortable car to drive and it looks good too.

DaveCol

I would agree, the car is very comfortable and quiet, and looks well.

I have been doing a lot of city driving the last few weeks (mostly non-moving) so it is probably not a fair comparison, but have tried the E85 for the last two tanks and it is at least 25% higher, if not 30%.

Del2005

DaveCol wrote: »

I would agree, the car is very comfortable and quiet, and looks well.

I have been doing a lot of city driving the last few weeks (mostly non-moving) so it is probably not a fair comparison, but have tried the E85 for the last two tanks and it is at least 25% higher, if not 30%.

Thats about right, they say 25% increase, but with different driving styles it goes up and down a bit.

Does it work out cheaper on E85 or petrol?

Leprechaun77

I drive an S40 Flexifuel also. I reckon there's not much difference in the overall cost using the flexifuel/petrol. The E85 is about 30% cheaper but the mileage from this biofuel is so crap, it negates the cheaper cost.

The S40 is a lovely car and has a great spec. The only complaint I have is in relation to the gearbox. It is by far the crunchiest/roughest transmission I have ever used. It also needs to be serviced after 10,000 kms according to the service interval sticker in my window

L1011

Service interval stickers are put there by the dealers and are often hoplessly optomistic - my car has a 20,000k interval from the manufacturer, I get it brand new with a 12,000k interval sticker...

brettmirl

Leprechaun77 wrote: »

The only complaint I have is in relation to the gearbox. It is by far the crunchiest/roughest transmission I have ever used. It also needs to be serviced after 10,000 kms according to the service interval sticker in my window

That's odd. I just checked mine and it says Jan 09 or 20,000 km.

R.O.R

mick_irl wrote: »

That's odd. I just checked mine and it says Jan 09 or 20,000 km.

Standard engine is every 20,000km but the Flexifuel versions should be serviced every 10,000km.

brettmirl

My car has obviously become self aware or has logged onto boards...

When I turned it on this morning, a message came up on the dash saying "Book time for service".

Rang the dealer and apparently the flexifuels need a "lube service" at 10,000km.

Tabnabs

I have the 1.8 petrol S40, as a matter of interest, what kind of l/100km is the flexifuel version getting?

Re. the serving, my old Seat Leon used to tell me that when I fired up. It must have had an internal calendar on the clock, cause it always happened 12 months after the last service.

tom-d

Have an s40 1.8f
E85 mpg is noticeably less then unleaded but e85 is way cheaper. Around €48 for a full tank of e85 and around €60 for full tank of petrol.

Would agree very comfortable car, good lookin, gear stick could be better and I find the 1.8f has sluggish initial acceleration.
Also sometimes when it starts it loses power straight away and I have too put my foot down to get the engine going. Dosent happen very often though

Overall though great car

giggsirish

Hi Guys,

If you see this post (know its an old thread) what kind of MPG are you getting on the 1.8F. I'm not getting morethan 470KM on a full tank. Also the car was stalling every now and again. Volvo garage told me was a residue building on the points and to stick to petrol. Seems crazy.

cyborg

giggsirish wrote: »

Hi Guys,

If you see this post (know its an old thread) what kind of MPG are you getting on the 1.8F. I'm not getting morethan 470KM on a full tank. Also the car was stalling every now and again. Volvo garage told me was a residue building on the points and to stick to petrol. Seems crazy.

What points would that be? If it is supposed to be a flexifuel it should run without stalling on E85,I would insist on volvo sorting it out...

brettmirl

I've not tried Flexifuel in mine yet to be honest...

Giggsirish - did you read the bit in the manual about running in on E85? You have to drive it a certain amount of KMs at a pretty constant speed to "mix" it the first time you use it in the car.

There was also something about when you run on a mix of the two in the manual, but can't remember exactly what it said. Might be worth taking a look.

giggsirish

Hi Guys,

It was back at the dealers twice. What was happening exactly was mostly just cutting out. If at lights and you reved it up a little the engine shuck (for lack of a better term) the rev counter started to jump and the car cut out.

Firstly they took it back for a day. Was offered no courtiesy car and had to rent one at my own cost. Then when issue didnt resolve it was taken back again for a "Software Upgrade". At this stage they said there was a residue on some points (not exactly sure which. Presume points as opposed to plugs). Was advised keep using petrol and not the E85. Its been ok since.

Have read the manual from cover to cover. Does mention the time to allow the two fuels mix etc. But its just seems crazy heavy on fuel be it petrol or E85. That said I love the car. Bit shocked by its drop in value though. Its a 08 with the R-Design kit and now only worth approx 23000. Only 23,000Km on the clock. Given the current climate guess all cars are suffering similar.

brettmirl

Hmmm, that is odd. Mind me asking what dealer it was?
The car is still under warranty, and if I were you, I'd leave it back with them until you are happy it's sorted. As it's under warranty, they should provide you with a courtesy car. It's a 08 and it's not working. Why sell it as a flexifuel car and then tell you only to use unleaded?

I don't find mine any heavier on petrol than my last two cars, and I'm a sucker for leaving air con on all the time.

As for the value, I think that garages are having a very hard time shifting cars off the forecourt at the moment, so the value is bound to drop.

giggsirish

Hi Mick,

Brought it back to a Dublin dealer but was purchased in Athlone. All said they did provide a car second time back. What kinda distance you getting on a full tank?

The 10,000 service interval is a bit nuts too. €360 last week for its 20,000 service.

brettmirl

Agree with you about the 10K service intervals alright. They didn't mention that when I was buying it

I clocked mine ages ago to see what I was getting for a full tank....but that was back in Jan, and can't remember what it was.

Will clock it again on next full tank and let you know.

Are you measuring your km/tank off that clock on the dash that tells you how many KMs you have left to an empty tank or are you using the mileage counter?

giggsirish

Using the Trip counter. That "Miles till Empty" clock is a joke lol. It drops in intervals of 20km and never seems to give a correct reading.

Tabnabs

Which dealer in Dublin? If it's the "fancy" south side one, I would get a second opinion, they are less than competent in my personal experience.

brettmirl

giggsirish wrote: »

Hi Mick,

Brought it back to a Dublin dealer but was purchased in Athlone. All said they did provide a car second time back. What kinda distance you getting on a full tank?

The 10,000 service interval is a bit nuts too. €360 last week for its 20,000 service.

Bit late getting back to you on this....my bad!

Got 590-ish km to my last full tank. That was running it pretty hard on air con too with all the cold mornings we've been having.

Has your fuel consumption gotten any better or worse?

Drummerboy08

Guys i have a question for you all - and im not trying to start an argument, its just for my own knowledge -

What made you buy the Flexifuel over the 1.6, or 2.0 Diesels?
Im in the motor trade, we have a few flexifuels out on fleet, but a lot more diesels out. We just couldnt see the value of a Flexifuel over the diesel, especially since there are so few forecourts selling ethenol.

giggsirish

Hi Mick,

No improvement as of yet. Getting around the 480-500Km on a tank.

Drummerboy08:

Guess it was the 50% VRT reduction. Not only on the car but on the extras I got also. That said id swop it in a heart beat for a 07/08 1.6D now.

brettmirl

I'll do another tank run again and see what I get. You are getting that on unleaded and not the ethanol?

Drummerboy - got the flexifuel cause of the VRT price difference.

giggsirish

mick_irl wrote: »

I'll do another tank run again and see what I get. You are getting that on unleaded and not the ethanol?

Drummerboy - got the flexifuel cause of the VRT price difference.

Yup on petrol. Ethanol is a waste altogether. 3rd service on its way now also and not even 30,000 on the clock.

Drummerboy08

Thanks for the responses lads.

Just a word of warning - the diesel might have cost more to buy, but i think in the long run you would have saved in on insurance/fuel/trade in value.

But, the S40 is a lovely car, hope you get many happy miles of motoring in it!

E92

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

What made you buy the Flexifuel over the 1.6, or 2.0 Diesels?

When the flexifuel sold well - which it did for a while it was because of the 50% VRT rebate under the old engine size system.

I can't remember off hand but the VRT on a FFV model was something like ~€5,000 less than a standard petrol model.

And then of course under the old system the 1.6D would probably have been dearer than the standard 1.8 never mind the 1.8F with a ~€5,000 VRT rebate.


Wasn't hard to see why it sold so well really.

Of course with the new VRT system it's diesel all the way. And there will be a new, cleaner diesel S40, V50 and C30 for 2009 with €104 road tax, it's called the DRIVe model.

Personally I think it's a great pity because Ethanol is far, far cleaner than petrol which in turn is far superior to diesel on all non CO2 emissions(especially PM and NOx which are a danger to human health to the popint that PM from diesels is estimated to kill 80,000 Europeans every year according to the WHO).

brettmirl

giggsirish wrote: »

Yup on petrol. Ethanol is a waste altogether. 3rd service on its way now also and not even 30,000 on the clock.

WOW, you are flying through the KMs. I'm still 7,000km from my 2nd service.

dubhorse

Hi All,

Considering buying an s40 FFV. Would anyone who has one buy another one or recommend them?
Are the service costs ridiculous?
Really interested to hear your thoughts.