Volvo V70 - advice

Kevin Faulks

I am thinking getting a Volvo V70 and am deciding between the Drive e and a D3.

Any advice?

Am inclided to the Drive e which looks very economicla to run but does it have enough power? Looks like a very modest engine for a large estate. Does anyone have any experience of the Drive e model?

The D3 is also an option but perhaps heavy on fuel consumptions and CO2 emissions etc.?

Many thanks for any experience/guidance...

VolvoMan

The D3 is a Volvo engine (five cylinder) and the DRIVe has a Ford/PSA unit. The former engine is supposed to be a cracker by all means but obviously not as frugal as the 1.6D.

It really is a case of head and heart. The DRIVe is super efficient for the size of car it is and is supposedly very refined, while the D3 is a bit more characterful being a five cylinder and has a lot better performance, but at the cost of fuel economy.

It would be worth posting on here for more detailed information, as there will be a lot of people who own both and have first hand experience of the cars: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk

whippet

I test both a few months ago .. the 1.6 was adaquate but in manual you'd be using the gears quite abit, even in motorway driving. The D3 is nicer, but worth the extra money? it would be up to you.

BTW.. I ended up with the Scoda Superb Estate instead !!!!

-Chris-

There's a few of us here who have driven the 1.6D in the S80 and we were pleasantly surprised at the performance and refinement.

I'd say the best (only) way to be truly sure is to drive both of them. There'll be people who consider the DRIVe nippy for what it is, and others who will consider it dog slow and not worth the compromise.
Only you can answer which side of the fence you're on.

R.O.R

DRIVe 1.6d was missing from the S80/V70 line up for a while, but it's back on the MY12 pricelists - now D2 DRIVe.

The S80 1.6d was very surprising to drive. Whether that's because it was pretty good, or whether it's because most people had such a low expectation is the big question.

I've been driving a 1.6Hdi 508 for the past week or so, which I'm pretty sure is the same engine (more or less) as the Volvo D2 unit, and I have to say, it's a very impressive engine. 0-60 is pretty slow, but it has plenty of torque where it's required and will accelerate from 120 + on motorways at a reasonable pace - something that some competitors 1.6d units don't do.

The D3 engine in the S60/V60 has been updated for MY12 to bring emissions down. V60 now comes in to band B (MY11 models were 144g), but I didn't check the V70. In real world terms, you probably won't see much difference between the D2 and D3 engines for fuel economy as the D3 won't need to be pushed anywhere near as hard as the D2 to get reasonable performance.

The V70 really needs the D5 Geartronic IMHO.

Kevin Faulks

Much appreciate the very helpful information in these replies.

bazz26

Aren't the S80\V70 getting a facelift soon to bring them inline with the new Volvo corporate nose?

R.O.R

bazz26 wrote: »

Aren't the S80\V70 getting a facelift soon to bring them inline with the new Volvo corporate nose?

I think that's coming with the MY12 changes. Don't remember reading about exterior changes, but there are interior changes to bring them in line with the S60.

Drummerboy08

R.O.R wrote: »

The V70 really needs the D5 Geartronic IMHO.

I think you're being a tad harsh on the D3 IMO.

There is nine and a half grand in the difference between the D3 Geartronic ES and a D5 Geartronic ES.

For that 9500 you get.......and extra 40-odd bhp. A decent remap would cost a few hundred quid and have it up to around the same power mark or thereabouts.

Not only that, but you'll never see the colour of that 9500 when it comes to trade in. It's worth a grand more tops than the D3.

NewApproach

How many miles do you do? If not too many, perhaps look at the 4.4 S80 V8, they would be cheap second hand are are supposedly very powerful cars and very good spec.

Drummerboy08

NewApproach wrote: »

How many miles do you do? If not too many, perhaps look at the 4.4 S80 V8, they would be cheap second hand are are supposedly very powerful cars and very good spec.

Very few of those around, none for sale in this country.

R.O.R

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

I think you're being a tad harsh on the D3 IMO.

There is nine and a half grand in the difference between the D3 Geartronic ES and a D5 Geartronic ES.

For that 9500 you get.......and extra 40-odd bhp. A decent remap would cost a few hundred quid and have it up to around the same power mark or thereabouts.

Not only that, but you'll never see the colour of that 9500 when it comes to trade in. It's worth a grand more tops than the D3.

Just kidding - D3 is a peach of an engine.

No exterior changes to the V70 from what I can make out, except LED indicators in the wing mirrors. Interior gets a colour screen like in the S60, and the new centre console.

Engine CO2 / fuel economy figures are:
D2 (1.6d) - 119g & 4.5L/100km
D3 - 139g & 5.3L/100km
D5 - 134g & 5.1L/100km - that is very impressive for the power/torque that's putting out!

D2 SE = €41,995 ex. Works
D3 SE = €44,795 ex. Works

The Ocean Race special edition is coming back in to the model line up. ES spec with Leather, 17" Alloys and loads of Volvo Ocean Race Logo's.

D2 VOR = €40,495
D3 VOR = €43,295

As Drummerboy said above, the D5 carrys a large premium over the D3 so I didn't bother with those figures

Production of MY12 cars starts week 20 which is w/c 16th May.