Volvo XC90 - Surprisingly quick?
Discussion
Last week, I was on an A road near Mansfield, and was doing 50-60, but putting my foot down to get there. In my rear view mirror an XC90 came up behind, was being driven slightly aggressively, driving pretty close, so figured he wanted to get past. Next clear straight, I stick to 50, and the XC goes past at a fair rate of knots. It had a private plate so don't know the age, but it seemed to go past really quickly, then off at limit plus some speed.
It stuck in my head since the "what car can be bought that seats 7 and is not totally crap" thread. The XC90 came across as a pretty good motor but I would not have thought it particularly fast - possibly it was chipped? It was a diesel, anyone got one, and are they better than the figures suggest?
It stuck in my head since the "what car can be bought that seats 7 and is not totally crap" thread. The XC90 came across as a pretty good motor but I would not have thought it particularly fast - possibly it was chipped? It was a diesel, anyone got one, and are they better than the figures suggest?
sure it was a diesel? They come in v8 petrol form I believe.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
Accelerates pretty quickly.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
Accelerates pretty quickly.
Edited by matthias73 on Sunday 8th January 21:10
matthias73 said:
Herr jezza did an article on it. Sounds pretty good 
They put it in the S80 too. I doubt they sold 100 per year of both combined. I'm sure if they'd have put it in the V70, with a decent marketing campaign they could have shifted three or four times that number.
Can't describe how nice they sound. IMO much nicer than a BMW or Jaguar V8.
Hell27 said:
I was not struggling to reach 50-60, I was on an unfamiliar road with alternating 50 and NSL. Was driving a 530d. Putting my foot down to get there meant I was enjoying the acceleration coming out of roundabouts etc.
Fair enough, by the original post i thought you were in a '67 Minor with a potatoe up the exhaust.I had a test of an XC-90 off-road and a brief on road test drive.
Wasn't too bad, not much if any quicker than a comparable Land/Range Rover product, but as others have said if hussled would probably easily pass most cars not 'pushing on'.
Volvo's are true "sleepers"
I remember "racing" one once a couple of years back in my tuned sl, I was astonished at how well it kept up at 30-80mph speeds, I think it was an older t5. When the turbo'ed-petrol versions have been mapped they are very quick cars - probably why they have been used as traffic-cop cars for such a long time
I remember "racing" one once a couple of years back in my tuned sl, I was astonished at how well it kept up at 30-80mph speeds, I think it was an older t5. When the turbo'ed-petrol versions have been mapped they are very quick cars - probably why they have been used as traffic-cop cars for such a long time
I have an XC90, an older one where the D5 only makes 168Bhp. Off the line to 60 is slowish; about 12 secs i.e. about the average for cars now. In gear at speed however the huge torque the D5 delivers really gives it some shove and I never feel that it is under powered for such a huge car.
The odd thing with the D5 is that Volvo have upped the power to 200Bhp+ but the 0-60 figures have stayed almost the same for the XC90, which I think is down to the auto boxes limiting the torque/power in low gears.
The odd thing with the D5 is that Volvo have upped the power to 200Bhp+ but the 0-60 figures have stayed almost the same for the XC90, which I think is down to the auto boxes limiting the torque/power in low gears.
PlankWithANailIn said:
I have an XC90, an older one where the D5 only makes 168Bhp. Off the line to 60 is slowish; about 12 secs i.e. about the average for cars now.
Average 0-60 these days is about 9 secondshttp://www.0-60cartimes.com/0-60-statistics/
fast they are not

Edited by jbi on Sunday 8th January 23:48
The Crack Fox said:
The T6 has a 4.4 V8 made by Yamaha, very potent, also used by Noble in a different tune IIRC.
Jem0911 said:
I thought the T6 was a straight six 2.5L?
XC90 petrols:2003-2006MY:
"2.5T" - 2.5l five cylinder turbo, 210PS
"T6" - 2.9l inline six cylinder twin-turbo, 272PS
NB: The 2007- T6 engine as used in S80, V70, XC70, XC60, 2nd Gen S60 and V60 is a different engine again (derived from the more compact then-new 3.2l NA six), it's a 3.0l inline six twin-scroll turbo with 306PS and a modern six speed rather than antediluvian four speed that its predecessor in the 1st Gen S80 and XC90s.
2007-2009MY
"3.2" - inline six cylinder NA, 240PS
"4.4" - V8 NA, 315PS
It's not so simple as "the same engine in a different state of tune" for the Noble, it's no longer NA as it gains two turbos.
XC90 diesels - all are 2.4l five cylinder engines as a starting point.
2003-2005MY
"D5" - 163PS, five speed manual or auto 'boxes.
2006MY
"D5" - 185PS (now a variable geometry, still single turbo), six speed manual or auto 'boxes and
"2.4D" - "old" 163PS engine with updated transmissions and driveline.
However, there was a delay bringing the revised D5 185PS auto to market, so the "old D5" carried on alongside it, but gained the six speed 'boxes and revised "Instant Traction" AWD system of all 06-onwards XC90s. This was unhelpfully badged "2.4D"
2007-2009MY:
"D5" - 185PS, six speed auto or manual as 06MY D5
2010MY
"D5" - 200PS, six speed auto only. Still one turbo,basically a factory Polestar upgradedd 185. Polestar was not available for this engine as it was alread done at build, that was the case up to June 2011 at least, when I parted company with Volvo, so this may have changed since but I doubt it as the car was claimed to be in runout mechanical spec then.
However, in the other large car ranges (listed above) the 185PS D5 was indeed superseded by a twin turbo D5 with 210PS that could be further enhanced by Polestar upgrade. The small platform (C30, S40, V50 & C70) "D5" was yet another variation upon the theme at 180PS with a lower torque output. This was superseded by the new generation 2.0l "D4" with 177PS in 2010.
The D5's 0-60 time did improve notably during the various upgrades, partly as a function of a bit more power, equally the revisions to gearboxes with more ratios and an AWD system that did not have its own lag (early 163PS D5 autos are very slow off the mark).
They weigh over two tonnes, their 0-anything times are always going to struggle. But care of well chosen ratios and responsive gearboxes, as well as 400Nm+ in most cases their in-gear increments once rolling are quite useful, just as the slower 0-60 timed E90 330d manual was quicker 30-70 than an M3 CSL for instance. 0-60 ain't the whole story as most of us should know.
Edited by Zwolf on Monday 9th January 00:15
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