V50 D5 performance
 

Hi
Wonder if anyone can help. I've just taken delivery of my new V50 D5 with 6 speed manual gearbox. Due to the unavailability of a D5 manual to test drive, I drove the 2.0D which was OK but was expecting better things from the D5 with 40 horses and 80 torques more.

I know the car has only done 100 miles but performance seems a little disappointing. I've purposely not pushed the revs as so new but tonight I accelerated nearly to the red line in second and was only seeing just over 40 mph. Does this sound right, does the car need a while to loosen up?

Appreciate comments.

Thanks
Ross

the road speed at redline is surely not going to change when the engine has loosend(sp?) because thats all down to gear ratios, it will just get to the redline quicker when its done a few more miles, 40 in 2nd does seem a tad on the slow side.

V50 D5 Performance
 

Thanks, it gets to the red line quick enough but speed increase does not seem comparable. If car was not so new I'd wonder if clutch was slipping....

What car were you driving previously ? Could it be that your V50 doesn't "seem" to be accelerating well compared to your memory of previous car ? I'm not sure that 40mph flat(ish) is 2nd is that bad.............you've still got 4 to go at. Ask your dealer what the relative mph/1000rpm is for each gear - or maybe someone on here knows, (put money on that) ?

I changed from a Fabia vRS to my Volvo and the Volvo "felt" like a barge initially but the reality is that it's actually pretty comparable - I'm just much more insulated from the wicked world.

Thanks Sid

You may be right - previous car was a Golf 1.8T (petrol). I guess I expected the performance of the D5 to be a little more noticeable but I'll check the speeds with the dealer.

You have moved from petrol to diesel so you will find yourself hitting the red-line quite quickly.

The V70 D5 Auto runs at around 35mph/1000rpm in top - which looks to be around 5.5-6mph per gear per 1000rpm (rough approximation).

2nd would suggest around 11 per 1000 - redline @ 4000 = 44mph / @4500 = 50mph

So yep about right!

difference in gearing ratios
 

It's probably has something to do with the ratios of a 6 speed compared to 5 speed too (I'm guessing the golf was 5sp?). So in theory 2nd on the D5 will be lower geared than 2nd in the golf, added to the fact that diesels rev lower could be your answer.

my D5 geartronic does about 45 bouncing off the rev limiter in second. Just change to third! Once it losens up it will pull just as well in 3rd or fourth.
I went to v50 from a seat leon 1.8T. The v50 is certainly slower 0-60 but mid range there is very little in it. Both were 180bhp standard and are now 220+ with a remap.

The only D5 I've driven was a C70 with Auto, but i have to say even compared to my T5 it did move (noticably slower, but by far the quickest diesel I've ever driven).

I agree though that 40 in second is a tad slow, the T5 does a little over 60 in 2nd. I was expecting the speeds to be pretty much comparable, but have no idea for sure.

Stu

Diesels generally run very different gear ratios to petrol cars because they rev so much lower, max speed in gear is usually well down on a petrol especially in the lower gears.

Cheers,
John