Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post - 1.8 petrol engine, owner's opinions please!

eustachio · Jul 18th, 2011, 13:13

Hi

We're considering getting either an S40 or V50, and as our annual mileage is low (<8000 p.a.) and mostly urban, the diesels don't seem to make a lot of sense for us.

The engine that fits our budget for running costs is the 1.8 petrol, but I'm just wondering if people here think it's powerful enough for the car, and a nice engine to drive. Also here most of the 1.8s that are sold here in Ireland are the flexi-fuel variant, so trying to figure out if these are any less reliable than the standard 1.8. We'd be running it on regular unleaded as E85 isn't really sold here anymore. I'm aware the FF variant requires more frequent servicing, but this wouln't really matter too much to us as we'd only need to service it once every year anyway with our mileage. Because they're a bit of an anomaly now, they sell for cheaper than the other engines, so there are bargains to be had.

So, in essence, 2 questions:

1. Is the 1.8 petrol powerful enough, and a nice/characterful engine to drive?

2. Does the 1.8 FF have any issues of note?

Many thanks in advance.

Jul 18th, 2011, 13:13	#1
eustachio New Member Last Online: Aug 17th, 2011 10:26 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Dublin	1.8 petrol engine, owner's opinions please! Hi We're considering getting either an S40 or V50, and as our annual mileage is low (<8000 p.a.) and mostly urban, the diesels don't seem to make a lot of sense for us. The engine that fits our budget for running costs is the 1.8 petrol, but I'm just wondering if people here think it's powerful enough for the car, and a nice engine to drive. Also here most of the 1.8s that are sold here in Ireland are the flexi-fuel variant, so trying to figure out if these are any less reliable than the standard 1.8. We'd be running it on regular unleaded as E85 isn't really sold here anymore. I'm aware the FF variant requires more frequent servicing, but this wouln't really matter too much to us as we'd only need to service it once every year anyway with our mileage. Because they're a bit of an anomaly now, they sell for cheaper than the other engines, so there are bargains to be had. So, in essence, 2 questions: 1. Is the 1.8 petrol powerful enough, and a nice/characterful engine to drive? 2. Does the 1.8 FF have any issues of note? Many thanks in advance.