V70 P2 vs P3 pros and cons?

[AlainBrighton]

Originally Posted by Stu B

Here's a quick re-fuelling pic from collection day before I drove home 50 odd miles in foul weather.

Looking forward to hear your experiences after you have some more quality time with this beauty ! What engine is it ?

[Stu B]

Originally Posted by AlainBrighton

Looking forward to hear your experiences after you have some more quality time with this beauty ! What engine is it ?

Hi, it’s a 2.4 D5 185PS model with 6 speed geartronic. Initial observations from a couple of days commuting are that the heating and demisting is great, stereo very good and handling decent for such a large car. The xenon headlights are great and bend around corners slightly with steering as I found out last night.

Still getting used to tight car park manoeuvres as it seems very wide compared to previous cars but visibility is good and it has ‘park active’ or whatever it’s called that displays obstructions behind on the radio screen when reversing. Clever!

The D5 engine noise is good for a diesel but coming from a straight six petrol BMW and a T5 before that it still sounds like a tractor, haha!

Cheers
Stu

[green van man]

Originally Posted by Stu B

Hi, it’s a 2.4 D5 185PS model with 6 speed geartronic. Initial observations from a couple of days commuting are that the heating and demisting is great, stereo very good and handling decent for such a large car. The xenon headlights are great and bend around corners slightly with steering as I found out last night.

Still getting used to tight car park manoeuvres as it seems very wide compared to previous cars but visibility is good and it has ‘park active’ or whatever it’s called that displays obstructions behind on the radio screen when reversing. Clever!

The D5 engine noise is good for a diesel but coming from a straight six petrol BMW and a T5 before that it still sounds like a tractor, haha!

Cheers
Stu

Have you thought of polestar ing it?
Chalk and cheese regarding driveability on my manual xc70. The on paper specs do not look spectacular but the extra torque mid range makes a huge difference to how it drives. It may sound like a tractor, but it can be a bloody quick tractor.

Paul.

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by AlainBrighton

Although being Chinese myself, I am not too sure when the "Geely" era started :-) Since I am in the market of giving my 05 XC70 D5 a break and put a P3 XC70 next to it, I have seen a plethora of indications. Since I am after a more modern look I had set my eyes on all 2011 onwards, at least with the BMW like satnav but I saw a lovely XC70 D3 AWD that is apparently a 2.4 ?? I read you recommended the 2.0 D3 but what is the difference between the two ? And is it worth it to get it Polestar chipped later ? My 163bhp Geartronic often feels like a John Deere ..... Any other things to look out for with the P3 XC70 ?

2011 is Geeley era. Geely bought Volvo from Ford in 2010.

The D3 is equivalent to the previous 2.4D. It's a 2.4 litre 5-cylinder diesel with 163 BHP.

For AWD XC70 D3s, Volvo used a 2.4 litre 5-cylinder diesel with 163 BHP.

Not sure why, but it was possibly too expensive for Volvo to modify the AWD XC70 to accept the smaller capacity engine.

The 2WD cars are called DRIVe. They're slightly more economical and cheaper to maintain, but they still have the raised suspension and XC70 bodykit, making the car easier to get into and out of and also making it look very business-like.

The 2.4 litre engine has slightly more torque, but also has more work to do driving all four wheels.

In my experience, all P3 vehicles such as the D3 are quieter and more refined than P2 vehicles, such as your old D5. I like the purposeful sound of the old P2 D5s, but the old D5 certainly makes it known that it's sitting under the bonnet.

Is your old D5 the 163 BHP model or the 185 BHP model? (2005 was the year when this changed.) As far as I know, performance from the D3 should be better than that from your old D5, but how much better will depend upon which old D5 it is.

Regarding Polestar, the following link will take you to the web page so that you can see whether or not that D3 can be Polestar'd, and also what benefits it will bring.

https://engineered.polestar.com/intl...odel-selector/

It looks as though there's a Polestar upgrade available for both 2011 and 2012 models. In both cases it's BIG.

There doesn't seem to be a Polestar upgrade available for the 2WD D3, however.

Further questions might be answered by a test drive.

[Macabre]

Originally Posted by Stu B

Here's a quick re-fuelling pic from collection day before I drove home 50 odd miles in foul weather.

Very nice, looks exactly the same as mine, only I have black roof rails
Mine’s just a 2.4D SE though, couldn’t find a manual D5 within a reasonable commuting distance.
I had a 2003 V70 D5 SE before. Loved that car but it didn’t love me.
This is nice but feels a bit more “plasticy”. It’s certainly not built to the same standards as my D5. The shopping thing you pull up out the load area feels flimsy/thinner on this car, but was much more solid on the D5, for example.
I had tinted rear windows on the D5 as well. Didn’t really appreciate how handy they were until I got a car without tints. Will need to get either some sun shades or look into getting them tinted. The little man in the back is unimpressed when he gets the sun in his eyes, and isn’t afraid to tell me!

[AlainBrighton]

Originally Posted by Stu B

Hi, it’s a 2.4 D5 185PS model with 6 speed geartronic. Initial observations from a couple of days commuting are that the heating and demisting is great, stereo very good and handling decent for such a large car. The xenon headlights are great and bend around corners slightly with steering as I found out last night.

Still getting used to tight car park manoeuvres as it seems very wide compared to previous cars but visibility is good and it has ‘park active’ or whatever it’s called that displays obstructions behind on the radio screen when reversing. Clever!

The D5 engine noise is good for a diesel but coming from a straight six petrol BMW and a T5 before that it still sounds like a tractor, haha!

Cheers
Stu

So not only good looking but practically in all the areas where you needed it to be practical ? Demisting .... is that keeping the car windows clear ? I find with my P2 D5 that during rainy periods, I have to keep the A/C on otherwise the windows will not stay clear..

Do you think steering in town is just as bad as with the P2 where I often feel that despite the reasonable external size it needs more turning than my mum's 5 series touring that is close to 5meters long :-( And are the bending lights a feature ? Sounds interesting but not seen it myself yet.

And I recognise the comparison between the straight six in line from Munich... I used to drive a 330i E46 convertible next to this dear old lady and no music was needed, roof up or roof down ... such a joy for the ears !

Hope you keep enjoying and smiling, Stu !

[AlainBrighton]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

2011 is Geeley era. Geely bought Volvo from Ford in 2010.

The D3 is equivalent to the previous 2.4D. It's a 2.4 litre 5-cylinder diesel with 163 BHP.

For AWD XC70 D3s, Volvo used a 2.4 litre 5-cylinder diesel with 163 BHP.

Not sure why, but it was possibly too expensive for Volvo to modify the AWD XC70 to accept the smaller capacity engine.

The 2WD cars are called DRIVe. They're slightly more economical and cheaper to maintain, but they still have the raised suspension and XC70 bodykit, making the car easier to get into and out of and also making it look very business-like.

The 2.4 litre engine has slightly more torque, but also has more work to do driving all four wheels.

In my experience, all P3 vehicles such as the D3 are quieter and more refined than P2 vehicles, such as your old D5. I like the purposeful sound of the old P2 D5s, but the old D5 certainly makes it known that it's sitting under the bonnet.

Is your old D5 the 163 BHP model or the 185 BHP model? (2005 was the year when this changed.) As far as I know, performance from the D3 should be better than that from your old D5, but how much better will depend upon which old D5 it is.

Regarding Polestar, the following link will take you to the web page so that you can see whether or not that D3 can be Polestar'd, and also what benefits it will bring.

https://engineered.polestar.com/intl...odel-selector/

It looks as though there's a Polestar upgrade available for both 2011 and 2012 models. In both cases it's BIG.

There doesn't seem to be a Polestar upgrade available for the 2WD D3, however.

Further questions might be answered by a test drive.

Thank you so much for sharing your extensive knowledge ! Much appreciated , I thought I knew a bit about the engines but then Volvo in all their wisdom decided to change it yearly :-(

Really looking at AWD only so that means D3 AWD,D4 AWD or D5 AWD and for the latter probably only the 215bhp version, all geartronic only.

Must be so much more different than mine. Mine is a really funny one, it was first registered on November 30th 2005 and being an MY06 should have had the EGR but they told me it was oddly enough one without so the 163bhp that should have been called 2.4D. This was told to me by Volvocars in Sweden. In the end I am glad that I had one without the EGR. Has done 174K now and the engine is perfect, bodywork has some spots but the squeeky noises it makes, lead me to believe it must be the bushes as I read somewhere on the P3 threads.

Anyway, new one should be a SE Lux and ideally with City Safety. Just wondering: this 2011 D3 I have seen has the Active Cruise Control etc, does that mean it has City Safety too, then ? Or was that a separate option ? Still not sure what I can expect in maintenance around the 100K mark, I like to flush my gearboxes every 3-4 years and the cam/timing belt every 6-7 years apart from all the annual services that is.

Polestar sounds good on a D3 AWD, very high torque and always a lot faster already than my John Deere with its slow acceleration but a quicker overtake on the small and bendy Sussex B roads is always good. Not sure what it would do in terms of insurance to do that. Is there a limit regarding the mileage for the Polestar upgrade, Sotosound ?

Thank you again for sharing your wisdom and knowledge (at least where it concerns the P3 XC70 :-) )

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by AlainBrighton

Thank you so much for sharing your extensive knowledge ! Much appreciated , I thought I knew a bit about the engines but then Volvo in all their wisdom decided to change it yearly :-(

Really looking at AWD only so that means D3 AWD,D4 AWD or D5 AWD and for the latter probably only the 215bhp version, all geartronic only.

Must be so much more different than mine. Mine is a really funny one, it was first registered on November 30th 2005 and being an MY06 should have had the EGR but they told me it was oddly enough one without so the 163bhp that should have been called 2.4D. This was told to me by Volvocars in Sweden. In the end I am glad that I had one without the EGR. Has done 174K now and the engine is perfect, bodywork has some spots but the squeeky noises it makes, lead me to believe it must be the bushes as I read somewhere on the P3 threads.

Anyway, new one should be a SE Lux and ideally with City Safety. Just wondering: this 2011 D3 I have seen has the Active Cruise Control etc, does that mean it has City Safety too, then ? Or was that a separate option ? Still not sure what I can expect in maintenance around the 100K mark, I like to flush my gearboxes every 3-4 years and the cam/timing belt every 6-7 years apart from all the annual services that is.

Polestar sounds good on a D3 AWD, very high torque and always a lot faster already than my John Deere with its slow acceleration but a quicker overtake on the small and bendy Sussex B roads is always good. Not sure what it would do in terms of insurance to do that. Is there a limit regarding the mileage for the Polestar upgrade, Sotosound ?

Thank you again for sharing your wisdom and knowledge (at least where it concerns the P3 XC70 :-) )

I'm afraid that my knowledge of Polestar is limited to researching web pages. There are a number of forum members who have purchased Polestar upgrades, however, so perhaps one of them can advise.

Regarding your old XC70, the engine sounds like an anomaly. Is it possible that the car is older than you think? Is it an 05 Model year vehicle that was registered late in the year?

If it's a MY05 then character 10 of the VIN will be "5". If it's a MY06 then character 10 of the VIN will be (wait for it) "6".

In relation to this, what colour is the engine cover?

For V70 D5s, and presumably XC70 D5s, it's possible to tell the difference between a 163 BHP D5 and 185 BHP D5 by the engine cover. To steal shamelessly from a post last year by simonwedge: -

All of the 185 bhp engines have grey covers, the 163 bhp engines have black covers. The 185 bhp cars have a DPF, the 163 bhp cars do not.

It's also worth noting that the 163 BHP 2.4D engine is not the same as the 163 BHP D5. The 2.4D is a detuned version of the 185 BHP D5, and it has a DPF.

Characters 6-7 in the VIN will tell you Engine Type.

You can learn more about this kind of thing using the VIN Decoder via the following link: -

https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/vin_70.shtml

Also, when you say "EGR", do you really mean "EGR" or do you actually mean "DPF".

I'll let others assist with City Safety etc.

[reggit]

Another P2 v's P3 question if you don't mind....

Been debating the same myself; have had P2's for about 7 years currently with a E3 D5 V70 manual.

What's the choice of petrol engines in the P3 V70? I am lucky to do 3-4000 miles a year with no commuting, my current diesel isn't a problem as it has no DPF to worry about. I'm very aware that a DPF equipped car may not like the journeys we do, although it does get a couple of reasonable runs each month.

Are the autoboxes the same/similar to the earlier cars needing regular oil changes, and are manual gearbox cars with a nice level of equipment available?

I'm nearly at the point of making the decision to spend a reasonable amount on my P2 and keep it for a few more years, or bite the bullet and look for an 09-10 plate car in early spring.

[DAN AT ADRIAN FLUX]

Originally Posted by AlainBrighton

Thank you so much for sharing your extensive knowledge ! Much appreciated , I thought I knew a bit about the engines but then Volvo in all their wisdom decided to change it yearly :-(

Really looking at AWD only so that means D3 AWD,D4 AWD or D5 AWD and for the latter probably only the 215bhp version, all geartronic only.

Must be so much more different than mine. Mine is a really funny one, it was first registered on November 30th 2005 and being an MY06 should have had the EGR but they told me it was oddly enough one without so the 163bhp that should have been called 2.4D. This was told to me by Volvocars in Sweden. In the end I am glad that I had one without the EGR. Has done 174K now and the engine is perfect, bodywork has some spots but the squeeky noises it makes, lead me to believe it must be the bushes as I read somewhere on the P3 threads.

Anyway, new one should be a SE Lux and ideally with City Safety. Just wondering: this 2011 D3 I have seen has the Active Cruise Control etc, does that mean it has City Safety too, then ? Or was that a separate option ? Still not sure what I can expect in maintenance around the 100K mark, I like to flush my gearboxes every 3-4 years and the cam/timing belt every 6-7 years apart from all the annual services that is.

Polestar sounds good on a D3 AWD, very high torque and always a lot faster already than my John Deere with its slow acceleration but a quicker overtake on the small and bendy Sussex B roads is always good. Not sure what it would do in terms of insurance to do that. Is there a limit regarding the mileage for the Polestar upgrade, Sotosound ?

Thank you again for sharing your wisdom and knowledge (at least where it concerns the P3 XC70 :-) )

Hi.
If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.