Is a V50 T5 really that slow?

[John_C]

Don will do it via the ODB port, best give him a call as he's sometimes not on the forums for a while depending on how busy he is.

Cheers,
John

[thebigv]

The auto will be slower than a manual, or have i missed the bit that said both were auto?

[Chris Parish]

I have been driving many different cars for 40yrs and it never ceases to amaze me how when you actually drive a car it seems to be completely different from the road test reports and the apparent performance bears no resemblance to the quoted figures.

My S80 D5 is supposed to be much slower in acceleration that my wife's S60 2.0 T. What the bare figures don't tell you is that the S80 will romp off very quickly without any fuss or driver expertise due to its low down torque. The S60 needs to be thrashed to get the (much faster) acceleration figures, but during normal driving actually feels slower.

[Simon J]

Originally Posted by thebigv

The auto will be slower than a manual, or have i missed the bit that said both were auto?

They're both auto and it's the lack of 'grunt' in the V50 that I was originally commenting on but as Don Norchi pointed out it's a low pressure turbo so not likely to give the kick in the back that the high pressure turbo in the C70 gives. I really must try them side by side on that private road close by - heh, heh!

[Chris Parish]

Originally Posted by thebigv

The auto will be slower than a manual, or have i missed the bit that said both were auto?

On a road test, manual transmission will allow the test driver to abuse the car by dropping the clutch at max revs, spinning the wheels and changing gear as quick as possible etc. in order to obtain the lowest acceleration times. Times obtained in this fashion will normally be faster than the equivalent automatic. Most drivers would not treat their car like this, so will not be able to achieve the same results.

However, granny can floor the throttle in an auto and achieve exactly the same results as the tester on the road test.

My point is that unless you are up against the Stig, an auto will not be any slower than its manual counterpart most of the time.

[thebigv]

Originally Posted by Chris Parish

On a road test, manual transmission will allow the test driver to abuse the car by dropping the clutch at max revs, spinning the wheels and changing gear as quick as possible etc. in order to obtain the lowest acceleration times. Times obtained in this fashion will normally be faster than the equivalent automatic. Most drivers would not treat their car like this, so will not be able to achieve the same results.

However, granny can floor the throttle in an auto and achieve exactly the same results as the tester on the road test.

My point is that unless you are up against the Stig, an auto will not be any slower than its manual counterpart most of the time.

Irrespective of whether its the stig or captian slow, floor both cars and change gear properly the manual will always win. Its a common fact, ou effectively lose something like 10% through the transmission, granted newer autos are better these days than ten years ago but the same car etc will always be quicker in a manual. Also in relation to 0 to 60 mph times, volvo alter theres to be slightly higher as they cannot truly match speed with safety, after all Volvo's generally set the bench mark in safety, how can a car that is the safest in its class also be the fastest, psychology and marketing always beat the truth.

[PICKLEPOP]

Originally Posted by thebigv

Irrespective of whether its the stig or captian slow, floor both cars and change gear properly the manual will always win. Its a common fact, ou effectively lose something like 10% through the transmission, granted newer autos are better these days than ten years ago but the same car etc will always be quicker in a manual. Also in relation to 0 to 60 mph times, volvo alter theres to be slightly higher as they cannot truly match speed with safety, after all Volvo's generally set the bench mark in safety, how can a car that is the safest in its class also be the fastest, psychology and marketing always beat the truth.

Its also a fact that some of the highest performing and most expensive sports cars on the market today are only offered as automatics.The theory being that the auto box can up/downshift quicker than you could do it manualy and be smoother plus theres less chance of wrecking the transmission with 500+BHP on tap.

[Kerry_T-5R]

Auto's are just as quick if not quicker than manual's nowadays eg Mercedes AMG's are Auto, BMW's have the SMG gearbox which changes as quick as a manual and even revs on down shifts simulating heel and toe down shifting.

F1 cars have an automatic up shift aswell!

[PICKLEPOP]

Originally Posted by Kerry_T-5R

Auto's are just as quick if not quicker than manual's nowadays eg Mercedes AMG's are Auto, BMW's have the SMG gearbox which changes as quick as a manual and even revs on down shifts simulating heel and toe down shifting.

F1 cars have an automatic up shift aswell!

My point exactly. Bugatti Veyron, maclaren mercedes. Just cant seem them fitting a four on the floor somehow and it being quicker.

[thebigv]

Yeh but they are hypercars which have gearboxes that cost more than our cars are when they are new, they also have ECU's in them that probably cost the same. We have cars that are for general use etc etc. All i'm saying is were talking about a Volvo V50 and a C70. Not £300,000 hypercars or M5's and M3's that simulate heel and toe, which by the way only works when your kicking its head in. The other point being, put a manual T5 against and auto one and the Manual will win. After all thats the reason the police chose manuals before they got auto Mercs. Give it a fancy trick box (like Audi's DSG which preselects gears for you, paddle shifts etc) and it might be quicker. But it'll also cost more if it goes wrong and only the manufacturer will be able to fix it. They are trying now to corner the market totally for aftercare. Your box breaks on a manual, any gearbox nut can fix it. Break an Audi DSG one, they replace it at £4k.

By the way a V50 T5 manual does 60 in 6.7s, the geartronic which is Volvos fancy Auto box does it in 7.1s according to Parkers facts and figures. They both have 226bhp and the manual does 3 mph more. Te S60R, does it in 5.5s manual, 7.3s Geartronic. 155mph 300bhp.

Now i know the Veyron does over 240mph with an Auto box, but how many volvo's cost a million?