First Volvo - D4 or D5?

[JohnLG]

Hi all it's time for me to change cars, and it looks like I'll be getting a S80 (preferably) or V70 (second choice).

Background - previous cars I have owned are Vauxhall Omega 2.5 V6 petrol, Peugeot 607D, and Lexus IS 220D. My next car has to be around the size of the Omega & 607, and at least as fast as the Omega & Lexus...

I do around 20,000 miles per year, have a budget of £12,000, intend to get a car of up to 70,000 miles, and plan to keep it for 5 years/ 100,000 miles, i.e. will have up to 170,000 miles at the end of my ownership.

Which seems to have brought me to the S60/ V70 D4/D5.

So my question is this: Is there a compelling reason to pick the D5 over the D4 (or vice versa), other than the D4 being a bit more frugal, and the D5 being a bit quicker?

Follow on question: In terms of reliability & maintenance costs etc, I presume that manual is 'better' than auto?

I would be interested to hear why you picked what you did, rather than the other.

Thanks in advance.

[hindol]

Tow a caravan weighing 1500kg the D4 towing limit is 1600kg, tried several D5 models but for me they are a bit noisier under acceleration, whereas the D4 seemed a bit more refined, we have dome 63000 since then with an awful lot of towing it a really ideal and cheaper road tax too. Never worried about fuel economy that much though. We have an auto which for me is the bees knees. Got fed up of 6 speed manual boxes year's ago.

The only problem has been the auto tailgate which in cool weather does not open as high as it does in summer, had it looked a couple of times still the same, just need to wear a crash hat in winter, only joking.

[Peter86]

I would personally test drive both and find which engine you like. I have a V70 D5 and love it, tows great. If your just motorway cruising a D4 maybe sufficient for you and road tax maybe cheaper. Mines a manual 6 speed and I quite like it.
You can get quite good discount on parts from volvo themselves, especially on service parts on ones a few years old anyway, handy if you self service and want genuine parts.

[tommyweaves]

I'm a big fan of the 5 cyl 2.0 D3/D4. Back in 2010 I test drove both the (new) D3 and D5 back to back on roads I know well.

I got the D3 because it felt smoother and quieter. It didn't breathe quite as well as the D5 at higher revs, but the torque delivery was very similar, particularly in the areas that count, like overtaking.

Given that I was going to be doing mostly motorway journeys at 25k miles per year it was a no-brainer.

[AndyB06]

The 215bhp D5 is a real beauty and delivers peak torque over a much larger range than the D4. The D5 auto with 440Nm is the pick of the 5 cylinder engines.

[Ant B]

Originally Posted by JohnLG

I do around 20,000 miles per year, have a budget of £12,000, intend to get a car of up to 70,000 miles, and plan to keep it for 5 years/ 100,000 miles, i.e. will have up to 170,000 miles at the end of my ownership.

A Volvo is a good choice for this sort of mileage / pricepoint; I did similar when I bought 3 years ago (£12,000 budget), and bought slightly higher mileage (4-year-old V70 with 69,000 on the clock) over an older, lower-mileage car, knowing that I would be putting 15,000+ miles on it each year and keeping it 5+ years. There does seem to be a healthy market for higher-mileage Volvos, which is reassuring.

Originally Posted by JohnLG

So my question is this: Is there a compelling reason to pick the D5 over the D4 (or vice versa), other than the D4 being a bit more frugal, and the D5 being a bit quicker?

With a £12,000 budget, is it the 2.0 5-cyl 163bhp D4, or is the 2.0 4-cyl 181bhp D4 in reach? I’ve only had experience of the 5-cyl (163bhp, badged D3 on the older cars), but I believe the 4-cyl D4 (auto-only) is a very good, more economical engine? The same engine is still used today I believe, in XC90, V90 etc., badged D4 or D5 (225bhp version of the 4-cyl).

If it’s the 5-cyl D3, I would agree with this; I would have been happy with D3 or D5, I just found a D5 in the right spec/price first, so bought the D5:

Originally Posted by tommyweaves

I'm a big fan of the 5 cyl 2.0 D3/D4. Back in 2010 I test drove both the (new) D3 and D5 back to back on roads I know well.

I got the D3 because it felt smoother and quieter. It didn't breathe quite as well as the D5 at higher revs, but the torque delivery was very similar, particularly in the areas that count, like overtaking.

Given that I was going to be doing mostly motorway journeys at 25k miles per year it was a no-brainer.

Originally Posted by JohnLG

Follow on question: In terms of reliability & maintenance costs etc, I presume that manual is 'better' than auto?

Mine’s manual, but only because I needed a car quick and couldn’t find / wait for an auto at the time; auto would suit the car better I think - it’s a soft, wallowing near-2-tonne barge, after all.

Manual gearbox is good (mine’s on 108,000 and no problems, still on original clutch), auto again has a good reputation but the concensus seems to be to change the ‘box oil to keep it in good shape (say every 3-5 years, depending on mileage).

Good cars, surprised how much I like mine; swallows kids & associated junk, aces the tip run, and is great at 5am starts for that 450-mile round trip to a customer site. It just... works!

[JohnLG]

Originally Posted by JohnLG

Which seems to have brought me to the S60/ V70 D4/D5.

D'Oh! Of course that line should have read S80/ V70 D4/D5.

Hopefully you all read it as intended, given this is the S80/ V70 sub forum...

Sorry folks

[apersson850]

We have one XC70 D5 (230 hp/470 Nm) and one XC70 D4 (181 hp/400 Nm).
Both are 5-cylinder 2.4 litre engines with 6-speed automatic gearbox.
The final drive is different, though. At 2000 r/min, the D5 does 107 km/h, the D4 115 km/h. Or, from a different point of view, this implies that using the same gear, the D5 is equivalent to having 505 Nm available in the D4.

For normal driving, on all roads, the D4 lacks nothing. It's if you want to overtake where you really shouldn't, or when towing our 1700+ kg caravan, you notice the difference.

The D4 is slightly cheaper to drive, but the difference isn't big.

Both our XC70 models are rated at 2100 kg max trailer weight.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by apersson850

Both are 5-cylinder 2.4 litre engines with 6-speed automatic gearbox.
The final drive is different, though. At 2000 r/min, the D5 does 107 km/h, the D4 115 km/h.

That's the opposite of what I would have expected - are they both AWD ?

Do they have the same wheels? If the D5 is on 18's and the D4 on smaller rims - that could account for that small difference.

FYI reading the current V40 price list I notice they now quote difference emissions specs if you change the wheels...

[apersson850]

Yes, they are both AWD. The D5 has 17" summer wheels (235/55 17") and the D4 has 235/50 18".