New V70 owner: advice needed!

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by graphnic

Ha, yes, I think I follow! According to the Polestar website, I have 'Engine denomination D5204T7' with 'Engine code 31'.

Every home should have one of these.

[graphnic]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

Every home should have one of these.

I'm glad you agree... My home has been without one until now!

[simboc2004]

I have a 2011 2 litre 5 pot which delivered 163bhp from the factory and is designated a D3/4. There is no Polestar upgrade for this variant of the engine, so I had to go elsewhere for more power. Mine now runs 185bhp and is even more effortless to drive, although the increased torque does overcome the traction control at times... This is the engine power and torque that should have been standard.

[simboc2004]

For context to my previous post - a 2 litre 5 pot (badged D4) in a 2011 V50 put out 175bhp and 400Nm torque, whilst a D3 of the same era ran 148bhp / 350Nm. Hard to understand why Volvo ran so many different power outputs from the same engine at the same time.

But then, early BMW 1 series diesels had exactly the same engine in from base 116 through 118, 120 to 123, just changing the tune to provide outputs from 114bhp to 201bhp...

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by simboc2004

I have a 2011 2 litre 5 pot which delivered 163bhp from the factory and is designated a D3/4. There is no Polestar upgrade for this variant of the engine, so I had to go elsewhere for more power. Mine now runs 185bhp and is even more effortless to drive, although the increased torque does overcome the traction control at times... This is the engine power and torque that should have been standard.

Hmmm. It will either be a D3 or D4, not a D3/4.

When the 163bhp D4 was introduced into the V70 range, it had a similar power rating to the outgoing 161bhp D3, but it probably didn't have exactly the same engine inasmuch as Volvo regularly tweak their engines for various reasons, including emissions and fuel efficiency.

At the same time as the D4 was introduced, a new, lower-powered 136bhp D3 was also introduced.

In hindsight, when Volvo first gave their 5-cylinder 2-litre diesel a D number they should have made it a D4 and not a D3 but, at that time, they probably hadn't envisaged that they would later introduce a 136bhp version into the range. So they were a bit stuck.

(The very first 161bhp 5-cylinder 2-litre diesels were just called 'DRIVe'. No D-number at all.)

Regarding Polestar, the Polestar website shows which models and variants are eligible for Polestar upgrades, and this varies from model year to model year and engine designation to engine designation.

From memory, most 136bhp 2-litre D3s can be Polestar'ed to a D4-ish state of tune, and many 161bhp D3s can be Polestar'ed to a D5-ish state of tune, but 163bhp 2-litre D4s aren't eligible for Polestar at all. Frustrating, really, but perhaps the drive train, including the gearbox, simply isn't strong enough for Volvo to feel confident that the Polestar upgrade won't cause things to break.

Links to the website can be found further up this thread.

[simboc2004]

The official designation for parts order for the 2 litre 5 pot with 163bhp - D5204T2 (certainly in 2011) was D3/4 - try looking at any site where you need to order parts. On the tailgate it says D3 and the manual says D3, but when it comes to ordering parts it's D3/4. See attached drop down on the Autodoc website. there were four 2.0 5 pots at that time - the two designated as D3 had 136bhp and 150bhp, whilst the 163bhp version is tagged D3/4 and the 181 bhp version is called D4... complicated!

[simboc2004]

As to the Polestar upgrade - you could buy a 181bhp D4, but you couldn't upgrade a 163bhp D3/4 to that level of tune, despite it being the same engine...

[griston64]

I thought the 180bhp D4 was the newer 4 pot engine

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by griston64

I thought the 180bhp D4 was the newer 4 pot engine

It is.

[graphnic]

It's all very confusing! Mine is certainly the newer D3 136bhp which appears to be eligible for the Polestar map.

To be honest, I've been surprised just how decent it is given the power output, but it would certainly benefit from some gains. This is by far the lowest power unit I have owned for at least 10 years, having come from a 220bhp petrol VAG engine, and prior to that a 5 series, but the car itself was in really nice condition so I decided to go for it.