Before I buy a V70... a question about throttle lag

[ThwartedEfforts]

The missus and I have been looking to buy a large family car for long trips north and abroad with two children and a hound - familiar territory for many of you I'm sure!

We've discounted the usual suspects for all the obvious reasons and are most comfortable with the idea of a V70 on our drive.

There's a potential deal breaker here though: does it suffer the same heart-stopping throttle delay as the XC90?

We'd originally looked at the XC90 but were put off on two counts, one of which was the pregnant pause between jumping on the gas at a busy junction or roundabout and the car actually moving. It ruined what was otherwise a fine car. We subsequently drove two V70 D5s... one of which seemed to exhibit this behaviour, and as you might imagine we're now faltering.

Yes the T6 could be an option but from the looks of the specs it'll bankrupt us

So what I'm trying to establish is:

• whether any of the diesel V70s are known to exhibit the acceleration delay, as Googling for this only seems to corroborate it's an issue for XC90 owners
• if so, whether a firmware update for the car's electronics cured it, and hence the reason for the two V70s we drove being so unalike

Any help greatly appreciated and my thanks in advance

[jezza5986]

Hi, my old 2005 V70 2.4D did this both before and after I blew up the geartronic box and replaced it with a reconditioned unit.

Didn't keep it much longer than a few months, the delay in setting off was one of the reasons it went. Busy junctions weren't fun!

Now, a manual D5 V70, that could tempt me away from my new S60

[Westyman]

I can't say that I have noticed any problem with throttle lag on my MY11 D5 Geartronic. Now the first turbo'd car I had you needed to give a week's notice before accelerating!!

[GrantA]

Originally Posted by Westyman

I can't say that I have noticed any problem with throttle lag on my MY11 D5 Geartronic.

Me neither, not compared to my Mercedes CDI C220 which was very slow on the uptake - when I first got it I kept checking it wasn't in the "Winter" setting and trying to pull away in a high gear. My MY09 XC70 D5 Geartronic is like a sports car in comparison!!

[s1monc]

I have a V70 D5 sport R-design 2009 model last of the 185bhp single turbo, it suffers from what you describe hesitation when pulling away. I have read that the Polestar remap will sort this annoying problem out or if you get the later twin turbo model later 09 plates with the twin exhausts they don't suffer this problem. I've driven a 60 plate XC60 D5 and no hesitation at all.

Simon.

[apersson850]

My 2012 XC70 D5 AWD automatic doesn't hesitate much either. Especially not if you put the gearbox in Sport mode.

[tommyweaves]

Find a D3 to test drive, having come from a Passat 140ps turbo diesel I found the D3 really responsive at the bottom end.

[civilservant]

I have a 2011 R-Design. Yes, there is a slight tendency for a pause if pulling away but only with a light gradual pressure. For quick acceleration, simply push your foot down with a bit more force and the car pulls away like a sports car, and very smoothly too.

[GrantA]

As I said before I find the response very good, my intention is to have the ECU remapped - tweaked - by a reputable company to about 215BHP which I understand makes the gear change on the Geartronic smoother. I have nothing to compare it against at the moment but would welcome comments from those that have Polestar or have had their ECU tweaked.

[classicswede]

My advice would go with a petrol and convert to LPG