New d4 economy?

[Roland_F]

Originally Posted by K5 Gus

To go slightly off-topic, but picking up on above comments.........

As well as being unimpressed with the econonmy, I'm slightly underwhelmed by the performance.

Doesn't seem to have much ooomph in the mid-range. I came from a 2.0tdi 168bhp A3, and was expecting it ( based on Volvo's 0-60 which is less, plus the higher bhp ) to feel faster, but it definitely feels slower.

It's maybe just the gearing, but finding I have to drop it at least 1 if not 2 gears for an overtake, when I could have got away with leaving in the same gear in the A3 in the comparable situation.

The V60 is about 200 kg heavier than the A3 so not that surprising.

[craigv60]

Originally Posted by Turnwood

Thanks for the info. Are you manual or auto?

Cruising speed can have a massive effect on economy. I read somewhere that this engine/gearbox seems to be tuned for best economy around 70 mph and I normally cruise at 71-72. 52-54 mpg at 80+ is actually might impressive!

Mine's a manual box, and the 52 - 54mpg is the economy over the full tank (i.e. 700 miles or so, of which 500+ miles are on motorway).

[K5 Gus]

Originally Posted by Roland_F

The V60 is about 200 kg heavier than the A3 so not that surprising.

Manufacturer's 0-60 is quicker

[craigv60]

Originally Posted by K5 Gus

To go slightly off-topic, but picking up on above comments.........

As well as being unimpressed with the econonmy, I'm slightly underwhelmed by the performance.

Doesn't seem to have much ooomph in the mid-range. I came from a 2.0tdi 168bhp A3, and was expecting it ( based on Volvo's 0-60 which is less, plus the higher bhp ) to feel faster, but it definitely feels slower.

It's maybe just the gearing, but finding I have to drop it at least 1 if not 2 gears for an overtake, when I could have got away with leaving in the same gear in the A3 in the comparable situation.

That is a bit surprising, is yours manual or geartronic? You could check the in-gear performance quite easily with a stopwatch on a stretch of level, straight road.

Data from the various road tests by Autocar, Autoexpress and What Car all show that a manual S60 D4 should be able to do figures in this range, just drive at the steady start speed, punch the throttle and start the watch at the same time, then stop the watch when the speedo hits the target speed ...

30-50 in 3rd gear: 3.1 - 3.3 seconds
30-50 in 4th gear: 4.6 - 4.9 seconds
40-60 in 4th gear: 4.6 - 4.9 seconds
50-70 in 5th gear: 6.4 - 6.8 seconds

[AlanPa]

Interesting comments about performance and gearing. I've come from a 320d Efficient Dynamics and, before that, a 320d Touring both owned from new. I found that both struggled to pull away in 4th at 30mph and, in fact, felt a lot more comfortable in 3rd at that speed. The D4 happily trundles along in 4th and, on flat roads, in 5th. I've found myself failing to change down at lower speeds because it is so quiet. It's a different character altogether. Both BMs "encouraged " me to drive quite hard (and I enjoyed them very much) whereas in the Volvo I'm wafting around much more gently but, actually, coving the ground just as quickly.

I like the D4 a lot.

[Chrisv60]

I came from the 184bhp 320d and you've summed up exactly what I've found. The BMW seemed more punchy because all the power came with a whoosh a bit higher up the rev range.

Ive done 3000 miles in my D4 since September and it's averaging 46.2mpg, which compares well with the 44.3mpg I got over 4 years of the BMW for similar journeys.

To be honest, I enjoyed both, they are just different beasts.

[ChrisL]

I agree with these comments too.

I've come from 4 years in a 320d and 4 years in an A3 2.0d (170) and was initially disappointed with the XC engine, but soon realised it was just a smoother delivery of power due to the twin turbos, rather than 1 big turbo delivering the power in 1 go which gave a huge boost for a short amount of time (although good fun)

[cejsmith]

Out of curiosity what differnce in mpg would there be between a d4 and d5???

[edmoss]

I get 45mpg from my 2012 V60 D5 geartronic.
About 60 a roads/town 40 motorway.

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by cejsmith

Out of curiosity what differnce in mpg would there be between a d4 and d5???

In a like for like car I think they are very similar. Trouble is at the moment all the D4's seem to be in FWD cars only and D5's are in AWD ones. Might be better to look at 2.4D engine cars which have de-rated D5's in them.

I'm assuming you are asking about the new 4 cylinder D4 and not the old 5 cylinder D4.

Of course the old euro 3 D5 will outperform all of them when it comes to mpg. (no gas guzzling exhaust system)