V60 DRIVe - First 2,000 miles

[Harvey1512]

I may be covering one or two things that are going on in other threads at the moment but there are so few V60 threads going on that I thought this was worth a go. It also relates to the 1.6d engine which I think is something that will interest people as it is a small engine in a big car.

So...after umpteen years of 2.0d I went for a V60 with the eco 1.6 diesel. I have had an S40 before so Volvo's are not new to me but I have had numerous other cars. I find the V60 one of the best cars that I have had. It is ultra comfortable, hey it's a Volvo, and extremely smooth to drive. The car is spacious and the dash is easy to read with minimum effort. It is simple but effective.

The boot space is better than has been mentioned in the press but clearly not in the V70 category. I think it will cope with most family requirements better than equivalent cars, eg BMW 3, A4 etc. I have managed 4 sets of golf clubs without going above the window line and that is pretty good. The mechanism to lower the rear seats is a doddle, no effort required, and it gives a perfectly flat loadspace. Great design.

The engine - I had worries about the engine, too small for a car this size being the obvious, but a change in the company car tax system and increasing fuel costs made me dip my toe. The good news is that I am more than happy with what I have experienced so far. The 0-30mph speed is the obvious area where you lose compared to a 2.0d but once you reach 30mph, 3rd gear, the difference in performance is negligible. I have recently done a 520 mile motorway round trip and I had more than enough poke to cope at motorway speeds, accelerating and overtaking with ease as and when required. I sat at 70mph and could not get over the peace, smoothness and tranquillity of this engine. I at least expected it to sound wheezy at speed as it struggled with the weight of the car but I have not found this.

Now before people see this as a panacea then I will reiterate, it is slow off the mark and you need to adjust your driving style to cope with this. If you like to blast off from lights then get a V60 with a bigger engine. This car needs to be driven smoothly, not aggressively. Once you accept that then it is fine.

MPG - Normal country lane driving, going to the shops etc, I am getting 47mpg. On my motorway journey, staying at 70mph as much as possible, I managed 57.8mpg over the 520 mile journey. I think that is pretty good and worth the slight compromise of the smaller engine (I never bettered 48mpg in my S40 no matter how I drove, even after 30k miles and the V60 is a bigger car). If you want more mpg then drive at 60mph but until I am retired with too much time on my hands then I am happy with these figures.

If diesel was cheaper and the company car tax not as it now is would I still go for the 1.6d over the 2.0d? Probably not, but then the 2.0d was brought in to replace 2.5 litre petrol engined cars and we accepted that. The world is/has changed and we have to adapt. My point here is that if you have to look at the situation as I did then this is not a depressing compromise. If you don't worry about fuel costs then stick with a bigger engine and enjoy the rest of the car in an even more comfortable fashion.

Niggles - no clutch foot rest, 12v socket in drinks holder section is a silly place, electronic parking brake (but I suspect all cars are going this way so I just have to get used to it) and that is about it. So really not a great deal to complain about.

I would be interested to hear if others agree or disagree. If anyone is thinking about this car and has a question then fire away.

[craigv60]

Nice report, thanks. I've had my V60 D3 for 14 months and can honestly say it's the best car I've yet owned. The lack of clutch footrest is a niggle for me too, as even our old Punto had a generous footrest. The parking brake doesn't bother me, apart from it being an answer to a question that nobody asked.

It is amusing to think that we now describe a 115bhp / 190ft-lb car as 'low powered'. Just over 10 years ago, a BMW 318i petrol weighed 1300kg and had 115bhp but just 120lb-ft of torque ... indeed, 115 to 130bhp was the 2-litre petrol norm through the 90s and well into the last decade.

[SonyVaio]

Nice write up there, Cheers.

[davidabz]

My V60 DRIVEe powershift is due for delivery mid September; great to read a review which gives me confidence in my decision to order the car.

[Mrcoffeegeek]

Interesting thread, I was going to post about our experiences with my wife's V60 drive which so far have been woeful. The car as you say is superb in pretty much every aspect, however the claimed MPG & actual MPG are way off the mark. Her car has about 3600 miles on the clock and is really struggling with economy, last few tanks have returned 38, 39 & 41. Calculated manually full to full, the onboard computer over estimates by about 5mpg. Last tank we did a 200 mile motorway/fast A road trip mixed in with her normal commute to work (15 mile round trip A roads), and it still only just tipped up 41mpg. Tyre pressures have been left at whatever the manual says for Eco driving (I can't remember off the top of my head). Been to the dealer who said they've had a few people complaining of exactly the same thing and they're getting one of the complaint cars in for a week to test. I'll get to know how that's gone on 12th September at which point they'll know if it is a problem or not. Surely though at least 6 people complaining of poor mileage from the same dealer is no coincidence.
I've got a MY13 S60 D2 on order for a late October delivery, bought purely to get better mileage. My current 59 plate Mazda 6 Sport 185 which has a 2.2 gets 43 round the town and 50 on a run! If the V60 is anything to go by I've made the wrong choice

[Olga405060]

Hi,

New to this site.

We part exchanged a 2009 R-design V50 DrivE for a SE-Lux V60 D2. Delivery was last week, so perhaps a bit early to comment, but so far so good. The economy is impressive. It takes a while to get used to the leccy hand brake. Positioning of the hand brake doesn't help as it's now somewhere near your right knee cap and it's difficult to overcome 20 years of (left) hand-brake instinct! The start stop at traffic lights can be a little unnerving but the level of kit and the overall spec is much better than expected.

The lines and design are seductive, and the rear end is a huge improvement. Whilst we loved our V50, we always felt the back of it was perhaps not its greatest aesthetic feature. Boot space is fine and certainly comparable to the V50. No spare wheel (the dreaded pump and foam system has been introduced) so underfloor storage is actually worth considering for real world use.

The interior is superb. Ours has the 5" screen (without the Nav option). It's relatively easy to use although the IPod / Media controls are not as intuitive as they could be.

Handling, ride and driving position are a big improvement compared to the V50. The gearbox is still sluggish in first and second but actually if you are comfortable with smooth and steady rather than rough and fast, this is a very decent transmission. Not suitable for drag car races.

Complaints? The interior light on the tailgate looks like a complete afterthought. Really, it is straight from a 1984 Ford Cortina. The Nav option was unreasonably expensive for what essentially is a downloadable programme. So we didn't bother.

We've enjoyed it so far. I guess the thing about this car is it's economy. the dealer put half a tank in it for us upon delivery. We've done about 350 miles so far and it's currently reading just below a quarter. That makes me smile Mr Osbourne!

[Mrcoffeegeek]

Originally Posted by Olga405060

We've enjoyed it so far. I guess the thing about this car is it's economy. the dealer put half a tank in it for us upon delivery. We've done about 350 miles so far and it's currently reading just below a quarter. That makes me smile Mr Osbourne!

There certainly seems to be massive differences between V60 MPG, my wifes gets to about 550 mile and the light comes on.

[ian77]

Originally Posted by Mrcoffeegeek

There certainly seems to be massive differences between V60 MPG, my wifes gets to about 550 mile and the light comes on.

9000 miles on mine, just under a year old and my lifetime average is exactly 40 measured at the pump. Mix of stop start city traffic (worst tank 29.9 measured which was appaling) and mway. Did 300 mile round trip on the motorway last weekend with cruise set 65 to 70 and trip computer said 52mpg so prob more like 50. Best tank ive had is 590 before the light came on, typically 540-550 ish. Generally think the numbers are poor. Just retaxed last week though for £30 so not all bad.

[Mrcoffeegeek]

Originally Posted by ian77

9000 miles on mine, just under a year old and my lifetime average is exactly 40 measured at the pump. Mix of stop start city traffic (worst tank 29.9 measured which was appaling) and mway. Did 300 mile round trip on the motorway last weekend with cruise set 65 to 70 and trip computer said 52mpg so prob more like 50. Best tank ive had is 590 before the light came on, typically 540-550 ish. Generally think the numbers are poor. Just retaxed last week though for £30 so not all bad.

That is poor & certainly not what I was expecting. I've ordered a new S60 D2 based on getting better mpg than my current car which is a Mazda 6 2.2 185, I get 550 mile out of a tank on that and the tank is 10 litres smaller!! starting to regret my choice now. I do about 1000/1200 mile a month

[Harvey1512]

I think if you look at every mfrs forum in the country there will be long threads that complain about the mpg, especially against the promised figures. We are so mpg conscious now that when we do not hit or come close to the figures then we get mighty miffed. With the DRIVe version the extra annoyance is the feeling that you buy this version with the sole idea of squeezing maximum mpg out of the car and if that does not materialise then "why did I not just stick with the more powerful engined version".

As people rightly point out the official figures are fantasy ones but the odd thing that comes out, again with all cars, is the variance. I can easily get 600-700 out of a tank on local journeys yet others are struggling to get near that by quite a degree. I have no doubt I could get 750-800 out of a long distance journey. I don't drive like a monk yet I am not a boy racer either. I think I have quite a smooth style of driving which may suit this car but I may just be lucky with my particular car. (incidentally this does not mean that I am great driver, just that I do not drive aggressively. Rather like Jenson Button I tend to get extra mileage out of my tyres compared to others as well which would indicate this) Is the variance in the manufacturing or the style of driving?

Olga - I also do not find the media controls intuitive and my wife is still getting aggressive with frustration when she tries to find a different album on the USB stick. I came from a Skoda and they had an incredibly simple media system, presumably from the VW group bin. I can't help but think that the Volvo one is trying too hard to be fancy instead of being easy to use.