Xc60: T5, B5 or plug in?
Discussion
Hi - any advice/opinions on the below?
Drove a B5 MHEV and really liked it. For c£30k you can get examples of the T5/B5/T6/T8.
Is it going to be less hassle to go for pure petrol? Are there many differences in how the cars drive? I don’t have outside charging so is there any point of thinking about a plug in? I do have a drive and power could come from the garage but we will be moving house soon and not keen on buying an external charger.
Only thing I am sure of is not buying diesel.
Any options a must have? I don’t want base spec and do want heated steering wheel, blind spot detector (would have thought they all have it but don’t), apple car play (can refit for £300), maybe the family pack for the integrated boosters.
Drove a B5 MHEV and really liked it. For c£30k you can get examples of the T5/B5/T6/T8.
Is it going to be less hassle to go for pure petrol? Are there many differences in how the cars drive? I don’t have outside charging so is there any point of thinking about a plug in? I do have a drive and power could come from the garage but we will be moving house soon and not keen on buying an external charger.
Only thing I am sure of is not buying diesel.
Any options a must have? I don’t want base spec and do want heated steering wheel, blind spot detector (would have thought they all have it but don’t), apple car play (can refit for £300), maybe the family pack for the integrated boosters.
i presume you want 4wd, just be careful as some models are only front wheel drive that use the t5/b5 engine, no worries if you aren't fussed just something to be mindful of when comparing cars for sale. I've got the xc90 t8 recharge and as most of my day to day journeys are less than 35 miles it runs pretty much the same as an electric car with the associated cost benefits, however, I would be cautious about buying a plug in hybrid Volvo out of warranty / the dealer network as it can be very costly if the electric motor / battery (ERAD) fails - this is not unheard of....
I would have thought you can get a much newer B5 than you can a T6 / T8 as they were quite a bit pricier when new so that might be the way to go depending on your use / extent of any warranty. My wife had the B5 engine in her XC40 and whilst it wasn't the most refined engine it could certainly get a move on if required, mpg wasn't that great to be honest though 25 - 30 mpg around town, about 35 mpg on a run.
Options:- heated steering is great, I prefer the HUD rather than heated windscreen - you option one or the other, BLIS and surround cameras are very handy. Integrated booster seat I recall is only in the centre of the backseats so only useful if you have 1 chilld of that age range. HK or Bowers speakers are really good options if fitted.
I would have thought you can get a much newer B5 than you can a T6 / T8 as they were quite a bit pricier when new so that might be the way to go depending on your use / extent of any warranty. My wife had the B5 engine in her XC40 and whilst it wasn't the most refined engine it could certainly get a move on if required, mpg wasn't that great to be honest though 25 - 30 mpg around town, about 35 mpg on a run.
Options:- heated steering is great, I prefer the HUD rather than heated windscreen - you option one or the other, BLIS and surround cameras are very handy. Integrated booster seat I recall is only in the centre of the backseats so only useful if you have 1 chilld of that age range. HK or Bowers speakers are really good options if fitted.
Edited by unseen on Thursday 14th November 16:57
unseen said:
i presume you want 4wd, just be careful as some models are only front wheel drive that use the t5/b5 engine, no worries if you aren't fussed just something to be mindful of when comparing cars for sale. I've got the xc90 t8 recharge and as most of my day to day journeys are less than 35 miles it runs pretty much the same as an electric car with the associated cost benefits, however, I would be cautious about buying a plug in hybrid Volvo out of warranty / the dealer network as it can be very costly if the electric motor / battery (ERAD) fails - this is not unheard of....
I would have thought you can get a much newer B5 than you can a T6 / T8 as they were quite a bit pricier when new so that might be the way to go depending on your use / extent of any warranty. My wife had the B5 engine in her XC40 and whilst it wasn't the most refined engine it could certainly get a move on if required, mpg wasn't that great to be honest though 25 - 30 mpg around town, about 35 mpg on a run.
Options:- heated steering is great, I prefer the HUD rather than heated windscreen - you option one or the other, BLIS and surround cameras are very handy. Integrated booster seat I recall is only in the centre of the backseats so only useful if you have 1 chilld of that age range. HK or Bowers speakers are really good options if fitted.
Thanks - I think the hybrid reliability is my only concern so maybe a T5 would be a safer bet. At least they don’t look too expensive to replace as only a very small battery really. Off to try a T5 on sat and compare to a T8. Quite a few options out there with a proper mix of options. Most seem to be the R Design, which looks great. I would have thought you can get a much newer B5 than you can a T6 / T8 as they were quite a bit pricier when new so that might be the way to go depending on your use / extent of any warranty. My wife had the B5 engine in her XC40 and whilst it wasn't the most refined engine it could certainly get a move on if required, mpg wasn't that great to be honest though 25 - 30 mpg around town, about 35 mpg on a run.
Options:- heated steering is great, I prefer the HUD rather than heated windscreen - you option one or the other, BLIS and surround cameras are very handy. Integrated booster seat I recall is only in the centre of the backseats so only useful if you have 1 chilld of that age range. HK or Bowers speakers are really good options if fitted.
Edited by unseen on Thursday 14th November 16:57
ollyh1988 said:
Thanks - I think the hybrid reliability is my only concern so maybe a T5 would be a safer bet. At least they don’t look too expensive to replace as only a very small battery really. Off to try a T5 on sat and compare to a T8. Quite a few options out there with a proper mix of options. Most seem to be the R Design, which looks great.
Just be mindful of the ride quality on some of the bigger wheeled variants, it can be a touch harsh for some folks (others are fine with it). B5 is the mild hybrid battery / T5 is non hybrid. Pan roof is also a nice option if you can get one - especially for darker interiors. Update: Deposit on an approved used Volvo T8.
The car was too nice and had so many options it just seemed like the best buy for us. We still tried the T5, and it was a lovely car to drive, but the minimal price difference meant the T8 was more tempting.
We’ve never had a plug in hybrid before, so I’m interested to see how we get on with it. It’s a late 2019 car, not sure what range we will get with it, but will certainly be enough for my wife’s weekly trips, and then petrol power at weekends. The power is nice but it was the options that swung it - pretty much fully specced (or at least what we were looking for) including panoramic roof, HUD, BLIS, Intellisafe, Xenium etc. Looking forward to collecting in a week.
Thanks for the advice.
The car was too nice and had so many options it just seemed like the best buy for us. We still tried the T5, and it was a lovely car to drive, but the minimal price difference meant the T8 was more tempting.
We’ve never had a plug in hybrid before, so I’m interested to see how we get on with it. It’s a late 2019 car, not sure what range we will get with it, but will certainly be enough for my wife’s weekly trips, and then petrol power at weekends. The power is nice but it was the options that swung it - pretty much fully specced (or at least what we were looking for) including panoramic roof, HUD, BLIS, Intellisafe, Xenium etc. Looking forward to collecting in a week.
Thanks for the advice.
ollyh1988 said:
Very nice.My wife and I had been looking for a bigger family car for a while and the BMW and Mercedes options just didn't hit the sweet spot for me in terms of costs and options.
We eventually settled on an XC60 T6 Black Edition, which we should hopefully be picking up this weekend. They really are a great place to sit, very comfortable and refined and the T6/T8's have all the power you need in my opinion.
I swapped to a T8 earlier this year and it has been an excellent choice.
Very comfortable and a good turn of speed if you put it in power mode with almost 400bhp with the electric kicking in - in fact it can feel a bit too much if you aren't prepared for it. Volvo claim a 0-60mph of 5sec's but i have never tried to do anything like that!
I have the Inscription Pro version and it is well equipped but I think most models are fairly well spec'd.
Charging works well from a suitable outside socket outlet I had fitted by an electrician.
Enjoy the car.
Edit to add a note on range - a full charge indicates 21 miles, however when I set it to pure mode I can stretch to more like 23 miles with a light foot on the pedal. As we head into the colder months I expect this will drop off a bit though.
Very comfortable and a good turn of speed if you put it in power mode with almost 400bhp with the electric kicking in - in fact it can feel a bit too much if you aren't prepared for it. Volvo claim a 0-60mph of 5sec's but i have never tried to do anything like that!
I have the Inscription Pro version and it is well equipped but I think most models are fairly well spec'd.
Charging works well from a suitable outside socket outlet I had fitted by an electrician.
Enjoy the car.
Edit to add a note on range - a full charge indicates 21 miles, however when I set it to pure mode I can stretch to more like 23 miles with a light foot on the pedal. As we head into the colder months I expect this will drop off a bit though.
Edited by zalrak on Tuesday 19th November 09:33
zalrak said:
I swapped to a T8 earlier this year and it has been an excellent choice.
Very comfortable and a good turn of speed if you put it in power mode with almost 400bhp with the electric kicking in - in fact it can feel a bit too much if you aren't prepared for it. Volvo claim a 0-60mph of 5sec's but i have never tried to do anything like that!
I have the Inscription Pro version and it is well equipped but I think most models are fairly well spec'd.
Charging works well from a suitable outside socket outlet I had fitted by an electrician.
Enjoy the car.
Edit to add a note on range - a full charge indicates 21 miles, however when I set it to pure mode I can stretch to more like 23 miles with a light foot on the pedal. As we head into the colder months I expect this will drop off a bit though.
Thanks for that. I didn’t think it felt like 400hp when I drove it, but maybe I didn’t have it in the right mode? Do you need to select Power on the driving style rotary switch? Very comfortable and a good turn of speed if you put it in power mode with almost 400bhp with the electric kicking in - in fact it can feel a bit too much if you aren't prepared for it. Volvo claim a 0-60mph of 5sec's but i have never tried to do anything like that!
I have the Inscription Pro version and it is well equipped but I think most models are fairly well spec'd.
Charging works well from a suitable outside socket outlet I had fitted by an electrician.
Enjoy the car.
Edit to add a note on range - a full charge indicates 21 miles, however when I set it to pure mode I can stretch to more like 23 miles with a light foot on the pedal. As we head into the colder months I expect this will drop off a bit though.
Edited by zalrak on Tuesday 19th November 09:33
Yes, you select the drive mode on the rotary control. Default is Hybrid and there is an option to make a customised setup if you want to.
The 'power' setting provides the most power to the wheels. Spec for the T8:
https://www.edmunds.com/volvo/xc60/2021/st-4018593...
The 'power' setting provides the most power to the wheels. Spec for the T8:
https://www.edmunds.com/volvo/xc60/2021/st-4018593...
Gassing Station | Volvo & Polestar | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff