Buying a V70 - which one???
Discussion
It looks as though my trusty Marea Weekend is nearing the end of its life as I suspect the headgasket is about to blow, it has a minor exhaust leak from the cat area, a glowplug has failed and the MoT is up in about a month. In short, even if I do the work myself, the parts cost is likely to approach the car's value. So I am considering replacing it with a V70 (current shape, post 2000).
I cover a huge motorway mileage so daily fuel economy is important to me, far more so than performance as I have an Elise for that. Ideally I'd like to spend around £5,000 although that may be unrealistic with nearer £10,000 being more likely, as I'd like to try and get a V70 with less than 100,000 miles on the clock if possible. However, I don't particularly care how old it is.
My first thought was to buy a D5 because having tried one back in 2003 I thought it had a great combination of performance and economy. That said, I was also quite happy with the 140bhp 2.4 petrol auto that I had on hire for a few weeks, both performance and economy.
However, it now seems that there are both 163bhp and 185bhp diesels available. Obviously I'd prefer the latter if buying a diesel, but are they available within my budget? When were they introduced? And how do I tell one apart from a 163bhp variant?
I have the same problem of course if I go for a petrol: telling a 140 apart from a 170. Much as I was very happy with my hired 140, I suspect that as a long-term ownership proposition I'd probably be happier still with a 170.
Or is the fuel consumption wildly different between the variants?
So my first decision is whether to get a diesel, or the cheaper petrol and then get a LPG conversion fitted to it? There is no way that I want to run the petrol without the LPG in the long-term! And the way we're getting robbed blind by Brown now, fuel economy really is important.
My next question is whether to go for auto or manual. I had a Discovery auto a few years ago and I loved the lazy driving, but there was no denying that it was much heavier on fuel than the manual that replaced it. So all things being equal I'd like to go for a V70 auto, but with most of my time spent in top gear on a motorway would I perhaps be much wiser to get a manual? Does anybody know the difference the gearboxes make to the fuel economy? Is it minor, or substantial?
Given that I do have something of a lead-foot, would I perhaps be better with an auto anyway because I may even get better economy around town than I would if constantly holding on to lower gears in a manual?
I need to do something fairly quick, so any and all advice would be appreciated.
Andrew
I cover a huge motorway mileage so daily fuel economy is important to me, far more so than performance as I have an Elise for that. Ideally I'd like to spend around £5,000 although that may be unrealistic with nearer £10,000 being more likely, as I'd like to try and get a V70 with less than 100,000 miles on the clock if possible. However, I don't particularly care how old it is.
My first thought was to buy a D5 because having tried one back in 2003 I thought it had a great combination of performance and economy. That said, I was also quite happy with the 140bhp 2.4 petrol auto that I had on hire for a few weeks, both performance and economy.
However, it now seems that there are both 163bhp and 185bhp diesels available. Obviously I'd prefer the latter if buying a diesel, but are they available within my budget? When were they introduced? And how do I tell one apart from a 163bhp variant?
I have the same problem of course if I go for a petrol: telling a 140 apart from a 170. Much as I was very happy with my hired 140, I suspect that as a long-term ownership proposition I'd probably be happier still with a 170.
Or is the fuel consumption wildly different between the variants?
So my first decision is whether to get a diesel, or the cheaper petrol and then get a LPG conversion fitted to it? There is no way that I want to run the petrol without the LPG in the long-term! And the way we're getting robbed blind by Brown now, fuel economy really is important.
My next question is whether to go for auto or manual. I had a Discovery auto a few years ago and I loved the lazy driving, but there was no denying that it was much heavier on fuel than the manual that replaced it. So all things being equal I'd like to go for a V70 auto, but with most of my time spent in top gear on a motorway would I perhaps be much wiser to get a manual? Does anybody know the difference the gearboxes make to the fuel economy? Is it minor, or substantial?
Given that I do have something of a lead-foot, would I perhaps be better with an auto anyway because I may even get better economy around town than I would if constantly holding on to lower gears in a manual?
I need to do something fairly quick, so any and all advice would be appreciated.
Andrew
We have an S60 D5 geartronic auto, effectively a 'V70 saloon'. Performance and economy are both good. Even with the auto box it'll launch itself from any speed. It's generally used about 50:50 local and motorway and produces an average 39 MPG. With just motorway driving this rises to about 48 MPG. Until the warranty ran out we had it serviced at a main agent but we're fortunate enough to have an independent on our doorstep who just did a major service plus new front brake pads for under £200.
I don't know if there's a visible difference between the two D5 engines - we have the 163 BHP version, but I drove a 185 BHP version as a courtesy car from the dealer and the difference in performance was easily noticeable. The biggest difference was off the line, the 185 has immediate power, the 163 a little lazier (but by no means slow). The dealer told me the fuel economy is overall slightly better on the 185 but I've nothing to back that up with.
Turning circle is lousy (on the S60) and ours is on its third set of front tyres at just 38,000 miles. Other than that the car's pretty good. I'd have another.
I don't know if there's a visible difference between the two D5 engines - we have the 163 BHP version, but I drove a 185 BHP version as a courtesy car from the dealer and the difference in performance was easily noticeable. The biggest difference was off the line, the 185 has immediate power, the 163 a little lazier (but by no means slow). The dealer told me the fuel economy is overall slightly better on the 185 but I've nothing to back that up with.
Turning circle is lousy (on the S60) and ours is on its third set of front tyres at just 38,000 miles. Other than that the car's pretty good. I'd have another.
Cider Andy said:
We have an S60 D5 geartronic auto, effectively a 'V70 saloon'. Performance and economy are both good. Even with the auto box it'll launch itself from any speed. It's generally used about 50:50 local and motorway and produces an average 39 MPG. With just motorway driving this rises to about 48 MPG. Until the warranty ran out we had it serviced at a main agent but we're fortunate enough to have an independent on our doorstep who just did a major service plus new front brake pads for under £200.
I don't know if there's a visible difference between the two D5 engines - we have the 163 BHP version, but I drove a 185 BHP version as a courtesy car from the dealer and the difference in performance was easily noticeable. The biggest difference was off the line, the 185 has immediate power, the 163 a little lazier (but by no means slow). The dealer told me the fuel economy is overall slightly better on the 185 but I've nothing to back that up with.
Turning circle is lousy (on the S60) and ours is on its third set of front tyres at just 38,000 miles. Other than that the car's pretty good. I'd have another.
andy what sort of MPG do you get from your D5? I don't know if there's a visible difference between the two D5 engines - we have the 163 BHP version, but I drove a 185 BHP version as a courtesy car from the dealer and the difference in performance was easily noticeable. The biggest difference was off the line, the 185 has immediate power, the 163 a little lazier (but by no means slow). The dealer told me the fuel economy is overall slightly better on the 185 but I've nothing to back that up with.
Turning circle is lousy (on the S60) and ours is on its third set of front tyres at just 38,000 miles. Other than that the car's pretty good. I'd have another.
Thanks guys, it seems that the D5 is indeed the engine to go for. However, I can also see that the 185bhp variant was only introduced fairly recently, so 163bhp it will be for me. I'm pleased to hear that you are impressed with both the performance and the economy 
Looking around though it seems as though the manual gearbox is much more economical than the auto/geartronic, so I'll probably go for one of them. As I'll be getting a slightly older car, that'll be a 5 speed gearbox.
What also interests me though is http://www.volvotuninguk.com ... have you any experience of these people?
Looking around though it seems as though the manual gearbox is much more economical than the auto/geartronic, so I'll probably go for one of them. As I'll be getting a slightly older car, that'll be a 5 speed gearbox.
What also interests me though is http://www.volvotuninguk.com ... have you any experience of these people?
MudPlugger said:
What also interests me though is http://www.volvotuninguk.com ... have you any experience of these people?
Various owners have LOTS of (very bad) experience!http://forums.t5d5.org/index.php?showtopic=961
http://forums.t5d5.org/index.php?showtopic=631
Wouldn't touch em with a barge pole, I understand RT Mechanics can also offer the RICA D5 upgrade http://www.rtmechanics.co.uk/ and have a good reputation amongst the various forums.
However steer well clear of VolvoTuning/Chip Tuning or SW Auto's for that matter!
MudPlugger said:
Thanks guys, it seems that the D5 is indeed the engine to go for. However, I can also see that the 185bhp variant was only introduced fairly recently, so 163bhp it will be for me. I'm pleased to hear that you are impressed with both the performance and the economy
Looking around though it seems as though the manual gearbox is much more economical than the auto/geartronic, so I'll probably go for one of them. As I'll be getting a slightly older car, that'll be a 5 speed gearbox.
What also interests me though is http://www.volvotuninguk.com ... have you any experience of these people?
I've just gone from a V50 2.4 (170) to a V70 D5 (185) and both were auto. The V50 sounded great and was quick enough for most situations, but was pretty thirsty...I struggled to get 30mpg as an average, unless doing a lot of motorway miles at under 80mph.Looking around though it seems as though the manual gearbox is much more economical than the auto/geartronic, so I'll probably go for one of them. As I'll be getting a slightly older car, that'll be a 5 speed gearbox.
What also interests me though is http://www.volvotuninguk.com ... have you any experience of these people?
The V70 is definitely quicker and has a a 6 speed auto as ooposed to a 5 in the V50. The economy is probably about 7-10mpg better on the diesel, but I'm not sure if its fully run-in and loosened up yet (only done less than 4,000 miles)...and I dont exactly take it easy.
Oh and as someone else mentioned, the turning circle is rubbish...the worst I've ever had!
I still think its a quality car though, and its very easy to have the 163 chipped up, I know one company (who I've used before) who will get it from 163 to about 193
MudPlugger said:
Was the 2.4D designation ever used for anything else before that, i.e. is there any danger that if I buy a 2.4D I could get anything other than a 163bhp D5?
Yes, I think it was. There was a 2.4D variant marketed around 2000 - 2002 at about 130 BHP. But I'm not sure if it only went in the S60 and not the V70. Best bet is probably to phone a dealer.The other thing of course is that I do *not* want the later Euro 4 car with the carbon filter in the exhaust, because I know from the Volvo Owners Forum ( http://www.volvoforums.org.uk ) that these are up to 5mpg *less* economical than the earlier Euro 3 cars.
The simplest way to identify the D5 engines is : Black engine cover = 163bhp. Silver engine cover = 185bhp.
I've had an S60 with the 185bhp D5 + Geartronic for a couple of months. Brilliant motor car. Give Rybrook Volvo in Chester a call, (Peter Welch), and tell 'em what you want. They'll do their best to find it. Found mine for me.
I've had an S60 with the 185bhp D5 + Geartronic for a couple of months. Brilliant motor car. Give Rybrook Volvo in Chester a call, (Peter Welch), and tell 'em what you want. They'll do their best to find it. Found mine for me.
Buy my V50 T5, it's for sale in the classifieds.
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/343606.htm
Under £10,000, blistering perfomance(220bhp) and fuel economy around 35mpg.
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/343606.htm
Under £10,000, blistering perfomance(220bhp) and fuel economy around 35mpg.
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