T6 XC90 worst fuel consumption ever?

[infradig]

Wondered if there's any petrol XC90 owners out there and what their experiences are regarding mpg. Due to our Espace playing up my wife borrowed her sisters T6 for the annual family expedition to Provence earlier this month,I knew it was'nt going to be brilliant fuel wise,but thought any modern 3.0 litre petrol should get near to 30mpg on a long gentle cruise. Ha! she had to fill up three times en-route and apparently the computer was showing 19.2 on the way down and is now down to 15 running about locally. I'll reserve judgment until I fly down tomorrow and drive the thing (slowy) back next week. But this sounds appalling,I once had a Bentley Turbo R that would have been cheaper to take! and a friend with a 4.8 X5 reckons it does 25odd on a run.
So,is this typical or is this 3 year old 40,000 miler a duff 'un? Typically Mrs Infradig and the kids want an XC90 now so hopefully the diesels are much better.

[smartie]

3 litre twin turbo, 2.5 ton car and 4 speed auto - its not good is it?

[Valentin]

smartie said:

3 litre twin turbo, 2.5 ton car and 4 speed auto - its not good is it?

It's not turbo charged, it's a 5 speed box and it "only" weights 2 tons.
The last time I drove one of these for a couple of weeks, I got ca. 20 mpg in town and ca. 25 mpg on the long run. And I tend to have a heavy foot.
Try running it on 98 RON..

[smartie]

errr, it IS turbocharged.

272bhp out of a NA 3.0 engine would be going some for a 10 year old Volvo lump!

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/2973...

Weight is 2139kg so we can split the difference!

[Stedman]

Valentin said:

smartie said:

3 litre twin turbo, 2.5 ton car and 4 speed auto - its not good is it?

It's not turbo charged, it's a 5 speed box and it "only" weights 2 tons.
The last time I drove one of these for a couple of weeks, I got ca. 20 mpg in town and ca. 25 mpg on the long run. And I tend to have a heavy foot.
Try running it on 98 RON..

T6 Argues with you, like the T5 and T4

[smartie]

it does have a 4 speed box too, the first d5's had a 5 speed and went onto 6 speed in about 2006.

[valve bounce66]

smartie said:

it does have a 4 speed box too, the first d5's had a 5 speed and went onto 6 speed in about 2006.

and its a crappy American unit,usally fail every 30-50k !!!

[Valentin]

I actually meant it's not twin turbocharged. Only one blower.
But however, does it only have a 4 speed box?!?!? I'm quite shocked I didn't reallise this... Even the last V70 R (first model, phase 3) had 5 speed boxes.
Have you tried filling it up with 98 RON??

[smartie]

Valentin said:

I actually meant it's not twin turbocharged. Only one blower.
But however, does it only have a 4 speed box?!?!? I'm quite shocked I didn't reallise this... Even the last V70 R (first model, phase 3) had 5 speed boxes.
Have you tried filling it up with 98 RON??

it IS a twin turbo - click the Evo link!

[Valentin]

Dammit!!!!
It seems I didn't do my homeworks properly...
from wikipedia:

"B6294T

The B6294T is a 2.9 L (2922 cc) version built in Skövde, Sweden. Bore is 83 mm and stroke is 90.3 mm. Output is 268 hp (200 kW) at 5200 rpm with 280 ft·lbf (380 N m) of torque at 1800-5000 rpm. It has two turbochargers and is intercooled.

Applications:

* 2003 S80 T6/T6 Executive
* 2003 XC90 T6
"

"Ford SI6 engine

3.0 T6

The 3.0 L turbocharged engine is available in a light-pressure turbo (LPT) version. Bore is 82.0 mm (3.23 in) and stroke is 93.2 mm (3.67 in).
Model Power Torque
T6 285 hp (213 kW) 295 ft·lbf (400 N·m)

Applications:

* 2008 Volvo V70 T6
* 2008 Volvo S80 T6
* 2009 Volvo XC60 T6
* 2009 Volvo XC70 T6

3.2

The naturally-aspirated 3.2 L engine produces 235 hp (175 kW) at 6200 rpm and 236 ft·lbf (320 N·m) of torque at 3200 rpm. Bore is 84.0 mm (3.31 in) and stroke is 96.0 mm (3.78 in) with a compression ratio of 10.8:1.

Applications:

* 2006 Volvo XC90
* 2007 Volvo S80
* 2008 Volvo V70
* 2008 Volvo XC70
* 2007 Land Rover Freelander 2/LR2
"

[Dunk76]

I don't think that's terribly bad.

My V70R won't exceed 30mpg on a run - I drove 112 miles to Dover in it the other night at 68mph on Cruise (the most economical point I've found which doesn't involve sitting at 40mph) - got 28.9 overall.

I don't think they're particularly efficient engines, coupled with the aerodynamics of a sizeable barn, AWD, autobox, 8000 airbags, bloody great tyres, air-con, and roof rails.

I've been pondering removing the rails on the V70 (seems pointless as I don't have a roof rack, and boot can accomodate anything I'd want to put on the roof) in an effort to try and break the 30mpg mark.

[infradig]

Ok,just got back, cruising at 80 for 612 miles averaged 22.9 mpg this is dire! It is only a 4 speed and it does have two turbos,but if it's got 272 bhp they're Shetlands.The gearbox is so sensitive that even on the flat with cruise set to 80 the thing kicks down seemingly at random(maybe a gust of wind?)on long inclines it's best to use the manual hold if you've got any mechanical sympathy whatsoever,all in all the worst mis-match of engine and gearbox I've ever encountered.
It's comfortable,smooth riding and spacious,the kids loved the entertainment system and I found myself warming to the thing,but however much cheaper the T6's are I just couldn't live with the drivetrain,anyone got any experience of the manual diesel?

[smartie]

The manual diesel is ok but the most obvious problem is working around the foot handbrake. It's better that the derv auto in some respects as it avoids the setting off delay and also is a bit better on fuel. That said, there's no getting away from the fact that this car is hughly underpowered with 163hp!

The car really does suit an auto in my opinion and the best by far is the 2006-> with 185hp and the 6 speed auto. I feel it's the gearbox that improves the car more than the power increase.

These will be now worth what? £17/18K? Another option is to get earlier derv and get a 205hp remap? Or there is always the 2.5 petrol turbo to consider, but I always found this to be the worst of both worlds!

[infradig]

Thanks for the observations Smartie,and I must admit the thought of a remapped early manual diesel is probably the way to go for me. Now the problem seems to be that most of the c.£10k manual diesels all seem to be very basic-so the very things that appeal in a XC90;comfort,smoothness,luxury,gadgets and effortless progress will all be absent!
It would be so much easier if I were rich and could just walk into a Volvo dealer with £55,000 and drive away in a shiny red V8.

[rossfitz]

infradig said:

Thanks for the observations Smartie,and I must admit the thought of a remapped early manual diesel is probably the way to go for me. Now the problem seems to be that most of the c.£10k manual diesels all seem to be very basic-so the very things that appeal in a XC90;comfort,smoothness,luxury,gadgets and effortless progress will all be absent!
It would be so much easier if I were rich and could just walk into a Volvo dealer with £55,000 and drive away in a shiny red V8.

Aren't dealers offering 30% discount for these or am I reading car sections in newspapers wrong. Drive the deal perhaps.

[Ken Sington]

Got a auto diesel on an 06 plate and am currently getting about 33mpg out of it, mostly motorway miles, and mostly mixing it in the outside lane. Which is nice.

[upljim]

I have got an XC90 T6 Twin Turbo. Around town getting 16-18 on motorway depending how driven getting 21-24.
Big difference is I got mine LPG converted and with gas at nearly half price of petrol it works out equiv to 32 around town and 40 on long run (better economy than the diesel version).
I do agree that with the weight of the volvo even with 272hp it is not super quick off the mark......