Volvo Car UK now with Drive-E engines in all FWD models
Volvo Car’s roll-out of its new family of Drive-E engines achieved a significant milestone today, with its UK line-up now having all its front-wheel drive models powered by the range of new powertrains. This move means that Volvo’s line-up in the UK is now powered entirely by in-house engines; ending its reliance on Ford for four-cylinder engines.
The Drive-E engine consist of four-cylinder engines displacing 1.5 and 2.0 litres, with varied application of turbocharging, supercharging, and electrification (hybrid) to create different outputs to suit a wide range of tastes. New to selected models across the range are petrol-powered T2 and T3, and diesel-powered D2 and D3 engines. They join the four-cylinder T5 and D4 Drive-E engines which were launched in 2014.
The T2 and T3 designations denote the newly-introduced 1.5-litre member of the family generating 122 and 152hp respectively. In the V40 partnered with a 6-speed automatic transmission, both these engines have an identical rated fuel consumption of 5.5 l/100km. The T3 engine is also being offered in the S60 and V60, both of which are offered with a choice between two 6-speed transmissions – manual and automatic.
The diesel-powered D2 and D3 engines, meanwhile, have similar rated outputs to their petrol counterparts, pushing out 120 and 150hp respectively. These two engine setups are being offered in the V40, V40 Cross Country, S60, and V60; the D3 engine additionally serves on the V70 (an S80-based wagon not offered in Malaysia) as well.
Besides adding new engines to the range, existing powertrains are improved as well; the diesel-powered D4 Drive-E, offered in the S60, V60, and XC60, sees its outputs bumped up from 181 to 190hp. The V60 Hybrid, meanwhile, gets a 5hp power hike to max out at 220hp and is officially rechristened as the V60 D6 Twin Engine, following the new convention set by the XC90 Twin Engine.
Completing the range of revisions are improvements to the existing five-cylinder D4 and D5 engines that power all-wheel drive versions of the XC60 and XC70. In the XC60, both the D4 and D5 engines get increased power, the former getting nine extra ponies to push out a maximum of 190hp and the latter getting a boost of five horses to generate 220hp tops. Both variants also see 20 g/km reductions in their respective CO2 emissions.
The XC70, on the other hand, sees power maintained at 181hp for its D4 AWD variant, but has fuel consumption improved by 0.6 to 5.8 l/100km. The more powerful 220hp D5 AWD gets a 5hp power bump, but shares the same rated fuel consumption as the D4 AWD model.
Pictures: Official Volvo release.
