Volvo is rolling out a series of new or uprated engines and a new engine designation system based on power output for its 2011-model year range.
The company’s new 2.0-litre, five-cylinder diesel engine replaces the old 133bhp four-cylinder unit. It achieves Euro5 emissions standards and will be available in all Volvo models, apart from the XC90.
The new 2.0-litre diesel is available in a choice of three power outputs. Under the new naming convention (see panel, right), the 147bhp and 160bhp versions are badged D3, while the 173bhp engine is badged D4.A new 115ps (113bhp) 1.6-litre diesel, badged D2, is also being fitted to the C30, S40 and V50.
At the same time, Volvo has tweaked the existing twin-turbo 2.4-litre D5 diesel and 3.0-litre, six-cylinder T6 petrol engines.
The 201bhp D5’s CO2 emissions drop from 183g/km to 174g/km. The T6 unit gets an 18bhp hike to 298bhp and 324lb ft from 2100rpm. Despite this, the T6’s CO2 emissions drop from 274g/km to 249g/km.
Under the new engine naming system, the most powerful petrol engines - those with an output of more than 350ps (345bhp) - will be badged T8, while diesels with over 300ps (296bhp) will wear a D8 badge.
“There’s been a general feeling inside the company for a while that we needed to make our engine line-up more understandable,” said a Volvo spokesman.
The existing D5 tag will feature on diesels with between 200 and 250ps and T5 on petrols with 250-300ps. That is likely to apply equally to four and five-cylinder engines.
At the bottom end of the output scale will be D and T badges. D will be for diesels making 50-90bhp and T for petrols with 90-115bhp.
The new system should go some way to alleviating the badging confusion on Volvo’s five-cylinder diesel engines in particular.
When the five-pot diesel was offered in a single version at launch, the D5 badge was appropriate. Then a less powerful version was added with a new badge (2.4D), breaking the link with the number of cylinders.More recently the D5 was upgraded with twin turbos and more power, but it stuck with the old badge, which didn’t get across the increased spec of the engine.
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Re: Volvo revamps its engine range
The five and six cylinders are Volvo engines, with the rest being either Ford or jointly developed with Ford.
Re: Volvo revamps its engine range
Could you possibly clarify which engines are Volvo inhouse and which are just borrowed from Ford? Sounds quite promising though.