A much stiffer body and a wider track add a measure of improved stability to the big-car ride quality. More than that, they add some credence to the Sportswagon moniker. Just a few years ago, the roadholding and handling package of the V50 would have had people like me brushing up on long-forgotten superlatives. Today its competence is commonplace and nothing special to write home about, other than to say you would have to be very unfortunate or very stupid to exceed the traction and roadholding limits. But if you do, Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC) should keep you out of the scenery. If all else fails, the WHIPS. SIPS and a airbag array should keep the grim reaper at bay.
Mind you, all this talk of scenery avoidance and traction limits had little relevance to the test car; it was a diesel, and as every bigot knows, they are dirty, smelly, noisy, and, of course, slow. Ha! When's the last time you drove an oil-burner? Exactly; you should try one now, especially the V50 2.0D SE. Volvo has done for the diesel engine what Marilyn Munroe did for the Red Cross. Nothing. But all credit is due to Volvo's parent company, Ford, and the latter's alliance with PSA-Peugeot-Citroen, a product of which is the diesel engine that powered the car I drove, and which is also an option on the new Peugeot 407.
A few years ago, some pundits were forecasting that diesel and petrol engines would give way to a hybrid of both - in effect a petrol engine without plugs, or 'controlled combustion' as one bright spark has called it. OK, we're not there yet, but the response of the Volvo's engine was so close to that of a petrol engine that the distinction between the two might be said at least to be blurred if not exactly eroded. Clearly the technology remains distinctly different, but to drive the Volvo diesel is to drive a petrol car - only better. With a 0-62 mph time of 9.6 seconds and a top speed of 130 mph, the V50 2.0D is faster, a good deal faster, than the 1.8 petrol model due to enter the range later this year. (10.9 seconds and 124 mph, if you must know). So, QED, as they say on the shopping channel.
If you want to outrun the 2.0D, you should specify either the 2.4i or the awesome T5, no doubt soon to prove popular with the Peelers, if only to check that the GATSOs are working. But the diesel is naturally a thorn in the sides of the desert wallahs. At 49.6 mpg on the official EU combined cycle, when compared to the 2.4i it's a case of buy two gallons, get one free. And, incidentally, the present 4-pot diesel engine will be upgraded to become Euro4 compliant next year.
As with any self-respecting, second-generation, common-rail diesel engine, much of its attraction lies in the flexibility afforded by a broad torque envelope, centred on a peak, in this case, of 320 Nm at 2000 rpm. Combined with the V50's six-speed manual 'box, it should be possible to remain well within the engine's high-torque envelope under all conditions, a factor that contributes to the car's extra-urban EU figure of 61.4 mpg. But even if you spend all your time in town, the 12-gallon tank should give you a theoretical urban range of more than 440 miles.
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