One day last week, I came up behind a truck on the back of which was a neat sign informing me 'Kaire Puse Vaziuoti'. But on the assumption that few drivers on the M25 would understand Lithuanian, a language as incomprehensible as that of a hoody, an adjacent translation in English read 'Left-handed driver'.
I took this to mean not that it had a sinistral driver but rather that the truck was so configured, an arrangement that struck a chord, given that the test car I was driving at the time was also a southpaw. Once in a while, I am sent a foreign-registered, left-hand-drive test car in anticipation of the later launch of a right-hand-drive version. Such a car was the new, 2006 model-year Volvo XC90 D5 Geartronic.
Due to arrive in the UK late in October, the latest XC90 benefits both from a new diesel engine and a new (and optional), six-speed transmission as fitted to the test car. And being a left-hooker, the test car tended to focus my attention on the new 'box, as my right hand normally is engaged only when the 'phone rings. (Joke, honest.)
Not that my right hand was especially busy: the Geartronic transmission - a typical auto/sequential hybrid - can be left entirely to its own devices in auto mode, when the extra gear goes almost unnoticed. But on the sequential side of the gate, when a light tap back or forth selects the next ratio, it became obvious that the extra cog does a very useful job of keeping the engine well within its peak-torque envelope, for optimum economy.
 |
 |
EurolV compliance is only one of the attributes of the new engine |
|
 |
|
I use the word 'optimum' rather than 'improved' because the new transmission is mated to Volvo's new D5 engine, which, in order to comply with EurolV emissions regulations, is fitted with a particulate filter and that marginally adds to the fuel consumption. The margin is quite small: the 'old' D5 managed 34.4 mpg on the combined cycle, and the new D5 is rated at 34 mpg.
But EurolV compliance is only one of the attributes of the new engine. Various and complex technical changes have been made which result in an appreciably higher output, both in torque and horsepower. The former has risen from 340 Nm to 400 Nm, albeit at a slightly higher peak threshold and across a narrower band. The old engine peaked between 1750 and 3000 rpm, whereas the new engine peaks between 2000 and 2750 rpm - one good reason for switching from a five- to a six-speed 'box.
Horsepower has improved from 163 bhp to 185 bhp. Add to this the improvement in torque and it becomes obvious that the new engine is far more efficient than the old, for a negligible change in fuel consumption.
The hike in respective outputs is reflected in improved performance, most notably for the six-speed manual versions in which the 0-62 mph time has dropped from 12.2 seconds to a more SUV-like 10.9 seconds. Coupled to Geartronic drive, the new engine achieves a 0-62 mph time of 11.5 seconds, en-route to a maximum speed of 118 mph.
|
