Driven: 2008 Volvo XC70 D5, the thrifty diesel Swede you can't have here

You can’t have it here, although you might wish you could. Or not.

 

That’s because the “it” in question is the 2008 Volvo XC70 D5. We recently reviewed the 2008 Volvo XC70 3.2, a Volvo station wagon with standard all-wheel drive and a raised ride height for added mobility. We mentioned that the only engine available in the 2008 XC70 was a 3.2-liter in-six. Make that the only engine available in the United States. In Europe there’s a diesel option. But you can’t have that here.

 

Maybe you want to but maybe you don’t. We recently had the opportunity to test the 2008 Volvo XC70 D5 during an extended tour of Sweden, from Interstate-like highways to the streets of medieval Visby, with streets so narrow the parking alerts were beeping for both sides of the car, and found the diesel Swede to be very much like yet very different that the petrol-fueled version Americans can drive at home.

 

While there were obvious differences, such as the metric speedometer and audio system with all of the screen messages in Swedish, the major change was under the hood. Instead of the 235 horsepower six set transversely under the hood, our test XC70 D5 had a five-cylinder diesel and more:

 

 

Or more easily understood for most Americans:

 

Advanced five-cylinder turbodiesel entirely in aluminum, superior fuel economy, particle filter standard, 295 lb-ft torque at 2000-2750 rpm, outstanding flexibility in any case, available with six-speed manual transmission or six-speed Geartronic automatic.

 

Our test XC70 had the automatic, not the base manual gearbox, so we were able to concentrate on the effects of Swedish diesel power.

 

We didn’t have to think about it very hard. It’s evident that it’s a diesel from the first power stroke of its engine. The five-cylinder has a familiar diesel clatter, neat, tidy and regular, but still unmistakable. With the windows closed it’s fairly well muffled but with the engine cold and the windows down, well, there’s no sneaking around.

 

The same applies to driving about town. The diesel has its own sound and blended with the five-cylinder layout, it’s distinctive but not objectionable. Hit the highway and it’s noticeable only under acceleration. At constant highway speeds there’s no difference in the sound.

 

Speaking of acceleration, our wristwatch sweep second hand 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) timed runs were consistently in the ten second area, slightly better if we brake-torqued (applied the brakes and the gas pedal, starting off by releasing the brakes). Volvo’s published data—9.9 seconds—agrees with ours. But in general we noted a slight delay off the line, due no doubt to turbo lag. Volvo says the gas engine 3.2 gets to 62 mph in 8.6 seconds.

 

Using the European fuel economy standards, the D5 gets 26.9 mpg in urban driving and 44.8 mpg “extra-urban”. The XC70 D5 with the automatic transmission has a combined 34 mpg. We didn’t fare so well. Perhaps being gawking tourists didn’t help, but we experienced a real-world Americans-in-Sweden 28.5 mpg.

 

That’s hardly disappointing however, compared to a U.S. EPA rating of 15/22 city/highway for the 3.2-liter gasoline-fueled engine sold here.

 

Diesel fuel is cheaper than gasoline in Sweden, so from an operations cost standpoint, advantage goes to diesel. The D5 is also has a lower purchase price, at 370,900 SEK (Swedish kroner) compared to 382,900 SEK for the 3.2. In US dollars, that’s $55,764 and $57,558 respectively. Of course, Swedes don’t buy cars in US dollars, though they do have a 60 percent income tax. Go figure.

 

Anyway, if Volvo were able to import the D5 to the United States, the base price would be about $35,600, all other things being equal.

 

Inte håller din andedräkt. Don’t hold your breath. It’s not likely to happen, at least not at this time. As a U.S. Volvo spokesman told us,

 

“[Volvo] would have to make a special engine management system just for [the U.S.] market, with relatively small sales, compared to other markets, that are more profitable right now. Our second biggest problem is exchange rate for our market, as you noticed. What we need is a stronger dollar.  So, low sales potential, special engineering, exchange rate puts diesels on our back burner right now. That said there are strong discussions about how to bring that engine(s) here.”

 

Volvo owners, almost by definition, view themselves as different from the ordinary carbuyer, and a fuel-thrifty diesel engine would seem to fit into that self image as the practical, upscale but down-to-earth sort of people who eat lots of vegetables, order clothes from LL Bean and attend town meetings. Certainly there are the “or nots” who won’t buy a diesel, but then again, there are those who with good merit wish they could.