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By
EWAN KENNEDY
23 April 2007
Talk to someone about Volvos and there's a good chance the words
sensible, practical and functional will soon pop up. Which is good to
hear, because in this day and age where stylists seem to increasingly
rule the roost, it’s good to see sanity can still remain part of the
car equation.
Station wagons are very much a Volvo specialty, the Swedish
maker often outselling every other competitor on the market by a
huge margin. Indeed, in some segments Volvo actually retails more
wagons than all the other marques combined.
Volvo's V50 station wagon is currently the smallest wagon in
the range. A wagon variant of the S40 sedan, it has been on the
Australian market since mid 2004. In the intervening period it has
done a nice job of picking up sales from those who had previously
owned a larger Volvo estate, or perhaps a large sedan from another
European marque.
At its Australian introduction, the V50 range only offered
buyers petrol engines, now Volvo has joined the fuel-price-induced
rush to provide a turbo-diesel option. In this case a
straight-five powerplant displacing 2.4 litres. This is a useful
engine size that sits neatly between the typical 2.0-litre diesel
which isn’t quite large enough in a car of this size, and a
2.7-litre six-cylinder which can be pretty expensive.
This is virtually the same turbo-diesel engine as comes in the
new flagship of the Volvo range, the just introduced S80 saloon.
It’s also offered in the sedan version of the V50, the S40.
In the V50, the diesel produces up to 350 Newton metres, with
the graph looking more like a plateau than a peak as that 350 Nm
is on offer all the way from 1750 rpm to 3200 rpm. Many drivers
will find they seldom use any other area of the rev range, thereby
getting peak pulling power all the time.
Fuel consumption will typically be about six to seven litres per
hundred kilometres on motorways or level country roads, with
numbers in the fives on offer if you put some effort into economy
driving. Diesel use will rise to between eight and nine litres,
perhaps ten, per hundred kilometres in the daily grind of
city/suburban use.
The engine is reasonably smooth and quiet, though the usual
diesel clatter, particularly at idle, does take away some of the
refinement that petrol engines offer.
The shape of the Volvo V50 wagon follows the successful
late-model Volvo theme in the use of strong shoulders. The
stylists have indeed done an excellent job, at first glance
there's a perceived sleekness to the tail end, but further
examination shows the rear window is relatively upright. Perhaps
it’s not as uncompromisingly boxy as the previous generation
wagons, but it’s practical rear-end means the luggage area is
large and well-shaped. It’s simple to load and very easy to use.
Volvo launched the V50 in Australia with a full-sized spare
tyre. But received so many requests from potential buyers who
wanted the additional underfloor luggage space allowed by the use
of a space-saver wheel/tyre that it now imports that variant.
The load area is reasonably deep and can cope with a couple of
mid-sized suitcases on top of one another. There's not only the
usual security screen to hide the boot’s contents, but also a
strong screen to stop the contents flying dangerously forward in a
crash. Cleverly, this screen can be either used in its
conventional position behind the back seats, or moved forward to
protect the front seat occupants when they are travelling with the
back seat folded flat to carry long objects.
Four of the seats are comfortable for adults of above average
size. They have reasonable legroom in the back seat and decent
space for big feet under the seat in front. A child can sit easily
in the centre-rear seat and, of course, enjoys the safety of a
full lap-sash belt. Entry into the rear seat area isn’t as easy
as it could be because the rear doors are quite bulky and even in
their fully open position there's a bit of a squeeze to get past
them.
Luxury levels in the new diesel station wagon are high and the
leather trim is to a good quality. The V50 uses the same
ultra-slim centre control panel that's such a feature of the S40
sedan.
Handling of the wagon is almost as good as in the sedan, with a
real sporty, well-balanced feel that will please keen drivers.
This wagon can be tossed around in a manner that would have made
the old-style bloody Volvo drivers green with envy – or car
sickness!
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
V50 S 2.4-litre five-door wagon - $42,950
V50 D5 2.4-litre diesel five-door wagon - $47,950
V50 T5 AWD 2.5-litre five-door wagon - $57,950
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard in all models
Air Conditioning: Standard in all models
Automatic Transmission: Standard in D5 and T5, option in S
CD Player: Standard in all models
Central Locking: Standard in all models
Cruise Control: Standard in all models
Driver Airbag: Standard in all models
Passenger Airbag: Standard in all models
Front Side Airbags: Standard in all models
SPECIFICATIONS (Volvo V50 D5 2.4-litre diesel four-door sedan)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 2.400 litres
Configuration: Transverse, five cylinders in line
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 17.3:1
Bore/Stroke: 81.0 x 93.2mm
Maximum Power: 132 kW @ 4000 rpm
Maximum Torque: 350 Nm @ 1750-3250 rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Front
Manual Transmission: Not offered
Automatic Transmission: Five-speed
Final Drive Ratio: 2.27:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4514mm
Wheelbase: 2640mm
Width: 1770mm
Height: 1452mm
Turning Circle: 10.6 metres
Kerb Mass: 1461kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 60 litres
Towing Ability: 1500kg with braked trailer
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: MacPherson struts, coils springs, lower link,
anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Independent, multi-link, coil springs, anti-roll
bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Ventilated disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 7.9 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 15.9 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Fuel Type: Diesel
Fuel Consumption - Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 7.0 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years/unlimited km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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