I never owned a Volvo before, but am seriously considering buying one.
Either 06 or 07. I would like to know if the 6 or 5 cylinder are powerful enough? And do they save you much gas compared with V8?

I also noticed that V8 is not built by Volvo but by Yamaha. Does this Yamaha engine have any known issues, is it a good engine another words?


Also, anyone owned an X5 before? how is it compared with XC90?

let me know.

Thanks ahead of time.

Ben

Ben

I have the 5 cylinder (2.5 Liter engine), it is a little slow with the pick up, but great with gas for a car this size. If you do not plan to pull a trailer recomend this size. If you live were there is no snow the smaller engine is better.

Thanx
Eon

Hi Ben:

The Yamaha 4.4L seems to be well respected by the several Volvo mechanics I have talked to about it. One mentioned that he had never encountered a serious issue with the 8, whereas the valve train of the 3.2 is more complex and the GM tranny... (not an issue for the '06 and later you mentioned)

Why not drive down to Lyle P. and see if you can convince them to let you test drive a 3.2 back to back with a 4.4? IMO if you're an X5 fan, then you should be looking hard at a V8 Sport.

Futhermore, once you head east out of Boise the speed limit moves up to 75 mph. As you know, this usually means 80 mph or ???. I didn't find the 3.2L to be as happy about sustained cruising at 80 or 85 as the 4.4L engine. It just seemed to be working harder to accomplish this than the V8 was.

My $0.02-

if you remembe the taurus sho, that was a yamaha engine. great engine, real tough. +1 on the answer ristretto gave, see if you can get a test drive with both. brother in law has the twin turbo 6 and loves it. beats the snot out of it and no problems. i find that the x5 is more on the sportier side as opposed to the calssier xc. my .02 cents worth. :grin:

I've owned a '07 V8 Sport for ~10 months now. Power delivery is very smooth with a great exhaust note. Idle is pretty smooth; the transmission is very smooth. The only shift I notice from time to time is 1st-->2nd. I had an '08 V70 loaner with the 3.2 during the last service. Whatever transmission is in that car - forget it. It down-shifted to late, it would hold gears too long during acceleration, thus the subsequent shift was very noticeable. The V70 is a very softly sprung car. The transmission seemed completely opposite and ruined the driving experience. Getting back into the XC90 was a relief. I really like the V8 and have no regrets.

Gas mileage is ~14.8 to 15.2 MPG. That's pure city driving, no highway and were on our 26th day over 100F this summer. The mileage isn't great, but it not horrible. Co-workers complain about 12-14 MPG in their various SUVs, so I'm feeling like the Volvo does better than average.

I've asked my service advisor about the any quirks and possible signs of trouble I should watch for. He said the V8's and their transmissions have been doing very well and he hasn't seen any common issues with them.