Volvo S60 and XC60 to get new 2.0 4-cylinder diesel, 8-speed auto 'box

Volvo India is set to replace the aging 5-cylinder 165PS diesel units in the S60 and XC60 with their newer 2.0-litre 4-cylinder units by end August according to dealers. This new engine develops 183.5PS of power, up about 18PS from the outgoing unit and has an identical torque figure of 400Nm. The five cylinder unit has been replaced globally already and as Volvo sells its cars as CBUs in India, this is part of a necessary upgrade for the two cars. 

The aging 2.4-litre 5-cylinder engine was introduced by Volvo in 2001 and was built by Volvo. This engine replaced ones previously sourced from Volkswagen in the Volvo diesel fleet and remained the Company’s backbone for the rest of the decade. Now the 4-cylinder unit replaces it and is much faster, cheaper to run and refined than the 5-cylinder units according to Volvo. The 2.4-litre engine will be replaced in time with a more powerful version of the new 2.0-litre 4-cylinder unit but first, the 2.0-litre 5-cylinder gets kicked out of the engine bay for this new 183.5PS mill. 

The S60 will be available in front wheel drive and the XC60 will come in AWD as before. In addition to the new engine, the cars get Volvo’s new 8-speed Geartronic auto ’box which on paper seems to be a quick shifter compared to the outgoing 6-speed automatic. Official figures state that the S60 is quicker to the ton from standstill by 0.2 seconds to the more powerful 215PS 5-cylinder unit and that is despite the 21kg increase in weight.

This new engine is part of the new Drive-E family of engines developed in-house by Volvo. Instead of having larger capacity engines for more powerful variants, the petrol and diesel Drive-E engines will just be 4-cylinder blocks with different engine outputs ranging from 122PS to 233PS for the diesel. This 233PS unit should eventually replace the current 2.4-litre 5-cylinder diesel engine. These engines, Volvo says, will also be introduced as hybrids in the future with a electric motor either in the engine bay or at the back with a battery pack in the centre of the car.

While Volvo globally is making the right moves and this new engine is a major upgrade over the current one, in India, the Swedish carmaker needs to show more commitment by assembling their cars here if the Company wants to be seen as a serious alternative to the big German three and Jaguar Land Rover. Dealers tell us that there will be a minor increase in prices with the update and the cars will arrive in showrooms by end-August.