Had a go in it tonight. Just a quick 90 mile round trip on the A55.
There in the daylight and back at night.
The impressions are of very solidly built car, comfy leather seats, are spot on, somewhat short in the squab in X1 terms (expendable extra support below the knees) - but the leather feels slightly softer and nicer than the X1's - heated seats (check).
Super slick tiny gated 6 speed box is very, very good - oodles of torque from the 5 cylinder engine make it feel automatic at times.
Cabin quality is pretty good. It certainly drives a lot better than any Focus I've driven. No rest for the left foot is a bit a nuisance.
All the little things in this car point to that superb 5 pot diesel, very, quiet, very smooth with an addictive 6 like roar under acceleration. Lost traction briefly at one mid A55 roundabout as I booted it out - but maybe I'm too used to 4x4s now.....came back easily enough in line by just easing off a touch.
The sat nave has additional buttons on the back of the steering wheel, which fires all menu driven options - on a separate note Garmin/Volvo will provide an updated DVD free of charge after we registered this one, despite the car being an used example.
The handbrake is set up for LHD which makes it a long reach over. Steering wheel is bigger than the X1's which makes it a tad unwieldy.
All in all an excellent express car that will return a decent fuel economy we feel. You can forgive the car anything with that cracking motor. Gives the car a soul so missing in modern motors....
Last edited by: R.P. on Fri 13 Jan 12 at 22:20
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Sounds good with a few flaws that can be lived with. I've had a Ford without a foot rest for the left foot and I find that surprising.
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Oh and the other moan is the key - it is HUGE with a long sticky out bit. BMW key is a squared off engineering beaut, it has a hidden blade for use should the CL fail, three buttons, lock (central button) unlock top button and boot release lower button, tactile an object lesson in simplicity...it just works. Pop the whole job in the hole in the dash and press the start button which obligingly lights up when you unlock the doors. The Volvo has five buttons - one each for lock and unlock, no tactile identifiers. A lights on function - this happens automatically on the BMW when you unlock the car and can be menud out if you want and yes an ALARM button.....for goodness sake, yes I did set it off as I fumbled in the dark with it. The blade goes into an oversized key way and is a real devil to remove.....don't like it.
Last edited by: R.P. on Fri 13 Jan 12 at 23:00
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>> Oh and the other moan is the key - it is HUGE with a long sticky out bit.
Colleague got one of these early last year when I was debating my choice (not due until October). The key is a stupid design. No other words for it. It's not a key so why the bit that sticks out.
Keys that stick out on many cars fold in. Mine as a VW has a hidden plastic key. It can unlock the car and I assume with a flat battery in the key fob the plastic key plus fob starts the car?
And again it seems a VW can be unlocked with a plastic key still!
>> The blade goes into an oversized key way and is a real devil to remove.....don't like it.
So you tested starting and stopping it on a test drive then? Sounds horrible but only needs using once at start and end of drive I guess so you will live with it. And mostly drive the X1.
Not having a go.... but this is an example of ergonomics that don't work and full test drive would have picked up.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 13 Jan 12 at 23:16
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>> The Volvo has five buttons - one each for lock and unlock, no tactile identifiers.
>>
I'm surprised they've changed it. The lock button on mine is raised and unlock is recessed also to avoid unlocking the car when putting the key in your pocket.
I'd also keep other keys separate, having a warders bunch of keys swinging has been known to cause wear on the barrel of certain Volvo models and cause the immobiliser to throw a wobbler.
Last edited by: gmac on Sat 14 Jan 12 at 11:08
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>> The handbrake is set up for LHD which makes it a long reach over
I've read this about a few cars now but hadn't come across it myself until today - moved an '09 Mazda3 and scuffed my knuckles on the cupholder 3 or 4 times in 4 manouevres, when going for the handbrake :/
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>> The handbrake is set up for LHD which makes it a long reach over
Hence more and more electronic parking brakes. They cost more you'd think but the cost for LHD and RHD is mostly the same for the manufacturer. Thinking about it the central tunnel is the same in my CC for LHD and RHD apart from the side of the buttons. To have a LHD or RHD hand brake would need more changes.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 13 Jan 12 at 23:19
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>> the cost for LHD and RHD is mostly the same
Yes, makes sense.
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I'd prefer a proper handbrake on my VW but to automatic one plus auto-hold works very well. Probably the auto-hold that meant I dismissed DSG too.... and BIK.
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Not going to be put off a car simply by the size of the key - the 5 pot makes up for that ! Sounds like a proper car should.
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That Volvo key sounds nasty, but then the start procedure on the BMW sounds unnecessarily complicated too. I mean if you've got to put the key in a slot, why bother with a separate button, what's wrong with turning it (like a Merc) or pressing it in further (like an Audi)?
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A gentlemans carriage has a large starter button.
There should however be a small chrome key, the mating lock situated in the middle of the dash, such that the other keys on the ring (like your golf club locker for example) swing to and fro in a jaunty jingling manner.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 14 Jan 12 at 10:50
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mine swing - quite jauntily - there is always a keyless option of course.
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...there is always a keyless option of course...
Middle brother had a car with a keyless option - it drove him nuts.
I didn't quite grasp the ins and outs, but when he was out with his wife and she had the spare in her handbag, he couldn't lock the car until she'd walked away.
Or it unlocked when one of them didn't want it to.
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>> Middle brother had a car with a keyless option - it drove him nuts.
>>
>> I didn't quite grasp the ins and outs, but when he was out with his
>> wife and she had the spare in her handbag, he couldn't lock the car until
>> she'd walked away.
That would be right.
If the car can 'see' a key, it will remain unlocked/ become unlocked.
I once drove a car with the keyless option.
The 'key' remained in a pocket. thing was, it was a salesmans pocket, and he drove another car back from the compound and at one time was about 1/2 a mile from me.
To state I was a little worried the car I was in may have stopped, is an understatement - BTW it didn't.
I have heard stories of cars being stolen, whilst the 'key' was inside the house, but close enough to the car, to be 'seen' by the car.......
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Humph had some such tale..
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You have to be right next to the door for the keyless to work on my S-Max. It works fine for me. Drove the father-in-law made though (tee hee) when having locked the car he double-checked the handle to makle sure it was locked, and of course because the key was in his pocket the car (correctly) unlocked again. How I laughed (at him)!
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Sounds good Rob. Re the keyless thing, I'd eventually got into the habit with the Qashqai of leaving the key fob thing in my coat pocket. It didn't matter where in the car it was, so having lost the wretched thing in there loads of times I finally trained what remains of my brain to not remove it from the outside pocket of the "coat of all purposes". (Barbour "Bushman" if that even slightly matters ) My wife says I'll have to have it cut off me when I die.
Now, with E Class the key fob thing has to be in the ignition like a normal key. Of course the problem now is that the grey matter has become de-programmed for this simple task. Quite often now I manage to open the car with the remote, pop the boot with another button on the fob, ( I still love that bit especially the way it discreetly lifts the roller blind up at the same time ) chuck the briefcase and coat in the boot having absent mindedly put the chuffing keys back in the coat pocket. Close the boot, get in the driver's seat, realise keys are in the boot....
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Also funny the way your mind plays tricks on you when years of practice suddenly get made obsolete.
I remember when I first got the Prius, I rapidly got into the habit of waving a hand at the driver's door handle unlocking the doors, opening the rear to chuck my jacket in, jumping in and driving off. Key remains in jacket pocket.
One evening I arrived home late, got out, retrieved jacket, thumbed the lock button on the outside and walked to my front door. I then stood there like a lemon, in the certain knowledge that "something was wrong", but unable for the life of me to work out what.
This outbreak of cognitive dissonance was caused by umpty-something habitual years of having a bunch of keys already in my paw on arrival at the front door doing their bit to confuse me.
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We've had a couple of Meganes in the past with the hands-free card. Great idea IMO; shame the card was a fraction too thick to really fit in a wallet.
There was no chance of the car being stolen in the method described above though. Whilst the doors would open if the card was within a couple of metres of the car, it wouldn't start unless the card was actually inside the car. It was smart enough to differentiate between being in the boot and being in the passenger compartment too - it wouldn't start if the key was in the boot either.
I'd have liked it on subsequent cars; trouble is most manufacturers seem to charge around £500 for it, and while it's useful, I'm not going to spend that much on it!
Peter
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Back in the X1 today to take the dogs for a walk - the steering on the BMW feels slightly more "loaded" - A smidgen too light on the V50 ? not sure yet.
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3 series touring would have had proper steering.
Just saying...
:-)
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That 5 pot engine though....;-) Real proper engine that !
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Well er....that's sort of got six hasn't it...? ;-)
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Just saying, none of my business of course, far be it from me etc....
Volvo sounds very nice. Probably an ideal compromise...
:-)
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A Volvo V50 has five cylinders?
That's odd.....
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Does that mean the XC Volvos have 90 cylinders?
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I blame Welsh cakes, rots the brain.
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Nothing else odd about five cylinders though, RP. Once you've been behind 'em for a year or two, six will seem profligate and four - well, dull.
Welcome to civilization!
}:---)
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I have to say, that engine could lead me to the brand....
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The 5 cylinder 270 CDI engine was lovely; well suited to the car I thought. Though it had far less power/torque than the twin turbo 4 in the current one... Can't beat a BMW 6 though I don't think. The 535d engine in a E class body with an A6 interior...not asking too much is it :-)
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No - with 4x4 and winter tyres !
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>> The 535d engine in a E class body with an A6 interior...not asking too much is it :-)
>>
The handbrake would not work :-)
The Volvo 5 pots are great when they work, I'm beginning to have my patience tested with the dealer network though. One trip and 256€ down, now get the engine service required warning at a higher speed than when it went in. Throwing the error message more frequently and more predictably now.
Is that progress or a backward step ?
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They eat seaweed you know. The Welsh.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Sat 14 Jan 12 at 17:02
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At least it's not sheep offal - only in certain areas of the Gower. I had some for breakfast in a b&B down there once - it was quite nice actually...
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>> At least it's not sheep offal - only in certain areas of the Gower. I
>> had some for breakfast in a b&B down there once - it was quite nice
>> actually...
>>
I did try haggis when I was in Scotland.
I thought it really tasted offal.
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>>Doesn't divide by two.
He He, that went right over R.P's head... ;-)
Last edited by: swiss tony on Sat 14 Jan 12 at 17:40
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>> Close the boot, get in the driver's seat, realise keys are in the boot....
At least you'd unlocked the car! Ive got a boot unlock button on the VW key fob... one day I am sure I will be putting something in and leave the keys in the boot somehow. Then close the boot... Hmm maybe I should take the plastic spare key out of the other starter/fob and put it in my wallet.... :-)
Keyless entry on the Passat and new CC means if you approach the car with hands full, wiggling a foot under the rear bumper opens the boot.
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>> At least you'd unlocked the car! Ive got a boot unlock button on the VW
>> key fob... one day I am sure I will be putting something in and leave
>> the keys in the boot somehow. Then close the boot... Hmm maybe I should take
>> the plastic spare key out of the other starter/fob and put it in my wallet....
>> :-)
>>
Is there a hidden boot lock on the boot-lid or an internal release button for the boot-lid ?
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>> an internal release button for the boot-lid ?
Yes there is an internal release button for the boot lid. But if you use the boot open button on the key fob then the boot unlocks and springs opens. The rest of the car remains locked. When you close the boot lid the rest of the car then deadlocks again. Best to unlock the car as well I suppose... or keep the plastic key blade in my wallet.
I have to admit to once locking keys in the boot of a hire car - a Honda Accord. I was visiting relatives and had my keys and the car keys and thought... 'I don't need my car and house keys' and so put them and a few other items in the boot. Later I looked down and saw my keys... so I'd put the hire car keys in the boot and kept hold of my keys! A call to the AA got the car opened and the boot released via the internal boot release lever.
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I've seen a certain gentleman's express, lifestyle wagon or foot glove transporter :-) which has no internal boot release, no external lock and the rear seats release located in the boot area under the cover. If you need to get into the boot and have no access to the second remote it results in a rather ungentlemanly scramble through the car.
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That was another good thing about the Renault hands-free card; it wouldn't lock the boot if it sensed a card in it. Common sense really...
Peter
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Told the story before but the Qashqai had a little booby trap in that if you started the engine, went back into the house, laid the key down, got back in the car without the key you could drive off. After doing so it would ( hopefully ) eventually come to you that you really shouldn't turn the engine off before returning for the key !
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www.flickr.com/photos/67389469@N02/6703498603/
The offending key. Answering the question in the AUTOeBID thread - there is no tactile way to find the different buttons in the dark - although I suppose you'll get used to it !
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Perhaps people are judged by the size of their key. With Volvo being top dog obviously...
I agree, a ridiculous size. No doubt you'll be reaching for the needle and thread in a few months to repair your pocket.
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Ewww...That is a stumpy little fella !
See what you mean, two little markers in the alarm button's your lot.
Still, you could always light it up as you leave the house with the parking, side markers and puddle lights in the door mirrors.
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>> puddle lights in the door mirrors.
The Volvo handbook calls them "incontinence lights"
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You're taking the proverbial now Zeddo - it's a fine gentleman's carriage house size key apart.....
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>> You're taking the proverbial now Zeddo
What nationality would you prefer to do the job? I know a certain jock who will step up to the plate if you like.
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Pah, call that key a biggun.;) in size stakes i think the breeze block that LR use in the Freelander might have more length if not girth too, the receiving cave in the dash looks big enough to tempt pot holers.
I imagine the Volvo key will be fine once you are used to finding the correct plipper in the dark.
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That must have been the Mitsubishi manual Volvo driver's aren't incontinent, the front seats have pockets at the front. Proper car you see, think of everything.
Last edited by: gmac on Sun 15 Jan 12 at 23:10
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those pockets are for the "bags" - we noticed them on ours, not the sort of thing you spot - especially in the dark (not really seen it in proper daylight yet !) - Its forebear will be making an appearance in the quiz on the other side shortly.
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I had an unforeseen remote locking problem with the CC3.
After I flattened the battery, I took the car for a charge-up drive and planned to use the otherwise pointless journey to buy some fuel.
With what I thought was commendable foresight, I took the spare key so I could leave the car running at the filling station and lock it while I went to pay.
Except the car won't lock with the spare key while the original is in the ignition.
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>> Except the car won't lock with the spare key while the original is in the
>> ignition.
>>
>>
Clever car, it knows it is illegal to leave the engine running in an unattended car. :-)
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...it knows it is illegal to leave the engine running in an unattended car. :-)...
Something else I didn't think of.
What I did think of was to use a 'pay at pump' filling station, but I knew of none within range.
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It's only illegal on a RTA road, so you may have been o.k.
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I thought the RTA applied to land the public has access to, like supermarket car parks, petrol stations, etc.
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Did it refuse to lock with the key as well? Assuming there is a keyhole that's easily accessible*.
* My VW has a plastic key hidden in the key fob for emergency access. The key hole in the door is hidden under a plastic cap. I would imagine the car will start if the transponder/keyfob is inserted even if there is no power for the remote locking function.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 16 Jan 12 at 14:52
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>> I thought the RTA applied to land the public has access to, like supermarket car
>> parks, petrol stations, etc.
Some of the RTA but not others. Speed limits are not enforceable for example.
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And it depends on the specific site layout.
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Hi R.P,
What version of the engine is it? I think they have a 2.0 litre and 2.4 5 cylinder engine?
I had the 163hp D5 in an S60 a few years ago and loved it. Great sound and sooooo much torque. Once past 30mph you left it in top (5th then) on the manual 'box and you no longer needed to change gear. It just pulled with a good kick in the back. Also MPG just kept increasing as long as I had it, with over 50mpg on general driving the average. Great car (apart from the hard ride, even on 16" wheels)
Traded it in for a BM 520 diesel estate with supposedly more power and grunt but I am forever changing gear. Even motorway inclines often need a change down because the gearing is so high.
In due course the BM needs to be replaced. I have done about 100,000 miles from new in the last 4 years and the extended waranty will end in April. The car has not been reliable and I will not be able to extend the warranty further (with BMW) and I will be questioning whether to just run it 'til it dies or replace it.
If I replace it I am considering a XC60 with the D5 - either 215hp (yes please), or 163hp (if budget dictates) or a new 5-series estate, if I can trust that the one I had was a freak 'friday afternoon' job and a new one will be more reliable. Price and costs, etc are very similar between the two for an AWD XC in SE / SE Prem, or a 2.0D SE BM.
The problem I find with beemers is that they have no character /personality, whereas the Volvo did. I loved that car whereas the BM is capable and competant, it leaves me cold.
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It's the D4 - A five cylinder 2.0 litre diesel giving 170 bhp (177bhp for the X1) - it seems it's now deleted from the V50 - its vital statistics seem identical to my X1s 2.0 litre - torque there or there abouts but it is definitely more grunty. May be down to weight and/or 4wd drag. seems there is a 200kg weight difference in favour of the V50. Superb engine I agree.
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Big steering wheel has a metal portion on the inner edge between 11.00 and 2.00 - cold this morning :-) Good point the radio volume automatically reduces when you engage reverse gear and the rear sensors kick in. Nice touch.
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Yes it still impresses - especially that lovely burble from the motor. Just cleaned the X1 and it looks good, even better when the alloys go back on.
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Put 'em back on now. Be fine. Trust me, I'm a salesman.
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The "tommies" have drawn a lot of attention - well more than when it was alloy shod anyway, it looks good dirty, not so good clean, needs designer stubble..!
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Volvo V50 - First impressions. - rtj70
