Volvo initially angered some people by downsizing its engines. The V8-powered XC90 is long-gone as are the six-cylinder units. However, there's one model which has become undeniably much faster despite only having access to a 2-liter.
We're talking about the all-new XC60, which has been well received and might even become a segment leader once more in Europe. Yet this story isn't about sales, but about performance, as the T8 model is the focus of an acceleration test.
Volvo offers several versions of the same gasoline 2-liter motor in the XC60. The T5 packs 250 horsepower using one turbo. After that, there's the T6 with 310 HP that also has a supercharger. Finally, this T8 is the flagship of the range, delivering 407 HP with a little help from electricity.
The official numbers say the XC60 T8 will do 0 to 100 km/h in 5.3 seconds. And interestingly, that's exactly what the GPS data shows in this independent test. For the record, the fastest version of the old model needed 6.9 seconds to handle the sprint, so progress has been made.
The SUV covers 400m in 13.6 seconds, which gives us a pretty good idea of its quarter-mile performance. 200 km/h takes 22.6 seconds, which is remarkably similar to one of those 300 horsepower hot hatchbacks. There's no doubt about it; the T8 is surprisingly fast.
Two sets of tests are carried out, and in the second, the battery is discharged. Yet this doesn't seem to have a significant effect on performance, which strikes us as odd. Essentially, all that's left is the same 310 horsepower that a T6 would boast but in an SUV that weighs about 140 kilograms more.
A BMW X3 M40i or M40d is still faster than the Volvo, but you don't buy the T8 just to go fast. It's all about being able to enter congestion zones tax-free on EV power.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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