What's this then?
This is a new engine with a classic name. Back in the nineties, Volvos with the T5 badge were quasi-legendary for their storming performance, mixed with suburban styling. This time around? Well, we'll have to wait and see on the performance front, but with 250hp the new T5 petrol engine should be a bit of a goer, at any rate.
It's just being introduced to the '90'-range cars - S90 saloon, V90 estate, V90 Cross Country and XC90 SUV - and comes with 350Nm of torque to back up that power figure. It's from the same 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine family as the rest of the Volvo range, so it's a fully Swedish affair.
There's quite a bit of tech stuffed into it too - variable valve timing and low internal friction, but only a relatively simple single-scroll turbocharger.
In the S90 saloon, it returns figures of 42.8mpg and CO2 emissions from 154g/km. For business users, its first-year benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax rate is 31 per cent. Performance is pretty decent; a 0-62mph time of 6.8 seconds and a top speed of 140mph. Want one with an R-Design pack? (Hint; yes, you do) - that'll be £41,120 please.
In a V90 estate, you'll get 41.5mpg and 157g/km of CO2, with a price tag of £43,120 for an R-Design, and you'll squeeze 38.2mpg and 172g/km from the all-wheel-drive V90 Cross Country, which starts at £44,685. The BIK tax rates are 32 per cent for the R-Design and 35 per cent for the Cross Country.
Want to upgrade to the full-fat XC90 T5? You'll need £50,435 for a Momentum model, with figures of 35.8mpg and 184g/km, while acceleration from rest to 62mph takes 7.9 seconds for the all-wheel-drive T5 model. The BIK rate for business motorists is 37 per cent.
Jon Wakefield, Managing Director of Volvo Car UK, said: "The T5 petrol engine is a superb addition to the S90, V90 and XC90 ranges. This cutting-edge engine brings increased choice for our customers, and offers strong performance with excellent efficiency and refinement. We're sure it'll be a hit with retail and business users alike."
Order books are open now.
Neil Briscoe - 7 Aug 2018