From 760 turbo intercooler, through phase 2 v70's of different specs to this new V70 D5 auto has been quite a journey. My month old 2008 D5 has been a thrill - in many ways its awesome, but the Turbo/auto box/diesel engine are a wicked mix and create an unacceptable drive for me.
This is the first diesel I've owned and the first turbo auto - so I guess I'm in shock, and have almost been in a couple of scrapes because of the unbelievable delay in power response. I've owned Volvo's all my life and am really shocked that they have produced a car with this kind of lax performance/responsiveness. So where do I go from here?
1. A remap? I've been told by Holden Volvo in Norwich that there is no Polestar for this particular year and been to Swaffham Volvo Spares where I was advised to look into a rika remap at Wrights in Attleborough. Has anyone tried a rika stage 1 or 2 remap on a D5?
2. Do I get rid and buy a petrol phase 3 v70? Are these engines still all Volvo or does the D5 pertain only to the diesels? From what I can see all the phase 3 petrol engines still have a turbo - ideally I'd love to have just a really powerful petrol engine with no turbo....so I've been looking at the 3.2L models, anyone had any experience of these? Still a genuine Volvo engine? I know an auto box will not match up to manual instant power - but this will be a hard working work car and I'm just not into a million gear changes a day! (the 1998 v70 2.5 petrol auto I had was very quick anyway)
3. I got the new D5 for about 3.5k below the forecourt book price so I could spend some money on it, but will a remap make enough difference? It has really nasty Spartes alloys, no spoiler, needs iphone mounting and all the cargo nets.....so could spend, spend spend............would love some canicula alloys but £1400 ish????
What do you guys think?