With Volvo cars moving to smaller engines keeping the focus on efficiency, the company had earlier confirmed a new range of three-cylinder engines on the Drive-E platform, and the first of the new breed has arrived in the new XC40 T3, on sale in the European markets.
The ‘T3’-spec engine is the first three-cylinder motor for Volvo in over 90 years. It is based on the Drive-E engine platform. The new 1.5-litre (1,477-cc) engine uses the same bore and stroke as its 2.0-litre (1,969-cc) four-cylinder counterpart of 82.0 x 93.2 mm, for a unitary capacity of 492.2 cc. In the XC40, it arrives as the B3154T without a numeric suffix for now. It uses four valves per cylinder, with two overhead camshafts. In this specification, it produces a peak power of 156 PS at 5,000 rpm, and a peak torque of 265 Nm between 1,850 and 3,800 rpm. Initially, it’s available only in conjunction with a six-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels in the markets where it is being sold.
The new Volvo T4 engine is also available in select markets in the XC40. The engine code B4204T47 is the one found under the new CMA-car’s bonnet. In this specification, the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine makes 190 PS at 4,700 rpm and 300 Nm between 1,350 and 4,000 rpm. It is available paired to the eight-speed torque-converter automatic with either front- or all-wheel drive.
The new Drive-E engines are as light and compact as they are efficient. The XC40 T3 weighs just 1,568 kg.
With regards to diesel engines, Volvo did announce that they will not offer the new S60 with a diesel powertrain, however, we expect to see a new ‘D2’ three-cylinder turbo-diesel unit in the near future, producing about 120 PS and 280 Nm, and offered with a manual transmission as an entry model. Volvo’s history with diesels is well-documented, and they also have a history in India that began with their 2.4-litre D5 in-line five-cylinder diesel. They were also among the few manufacturers worldwide to offer a diesel-electric plug-in hybrid ‘D6’ powertrain earlier this decade, which we experienced in the V60 D6 PHEV.
Story: Jim Gorde
