Volvo V50 Drive

After roadsters and convertibles, the estate car is my next favourite body style. I like them because they offer the comfort and convenience of a saloon, with a larger luggage capacity and a more adaptable interior design. They are thus a tool that is just as suitable for carrying passengers in luxury and comfort, as they are for carrying goods and awkward items of furniture or equipment, when the occasion demands. Personally I also like the conservative styling of the Volvo V50.
When I opened the door and looked inside I fell in love with the car immediately. It had a light coloured leather upholstery, “Calcite Cream”, with a darker shade “Dark Umbra”, on the top of the facia and doors. The only black was the leather covered steering wheel and that did not upset me in the least. It had an excellent feel, with a comfortable 2.9 turns from lock to lock. The slim centre console was covered in a brushed aluminium finish, which did not bother me unduly, but if I were ordering the car for myself, I would have specified the Nordic Light Oak finish.
It took me a few minutes to get comfortable, adjusting the seats, steering wheel and rear mirrors - both internal and external - to my requirements. I then had to zero the trip recorder and the other driving aids, before firing up and setting off. The engine was smooth and virtually silent. The only thing that was a little bit unusual was the spacing between the gear ratios, particularly first and second gear. When I needed power, the car responded with alacrity, cruising effortlessly at the motorway maximum, while when I needed to doodle along in traffic, it did that without complaint, other than a tendency to stall if I tried to creep along in second, rather than changing down to first.
The gearchange itself was smooth and direct, so there was no difficulty in changing up or down as required. In addition there was an arrow in the digital information centre that indicated up or down if you held on to a particular gear in unsuitable conditions.

It was only when I got home and went around to the back to have a look at it, that I discovered it was the low emissions, ultra efficient Drive model. The test car had a 1,560 cc diesel engine with a combined cycle fuel consumption of 4.5 lt/100 km (62 mpg) and exhaust emissions of 119 gm/km, which qualifies it for an annual tax burden, at present rates, of 104 euro. Performance is certainly not lacking with a top speed of 190 kph (118 mph) and a 0-100 kph acceleration time of 11.9 seconds. Even on the urban cycle, fuel consumption is a creditable 5.7 lt/100 km (49 mpg).
To put this into perspective, my own family car is a 2004 Kia Rio, with a 1,343 cc petrol engine. I do not have performance and emissions figures for it, but looking back at my records the best fuel consumption it has returned is 45 mpg (6.2 lt/100 km) with the average around the 32 mpg (8.8 lt/100 km)mark. Of course I am not comparing like with like, as the Volvo is a diesel and my Kia is petrol powered. However, in stark contrast to the Volvo it carries an annual road tax burden, at present rates of 333 euro !

Above : 2009 Volvo V50 Drive - annual road tax Euro 104 - 2004 Kia Rio Euro 333 !

Comparatively speaking, the Volvo is a large, luxurious car, the Kia is a medium sized value for money family car, yet the latter costs three times as much plus in annual road tax !
While I loved the light coloured interior and the light coloured carpets, if I owned the Volvo, I would add a set of dark mats to the floor, as light coloured carpets tend to show up dirty or muddy shoes rather noticeably.
Like most cars today, the Volvo had a hooded instrument binnacle behind the steering wheel, with two large round analogue dials for the tachometer (right) and speedometer (left) with two small analogue instruments showing fuel level and engine temperature, incorporated into the lower section of the larger dials. Between the two large dials there is a digital panel that gives other essential information like the total distance and trip recorders, average fuel consumption, current fuel consumption average speed, current speed and a whole lot more. I particularly liked the current speed indicator, which, as far as I am concerned, is a whole lot more practical and useful than that large, analogue, speedometer dial.

The audio system and the dual zone climate control are incorporated into the centre console. This has a digital information panel at the top, above the audio unit, with the climate control below. It is all easy to see, whilst driving, easy to reach and simple to operate. My only complaint and I had this difficulty with a Volvo C30 I tested some time ago, was that when shifting into first gear in a hurry, my hand frequently bumped the lower left hand rotary control, which operates the fan, thus activating it into full blast. The steering wheel had further controls for the cruise control on its left hand arm and the Bluetooth telephone equipment and audio system on its right hand arm. On the right of the facia, underneath the vent, there is a rotary knob for the headlamps. As these are on all the time when driving, I frequently forgot to turn them on at night, as they were already on automatically. During this test period, the weather was sufficiently benign not to require the use of the heating for the two front seats. I first encountered this feature in a Volvo, during a particularly bad winter over a quarter of a century ago and it is a great convenience in really cold weather.
Large, sensibly shaped, exterior rear view mirrors are fitted and these are electrically adjustable from the driver’s seat. The controls are on the driver’s door armrest, ahead of the buttons for the four electric windows. Once moving the doors lock themselves automatically. If you want to open the doors when you stop, you can either pull twice on the associated interior door handle, or press the button located on the driver’s door. The front passenger door has a similar set of buttons for locking and unlocking.
Needless to say, being a Volvo, the car comes with a full complement of safety equipment, from five sets of lap and shoulder seat belts, to ISOfix fittings on the two outer rear seats, front and side airbags for the two front seats, side air curtains and adjustable head restraints for all five seats.
Besides the normal, removable, roller blind type tonneau cover for the luggage area, there is a retractable net that is attached to the back of the rear seats and clips into mountings in the ceiling, to prevent items in the luggage space being thrown forwards in a sudden stop.

Above Left : Normal luggage space, tonneau cover in position
Above right : Normal luggage space tonneau cover rolled back

Above left : Normal luggage space tonneau cover removed
Above right : Normal luggage space safety divider erected to prevent contents moving

Above left : Maximum luggage space, with safety net erected
Above right : NO spare wheel !

I simply cannot understand how any manufacturer can produce a sensible, practical, adaptable car like this Volvo V50 and then fail to equip it with a spare wheel. I know that in the quest for the ultimate in low emissions and good fuel economy, unnecessary weight has to be eliminated, but a spare wheel is, in my opinion, an essential part of the standard equipment. Yes, this car does have one of those electric compressor/latex foam repair kits, but these only fix small punctures, not blow-outs or large tyre damage and they only offer a restricted mileage. The V50 is an ideal machine for touring, but no serious touring can be contemplated without a spare wheel ! Having been stranded once without a spare and seriously inconvenienced on another occasion with a Spacesaver, whilst touring, I believe a proper full size spare is absolutely essential, especially if towing.

When it comes to towing there appears to be a bit of confusion. The plate on the car giving the relative weights, indicates a Gross Vehicle Weight of 1900 kg and a Gross Train Weight of 2700 kg. This would indicated a maximum towing weight of 800 kg. The driver’s handbook agrees with these figures and states the maximum towing weight for braked trailers is 800 kg and 700 kg for unbraked trailers. The Volvo sales catalogue and the Irish Volvo distributors, however, give a weight of 1300 kg for braked trailers. While the standard V50, with a 1.6 diesel engine, may be quite capable of towing braked trailers of up to 1300 kg, I suspect the lower figure for the V50 Drive, is due to the wider spread between the gear ratios mentioned earlier.
The car comes as standard with roof rails and is capable of carrying up to 75 kg on the roof in a suitable container. Remember that 75 kg includes the weight of the roofbox, or other fixtures necessary to safely carry the load, as well as the load itself.

The braking system is based on the tried and tested principle of a servo-assisted, dual circuit layout, with ventilated discs at the front and plain discs at the rear. It has all the expected features like anti-lock with electronic force distribution and emergency brake assist, as well as dynamic stability and traction control.
Overall I was well impressed with this Volvo V50 Drive. It was relaxing and comfortable to drive. Everything you touch has a good high quality feel to it. It would amble along at slow speeds without difficulty, provided you selected the right gear ratio of course, yet when a more exciting performance was needed, it rose to the occasion effortlessly. In today’s harsh economic conditions it was superbly satisfying to see how very, very slowly, the fuel indicator moved from full towards the empty mark. To add to the satisfaction, the annual road tax is currently 104 euro per year.

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