Volvo's diesel direction

FORD-OWNED brand Volvo has unveiled a better-performing and more refined 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, which could find its way into S60, V70, XC70 and XC90 models in Australia within 12 months.

It produces 136kW (up 16kW) of power and 400Nm (up a significant 60Nm) of torque – and might have been an option for Ford Australia to use in its Territory 4WD were it not designed for transverse mounting in the engine bay.

Ford Australia is known to be testing a 2.7-litre V6 turbo-diesel, as seen in Land Rover and Jaguar cars, although Ford management has lately insisted this engine could prove too expensive for its Broadmeadows-built 4WD.

The extra engineering costs involved in engineering the Volvo diesel for north-south positioning would likely rule out the ‘Swedish’ oil-burner out as well.