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I'll let the technical experts here describe what low octane gas might or will do to the T6 engine in terms of knocking damage or performance. But please don't apply for a finance position with my company.
The T6 will definitely get worse gas mileage than the 2.5 depending on how and where you drive it. My wife tends to drive hers mostly 'around town' and we're averaging about 14-15 with 5,500 miles on the engine. On trips down to Indianapolis I average around 17-18.
There are people on here that are much more knowledgeable than I am with respect to fuel and what it does to engines. However, I think that the extra $4.00-$6.00 you'll spend filling up the tank is worth it probably both in gas mileage and in engine problems that could potentially develop down the road with a lower octane gas.
It drives me batty that people will pay in excess of 40k for a car and want to nickel and dime fuel and maintenance costs. Using regular unleaded on average saves only about $200+ a year. What's more, the possibility of knock can (in the long term) cause some problems - not smart for those of us keeping our vehicles until they drop.
Most of the info out there regards to the "mythical" benefits of premium fuel is in the context of using premium fuel in cases where 87 is recommended - not the other way around.
In any event, thanks for all the advice.
P.S. You might also want to consider that the XC90 is a very heavy vehicle to be powered by a 2.9 liter engine. I suspect that under heavy stress (accelerating up hill, etc.) it would be more inclined to knock than a lightweight sedan if you went to low octane gas. I didn't mean to jump on you personally, but, like 1sttimevolvo, this is a bit of a pet peeve for me. By the time you do the analysis and figure how much you mileage drops when you drop octane in a turbocharged vehicle, I doubt the savings would amount to even $100 per year. I had a friend with an old Saab 900 Turbo back in the late 80's. We'd drive 150 miles each way to the shore almost every weekend and he'd get a consistent 27 mpg on premium and about 24 mpg on regular. It was a vehicle that could use either, but actually had different horsepower ratings as you dropped octane (10%-15% less as I recall).
If you want another idea to save money, raise your collision deductables to $1,000 or $2,000. That's a risk YOU control, it will save even more money and, perhaps, make you a more safety conscious driver in the process.
The XC90 can burn lesser fuel, you'll just end up buying more of it due to worse gas mileage.
Not to mention reduced performance.
-DC area residents always get crothchity about this time every four years.
-There may have been rain on the beltway or 50 this morning and that means he would have to deal with all those drivers that slow to a crawl.
-He actually admitted to having a friend that owned...well, ok ..I'll say it. A SAAB
In any event, I was just surprised after the dealer told me mid-grade and found the manual said premium. I am not worried about the extra cost. I may just not wash the car for the term of my lease to make up for the extra gas cost.
I do appreciate everyone's advice. Just got the car Tuesday and it's a pleasure to drive.
But the fourth reason is my wife put me on the South Beach diet and I'm in carbohydrate depravation. I may lose 105 lbs by the end of the week though (by taking my wife out hiking and leaving her there).
I'll try to cheer up!
Zeen, enjoy your T6. I was stuck behind one coming home today and they are good looking.
Thanks to Chuckmd for pointing out this link.
Thanks
Guy
The Swedes are just crazy about structural integrity.
The policeman on site told them that in most other cars they would be dead. He explained that what usually happen is that the moose flattens the front of the roof, which collapse on the front row passengers and break their neck.
It make sense for the swedish to design their cars for such occurence as it seems to happen quite often over there.
Guy
link (Wolf Song of Alaska)
Steve, Host
Thanks to all those who chipped in with the technical details.
Also, this is why Volvo front ends are flat instead of pointed.
The engineers say that it keeps the mooses legs under the creature and helps prevent the animal from being catapulted into the windshield/roof of the vehicle.
Thanks,
nasir
You'll have to install your own phone.
Then you can use any service provider you care to.
Second track is for Moose course to learn the anti-rollover ability of the XC. Straight line speed up, swirl to the other lane and then swirl back to the orignal lane without braking. Then go through a salom to learn the DSTC.
Finally, the third track lets you put everything together into practice.
Actually, the tracks are the same as the XC90 introduction drive event last year.
But this time as an owner, go through the course give you more confidence on the vehicle. When I was waiting my turn to go through the track, I saw the other car on the track, the tires were sqeeching, the car looked like it was going to roll over went around the curve, but it didn't. And when I tried it, I didn't feel much rolling inside the car.
I know I made a right choice and definitely happy about it.
PS: After the event, someone ask about the project manager about the V8 version, and he said he drove the earlier test hand-made version in Sweden. And that would be whole lot different than the production one.
Should not it to be offered to every XC90 buyer?
Another question to the Volvomax.
However, there are only a few tracks around the country where you can participate.
We did learn something out of the course. At the beginning, my wife didn't have confidence doing a panic stop. After several run, she performed much better than me. As for some of the posting which said there are no real life scenario to do an emergency swirl. I totally disagree. My wife and I had run into several times that some trashes/objects got kick up by the other car and throw into our direction. Cars are swirling to avoid it. Not only you need to avoid that trash, but also others cars. Now I am confident that my volvo won't flip. As the instructor points out sometimes there is traffic behind you, you just cannot do a stop.
All you need is the vehicle VIN. But you can only use once. After that, you have to pay.
A lot of fun - I think I had a constant grin on my face for the entire 3 1/2 hours. It was a small group - just 9 of us (plus one or two ride alongs).
It's really amazing to be able to accelerate to almost 50 mph and slam on the brakes, turn the wheel and not have any loss of control - the car goes where you want it to (in this case into a 90 degree gradual turn), and the tires stay on the ground - no fish tailing or spinning. During the exercises, the instructors kept saying "turn the wheel harder - make wider turns, etc..." They truly seemed to have complete confidence that the truck would not roll. BTW - All the instructors were great - upbeat - helpful - knew what they were doing.
If you're anywhere close to one of these locations, you should really try to make it to a class. I already love my XC90, but this experience definitely gave me a greater appreciation of what the safety systems were all about and how the truck can perform if the situation arises.
Jan
Before I bought the XC90, I tested th Lexus RX330. I found the RX330 very nice, but too small, too glitzy, not as muscular as the XC90.
I told the Lexus salesman I was also looking at the XC90. He said (direct quote), "Volvo starts with safety and builds the car around that. That's why they all sort of look alike. Lexus starts with the car, and adds the safety later."
D'oh!
I bought the XC90 later in the day!
Enjoy your cars!!!
Problem - Lev is a cheerleader
Solution - Have more people Cheerlead
Thanks
Here is a link to the official web site
http://www.volvoownerexperience.com
My experience is that what you gain in the mileage overcomes the price difference, and you have a much stronger performance as an additional benefit.
Regarding discounting, the 3-4% quote is an insult. I went to the dealership Saturday equiped with the knowledge that Vovlo currently has an $1,800 incentive for versitility equiped XC90's. The question is, how much below invoice you could get one for? I was quoted $800, believe $1,200 is possible and seem to have read where someone got $1,500 below invoice. Any of these figures is at least 10% below MSRP.
I'm holding off on an SUV until the 2005 models come out, but an XC90 at $1,000+ under invoice is tempting.
Lev: I, too, am getting the red. My logic? We have a Grand Caravan. Bought one of the first in the Bay Area and we liked the Forest Green. Now, every other dang Grand Caravan is green. Time to find a color that is in the minority, and the red fits. Plus, I like it.
My advice to the rest of you: buy the silver or the Crystal Green as that is the color everyone likes the most
;-)
Zeen: I, too, did the driving course. Definitely do it. Go to that website and register. Volvo is rolling it out slowly to all owners as they can't handle all the owners at once.
I took the May 8 course and drove the T6 (AWD), the 2.5 AWD and the 2.5 FWD. There is a big difference between teh T6 and the 2.5, but a major compoenent of that may have been that the 2.5 does not come equipped wth sepped sensitive steering. I have heard that alot of the feel for the car comes from that option. C ombine that with the heavier weight and stronger low mph torque from the T6 and you get different vehicles.
Still, I did not change my 2.5 order into a T6.
I, too, am getting the non-tinted glass. I bet me and mmm will be the only ones like that in the Bay Area.
For those of you would be XC90 owner, repeat after adp3 and me: Red is evil, red will get you traffic tickets, forget about the red, get the silver, and crystal green, ... :->
>>I, too, am getting the non-tinted glass. I bet me and mmm will be the only ones like that in the Bay Area.
You bet! Excellent choice.
You can (and I have) order the speed sensitive steering on 2.5 through the OSD. I have liked it on T6 and did not mind to pay extra $195 for it.
So, I am going to have the speed sensitive steering on 2.5T
"getting the XC90 at or near invoice is even better than the pricing I got by buying direct from the factory"
OSD base price for the AWD 2.5T is 33,640 and the local invoice (by Edmunds) is 34,264 = $600 in the favor of OSD + 2 round trip tickets + cost of the rental car in Europe ($200 per day for the decent size SUV).
As I said before, the OSD is a very good companion for the European trip and vise versa.
We are going to Europe every 3-4 years anyway, and replacing cars every 5-6 years. So, for the second time (first was in 2000) we combine two exciting events to maximize the savings.