Jump to content
Create New...
  • William Maley
    William Maley

    Volvo CEO Admits He Wasn't Fully On Board With Four-Cylinder Plan

      Volvo's current CEO wasn't fully on board with the move to four-cylinder engines only

    When Volvo announced that all of their vehicles would be powered by only four-cylinder, it caught a lot of people off guard, including Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson. Speaking with various media at the Geneva Motor Show, Samuelsson revealed that he wasn't sold on this idea. But since then, he has been convinced.

    “Two years ago you could ask me that, and probably I would have had to answer a different way. But today, I’m absolutely convinced," said Samuelsson.

    “The reaction of that decision has been very positive. Even in the US – the XC90 was even truck of the year in the US, a big SUV with a four-cylinder engine: that’s a good indication that we took the right decision."

    Volvo explained back in 2011 the move to only using four-cylinders would help with fuel economy and future plans for hybrid variants.

    Source: CarAdvice
    Pic Credit: William Maley for Cheers & Gears

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Still shouldn't be. Those engines are overstressed and too high strung. Lots of them are having issues. They're not limited to engines, though. Plenty of electronic issues, too. No way would I consider a new Volvo anything. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Not Sold that a full size SUV can go the distance like my 1994 V8 Suburban with 300K miles plus. When I see heavy full size SUV's with 4 banger motors hit half a million miles with minimal, just basic maintenance, then I will say OK, I will give up my V8.

    I actually expect them to go EV before going 4 banger.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    7 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

    Still shouldn't be. Those engines are overstressed and too high strung. Lots of them are having issues. They're not limited to engines, though. Plenty of electronic issues, too. No way would I consider a new Volvo anything. 

    What engine issues are you hearing about?  I'm curious because the XC90 and new XC60 are both on my radar.

    4 minutes ago, dfelt said:

    Not Sold that a full size SUV can go the distance like my 1994 V8 Suburban with 300K miles plus. When I see heavy full size SUV's with 4 banger motors hit half a million miles with minimal, just basic maintenance, then I will say OK, I will give up my V8.

    I actually expect them to go EV before going 4 banger.

    Volvo is going with supercharged, turbocharged, hybrid 4-cylinders at their top end. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    4 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

    Volvo is going with supercharged, turbocharged, hybrid 4-cylinders at their top end. 

    That is very interesting to hear about supercharged 4 bangers. Will be interesting to see how they deal with the heat and stress long term. Did not know they were pushing the engines that hard. 

    How much increase in compression are they doing? Hevy they moved to compression on their gas engines like on a diesel?

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    11 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

    What engine issues are you hearing about?  I'm curious because the XC90 and new XC60 are both on my radar.

    Volvo is going with supercharged, turbocharged, hybrid 4-cylinders at their top end. 

    Idk the specifics, but I know our Volvo store is being flooded with XC90's for powertrain and electronic related issues. Take it with a grain of salt, but I have nothing against Volvo whatsoever, and wouldn't baselessly criticize them.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    9 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

    Idk the specifics, but I know our Volvo store is being flooded with XC90's for powertrain and electronic related issues. Take it with a grain of salt, but I have nothing against Volvo whatsoever, and wouldn't baselessly criticize them.

    Some interesting stats but they do seem to have electrical, engine and especially powertrain problems. 2016 is shown as very bad for these 3 items.

    http://www.truedelta.com/Volvo-XC90/problems-292

    http://www.carcomplaints.com/Volvo/XC90/

    http://repairpal.com/transmission-failure-common-257

    Interesting, many XC90 owners have gone through 2 transmissions in a 100,000 miles of ownership. WOW

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    25 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

    Idk the specifics, but I know our Volvo store is being flooded with XC90's for powertrain and electronic related issues. Take it with a grain of salt, but I have nothing against Volvo whatsoever, and wouldn't baselessly criticize them.

    I've seen their 4-cylinder powertrains get panned for refinement as well. 6-cylinders are still the current benchmark for luxury refinement, and V8s are still preferable to those. When people talk about intangibles of credible luxury cars, the feel of larger displacement, 6+ cylinder engines is high on that list.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    1 minute ago, cp-the-nerd said:

    I've seen their 4-cylinder powertrains get panned for refinement as well. 6-cylinders are still the current benchmark for luxury refinement, and V8s are still preferable to those. When people talk about intangibles of credible luxury cars, the feel of larger displacement, 6+ cylinder engines is high on that list.

    I haven't driven one, so I can't speak from experience. But shallow though it may be, I know I would personally much rather have a six cylinder than a double-boosted I4. Pass.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    2 hours ago, Frisky Dingo said:

    I haven't driven one, so I can't speak from experience. But shallow though it may be, I know I would personally much rather have a six cylinder than a double-boosted I4. Pass.

    On a test run while I was driving a new V6 Cadenza... Which has about the standard amount of power you'd expect from a V6... I was positively spanked by an S90 T6 AWD (the double boosted 4 cylinder). It wasn't even close. From a performance perspective, the double boosted engine has it.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    33 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

    On a test run while I was driving a new V6 Cadenza... Which has about the standard amount of power you'd expect from a V6... I was positively spanked by an S90 T6 AWD (the double boosted 4 cylinder). It wasn't even close. From a performance perspective, the double boosted engine has it.

    $60k Luxury sedan with 316 hp/295tq walks away from $35k sedan with 290 hp/253tq. Can't say you're really making a game changing point here. If Volvo's top engine couldn't move the car, they'd be up sh!t's creek.

    • Agree 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    1 hour ago, cp-the-nerd said:

    $60k Luxury sedan with 316 hp/295tq walks away from $35k sedan with 290 hp/253tq. Can't say you're really making a game changing point here. If Volvo's top engine couldn't move the car, they'd be up sh!t's creek.

    The point was the 4-cylinder v. 6-cylinder. I remain largely unconvinced by turbo 4-cylinder from any brand as true replacements for a V6... however the double-boosted 4-cylinder from Volvo is the exception to that. 

    It's hard to describe here, but in the Cadenza, I didn't even stand a chance... it wasn't even close. I might as well have been driving a Mirage. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • google-news-icon.png



  • google-news-icon.png

  • Subscribe to Cheers & Gears

    Cheers and Gears Logo

    Since 2001 we've brought you real content and honest opinions, not AI-generated stuff with no feeling or opinions influenced by the manufacturers.

    Please consider subscribing. Subscriptions can be as little as $1.75 a month, and a paid subscription drops most ads.*
     

    You can view subscription options here.

    *a very limited number of ads contain special coupon deals for our members and will show

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • Argh.  This is a question I almost want to avoid. The A380 is incredible.  Yes, I had a roundtrip through AA on British.  They have a small economy section at the back, upstairs.  Then I flew a one way from Italy to New York-JFK on an Emirates "fifth freedom" flight segment.  They have economy taking the entire main level, with none upstairs. Economy seats are a little wider on the A380 ... definitely on Emirates, at least.  It was an outstanding flight because of that.  On British, I paid for an economy seat upstairs and the curvature of the exterior translates into windows that are too sloped and with an odd and bigger void in between the cabin and the exterior.  I will be sitting downstairs if there is a future flight on one. The 747-8 isn't as comfortable in economy because the seats are traditional economy width.  I feel more comfortable in one because I know it.  It's also much more photogenic all the way around.  You feel good when it pulls up to the gate and you see that beautiful and proportioned machine through the big glass windows. The humidification is good on both planes. It's really sad that no more passenger quadjets are being produced.  It's easier to get onto an A380 if Europe bound (British, Lufthansa, Emirates, and others via connections, with Air France holding back).  For a 747-8, Lufthansa is the only choice and I am grateful to them for that.
    • My car has a supposed 525 mile highway crusing range on a full tank (19.5 gallons).   I haven't fully tested that since I tend to fill up at 1/2 tank when on road trips..but I have recorded averages of 29.5 and 30 mpg on road trips, which is pretty good for a comfortable 4200lb AWD sedan..
    • @trinacriabob in your flying in recent years, have you had a trip on an A380?    If so, how does it compare to the larger Boeings? 
    • Right.  It's not the aircraft themselves, but the haste and sloppiness.  ("Haste makes waste.")  This 777 X is ambitious and the folding wingtips are novel.  They will be very late with delivering this plane.  I now like some Boeing and some Airbus.  It's a mix.  In the recent past, I took a ride on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and I definitely like it more than the Airbus 350 (even though the Airbus 350 has that photogenic curved winglets).  The cabin fatigue from flying is much reduced on the Dreamliner. Yesterday, I was on two domestic Boeing 737 Max 8 segments back to back on Southwest.  I like its newer features - ambient lighting, larger bins, a little quieter.  So, if it's working, it's a very nice rendition of the 737.  It's too bad that their newest version of this storied workhorse had to be tainted.  I get on and sigh.  If it keeps a clean track record going forward, people may be less weirded out as the statistics may become better. It is.  However, I'm not a fan of the leg design, which is also now popular on sofas.  The biggest turnoff for me in sofas - when I bought a sleeper for another room with the last stimulus money - was the amount of product that had nailheads all over the place.
  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • My Clubs

×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search