XC60 T5 Drive-E or T6 Drive-E

Pranner · Aug 9, 2014

Volvo of Oakville. With them having up to date OSD info, they knew a lot more about 2015.5. I initially dealt with another dealer closer to home before considering OSD and I felt like I knew more about the cars/features than they did... And I felt like they were convinced what was on their lot was way better than what I could order: A turn-off for me. I'm glad I came across Volvo of Oakville. No wonder they're the highest rated Volvo dealer in Ontario (my wife told me she read that while researching). I'm glad they accommodated me with what we wanted, I look forward to Monday, it should be in. Power Blue or Twilight Bronze remains the only surprise!

no more saab stories · Aug 9, 2014

Pranner said:
Volvo of Oakville. With them having up to date OSD info, they knew a lot more about 2015.5. I initially dealt with another dealer closer to home before considering OSD and I felt like I knew more about the cars/features than they did... And I felt like they were convinced what was on their lot was way better than what I could order: A turn-off for me. I'm glad I came across Volvo of Oakville. No wonder they're the highest rated Volvo dealer in Ontario (my wife told me she read that while researching). I'm glad they accommodated me with what we wanted, I look forward to Monday, it should be in. Power Blue or Twilight Bronze remains the only surprise!

Sigh....

At the time that I was shopping I'd passed through Oakville and had intended to stop at Volvo of Oakville, but I was running late and had to give it a pass.

And yes, the lack of product knowledge that I encountered (and not just with Volvo) was disturbing to me, but the salesman I chose to work with seemed to have a lot of knowledge and had been selling Volvos for eons. I just wish that he had shared a bit more of that knowledge, such as the fact that "next year's" models... with power lumbar and a new navigation system... would be arriving within a few weeks. Given that the cars on the lot were 2015's I could not have imagined that.

As noted above (and in another post) Volvo Canada makes no mentions of the 2015.5 models on its website, and indeed is offering 1.9% lease rates on what it describes as "the newest 2015 models".

genesmasher · Aug 9, 2014

Pranner said:
Volvo of Oakville. With them having up to date OSD info, they knew a lot more about 2015.5. I initially dealt with another dealer closer to home before considering OSD and I felt like I knew more about the cars/features than they did... And I felt like they were convinced what was on their lot was way better than what I could order: A turn-off for me. I'm glad I came across Volvo of Oakville. No wonder they're the highest rated Volvo dealer in Ontario (my wife told me she read that while researching). I'm glad they accommodated me with what we wanted, I look forward to Monday, it should be in. Power Blue or Twilight Bronze remains the only surprise!

If you indeed ordered MY2015.5, you should get Power Blue. It is now available for delivery in North America, not just OSD. We just had ours ordered in this color as well, delivery sometime in late October. :thumbup:

Warpedcow · Aug 11, 2014

no more saab stories said:
Of course, it's odd that Volvo would introduce a "2015" model so early in 2014, and then introduce a new model almost immediately.

I heard from a dealer source who shall remain nameless that Volvo introduced the 2015 model year as early as legally possible in order to cut ties from Ford as soon as possible as part of the sale to Geely. Basically, Ford retained rights to stuff through the end of the 2014 model year. So they ended that model year and introduced 2015 models as early as possible.

2KeepHerSafe · Sep 18, 2016

Hi,

I hope it's OK to activate an older thread. This thread was close to the exact topic I wanted to ask about.

I have a chance to buy a 2015.5 XC60 T6 drive-e FWD Platinum package and the heated seats, with 5400 miles, for 35k.

Several of the reviews I read on the T6 Drive-e FWD said it has bad torque steer. On the T5 Drive-e I bought, I only felt a little torque steer once and simply learned not to step down as hard when the light changed at a left or right turn (Coming from a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer, I was used to stepping down harder on the gas when the light changed). I gave the T5 to my daughter, so I'm shopping again.

My question is, now that people have some experience with the T6 Drive-e, do you feel the T6 Drive-e handles badly with only FWD. The magazine reviewers recommended the T5 over it, because it has too much torque, but I'm not sure they'd turn the T6 down if it was the same price as the T5, or even a little less. $35K for this car seems like a great deal given it's never been in an accident, but if the T5 Drive-e would be a nicer car to drive, I can wait.

Thanks,
Todd

zircular · Sep 18, 2016

I haven't driven the T6e but it stands to reason that if you're easy off the line like you have been with the T5 then it shouldn't be any worse to drive. But it also stands to reason that the extra power won't do you any good until you're up to speed, passing or merging or whatever. If you haven't driven it I think that should be your next move.

pfram · Sep 19, 2016

2KeepHerSafe said:
Hi,

I hope it's OK to activate an older thread. This thread was close to the exact topic I wanted to ask about.

I have a chance to buy a 2015.5 XC60 T6 drive-e FWD Platinum package and the heated seats, with 5400 miles, for 35k.

Several of the reviews I read on the T6 Drive-e FWD said it has bad torque steer. On the T5 Drive-e I bought, I only felt a little torque steer once and simply learned not to step down as hard when the light changed at a left or right turn (Coming from a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer, I was used to stepping down harder on the gas when the light changed). I gave the T5 to my daughter, so I'm shopping again.

My question is, now that people have some experience with the T6 Drive-e, do you feel the T6 Drive-e handles badly with only FWD. The magazine reviewers recommended the T5 over it, because it has too much torque, but I'm not sure they'd turn the T6 down if it was the same price as the T5, or even a little less. $35K for this car seems like a great deal given it's never been in an accident, but if the T5 Drive-e would be a nicer car to drive, I can wait.

Thanks,
Todd

We have a T6 drive-e FWD and T6 AWD. I drive the T6 drive-e FWD monday through friday about 50 miles per day. And the T6 AWD on weekends and family trips. The T6 drive-e FWD torque steer is indeed excessive on hard accelerations. The only times I feel it is "bad" is during or just completing cornering and hard accelerating. It's not a problem unless you need to accelerate hard and fast. Realize the reason it is bad is because the T6 drive-e super-charger gives it more startup power than the T6 AWD turbo. It beats our T6 AWD from zero to go for the first 50 feet or so I would guess from driving both. You don't need to floor the T6 drive-e very often unless you are feeling frisky.

One of the blind stop light right-hand turns on my daily commute occasionally requires a hard acceleration as I can't see the oncoming vehicle until I have started the turn. If I push too much acceleration the front steering skips dramatically left/right. I imagine to the car behind me it might look like I am losing control of the vehicle for a second. I've learned to anticipate it and grab hard on the steering wheel with two hands. I wouldn't call it a show stopper but it will surprise you even when accelerating hard while going straight.

Torque steer is one of the reasons I prefer the smoothness of my wife's non-drive-e AWD T6. But... it's not a big deal in normal calm driving.

2KeepHerSafe · Sep 19, 2016

Thank you pfram. If the car were just for me, that wouldn't be a deal breaker, I'm a pretty tame driver. Unfortunately, my son will be learning on it and eventually driving it a lot, so I think I will pass on this one. Truly a bummer, because it's otherwise perfect.
I'm in no rush, so I'll just wait for a deal to come up on a T5 or an AWD model.
I really appreciate you guys taking the time to answer!
Todd

TonyJag · Sep 20, 2016

When we first got the car, I forced it into torque steer, just to see what happens, but since, we mostly drive it in ECO mode and torque steer is definitely not a problem. When the need for speed occurs, just remember to get a firm 2-handed grip on the wheel before you nail it, which is good practice anyhow. We love the drive-E T6 engine with 8-speed, which has averaged around 25 MPG and will approach 30 MPG on the highway.

pfram · Sep 20, 2016

TonyJag said:
...has averaged around 25 MPG and will approach 30 MPG on the highway.

Same here at about 25 MPG avg and that's mostly without Eco mode which I only just started to use again. Got 30 MPG on a no traffic drive from Seattle to Portland with Eco mode on most of the way IIRC.

2KeepHerSafe · Oct 26, 2016

Hey guys,
Just a quick follow up, and thank you again for your advice. I did decline that stellar deal on the T6. Wound up spending $900 more for a nearly identical 2016 T5 with 3900 miles on it.
It's stone black, which would have been way down on my choices list, but the price is great, it's pristine, and only 9 months on the warranty.
The other was Osmium Gray, which I love, BUT, this one has BLIS. BLIS in Black vs Osmium Gray would be an easy choice for me. Love the parking sensors on my daughter's (seashell)
Thanks for your help on this.
Todd

XC60 T5 Drive-E or T6 Drive-E

Pranner

no more saab stories

genesmasher

Warpedcow

2KeepHerSafe

zircular

pfram

2KeepHerSafe

TonyJag

pfram

2KeepHerSafe

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