Turbo/Supercharger Anxiety

GREY-FOX · Jun 12, 2022

I have owned quite a few of the twin charged Volvos, I have had very few issues with them.

The only issue was an emissions code for an EVAP line, this was repaired under warranty in 30min.

FalconStar972 · Jun 14, 2022

Should we hear the turbo whistle after heavy acceleration? The new XC40 has consistent turbo whistle when I had it as a loaner. It was a PE T5 so maybe the PE was a factor.

V50_M66 · Jun 14, 2022

FalconStar972 said:
Should we hear the turbo whistle after heavy acceleration? The new XC40 has consistent turbo whistle when I had it as a loaner. It was a PE T5 so maybe the PE was a factor.

It’s an XC40 thing from what I can tell. Neither my moms T5 V60CC nor her friends S60 T6 make much noise (other than supercharger whine on the S60) but every XC40 I’ve been in/driven has very distinct turbo noise. I think they have less engine compartment sound deadening.

swroooxr · Jun 20, 2022

am I correct that 2023 S60 T8 variants won't have supercharge? Do you guys think that it was because they thought supercharge was risky in terms of durability and the motor was a more durable alternative?

aptosca · Jun 21, 2022

swroooxr said:
am I correct that 2023 S60 T8 variants won't have supercharge?

The supercharger was deleted from T8s with the extended range change in MY22.5. The understanding is that the more powerful ERAD in the ER provides the low-RPM torque that the supercharger was providing and so has became unnecessary.

unagi89 · Jun 23, 2022

aptosca said:
The supercharger was deleted from T8s with the extended range change in MY22.5. The understanding is that the more powerful ERAD in the ER provides the low-RPM torque that the supercharger was providing and so has became unnecessary.

An electric compressor ("e-boost") was also added, which kinda can be seen as an electric (non-mechanical) supercharger.

31355 · Jun 23, 2022

I don’t understand the anxiety. Supercharged have been used for years. They have very few components, there is very little to fail. Superchargers have almost a zero failure rate. The likelihood of that needing maintenance on your Volvo is far lower than many other parts. Same for the turbo, something Volvo has a history of as ultra reliable.

If I were to greet about my Volvo out of warranty the two components I’d worry LEAST about is the turbo and supercharger. Volvo discontinuing the supercharger for 2023 is to slow way for a cutting edge e-supercharger, not because it was problematic. I’d be far more worried to own a 2023 with a brand new electric supercharger new to the industry.

swroooxr · Jun 25, 2022

*********** said:
I don’t understand the anxiety. Supercharged have been used for years. They have very few components, there is very little to fail. Superchargers have almost a zero failure rate. The likelihood of that needing maintenance on your Volvo is far lower than many other parts. Same for the turbo, something Volvo has a history of as ultra reliable.

If I were to greet about my Volvo out of warranty the two components I’d worry LEAST about is the turbo and supercharger. Volvo discontinuing the supercharger for 2023 is to slow way for a cutting edge e-supercharger, not because it was problematic. I’d be far more worried to own a 2023 with a brand new electric supercharger new to the industry.

now you just made me worried as i am thinking of getting 2023 T8 lol, and the only thing I thought I should really worry about was carbon buildup due to having DI. But then I don't really see much complain about the build up on Volvo forums... Since it is PHEV, I suppse I shouldnt really worry much about it either as the miles Id put on this engine will probably stay low...

1morerobot · Jun 26, 2022

Sleeping easy with a 10 year/unlimited mile warranty through Steingold on my CPO 2020 V60 (dealer loaner).

Power6 · Jun 28, 2022

unagi89 said:
An electric compressor ("e-boost") was also added, which kinda can be seen as an electric (non-mechanical) supercharger.

You may not be referring to this, just for clarity the ER completely eliminates the supercharger, there is none, no electric compressor, nothing, it's completely removed. The B6 model does replace the mechanical clutched supercharger of the T6 with an electric supercharger. There has been some confusion in the past there.

The replacement for the supercharger in the T8 is simply a more powerful motor in the ERAD unit.

swroooxr said:
am I correct that 2023 S60 T8 variants won't have supercharge? Do you guys think that it was because they thought supercharge was risky in terms of durability and the motor was a more durable alternative?

It has been stated here by insider that the removal of the supercharger was for reduced complexity of the powertrain. For Volvo, that means less parts, easier to build, less costly to produce.

The supercharger is an eaton unit, industry standard supplier used by probably every automaker at one time or another, perfectly fine, plenty reliable and durable. For Volvo as a mfr the calculus on failure is...if they install 40000 superchargers and 40000 ERAD units, they are bound to have some failures of each. If they install 0 superchargers and 40000 upgraded ERAD units instead, they are guaranteed to have 0 supercharger failures, and probably ERAD issues stay the same or improve with engineering feedback. So it's a win for them, and for owners, even if they are eliminating a perfectly good part.

swroooxr · Jun 28, 2022

Power6 said:
You may not be referring to this, just for clarity the ER completely eliminates the supercharger, there is none, no electric compressor, nothing, it's completely removed. The B6 model does replace the mechanical clutched supercharger of the T6 with an electric supercharger. There has been some confusion in the past there.

The replacement for the supercharger in the T8 is simply a more powerful motor in the ERAD unit.

It has been stated here by insider that the removal of the supercharger was for reduced complexity of the powertrain. For Volvo, that means less parts, easier to build, less costly to produce.

The supercharger is an eaton unit, industry standard supplier used by probably every automaker at one time or another, perfectly fine, plenty reliable and durable. For Volvo as a mfr the calculus on failure is...if they install 40000 superchargers and 40000 ERAD units, they are bound to have some failures of each. If they install 0 superchargers and 40000 upgraded ERAD units instead, they are guaranteed to have 0 supercharger failures, and probably ERAD issues stay the same or improve with engineering feedback. So it's a win for them, and for owners, even if they are eliminating a perfectly good part.

thanks, very informative. one less moving part = the better in my view.

Wayne T5 · Jun 28, 2022

Power6 said:
You may not be referring to this, just for clarity the ER completely eliminates the supercharger, there is none, no electric compressor, nothing, it's completely removed. The B6 model does replace the mechanical clutched supercharger of the T6 with an electric supercharger. There has been some confusion in the past there.

The replacement for the supercharger in the T8 is simply a more powerful motor in the ERAD unit.

I wonder what the changes were to the gas engine that allows that part of the powertrain to generate 313 hp without any other forced induction aside from a turbo? A 25% increase in power over a T5 just from "tweaking"?

2022 Volvo XC60 Recharge T8 Extended Range Gets More Everything (caranddriver.com)

V50_M66 · Jun 28, 2022

Wayne T5 said:
I wonder what the changes were to the gas engine that allows that part of the powertrain to generate 313 hp without any other forced induction aside from a turbo? A 25% increase in power over a T5 just from "tweaking"?

2022 Volvo XC60 Recharge T8 Extended Range Gets More Everything (caranddriver.com)

I’m pretty sure it has a larger turbo. The supercharger on the T6 is torque fill for the lower rpm range while the turbo spools in an attempt to mitigate the effects of turbo lag from the bigger turbo. Peak power on the new non-supercharged T6 is still about the same because it likely has the same bigger turbo, but the electrical system is helping on the low end instead of a traditional supercharger

Wayne T5 · Jun 28, 2022

V50_M66 said:
I’m pretty sure it has a larger turbo. The supercharger on the T6 is torque fill for the lower rpm range while the turbo spools in an attempt to mitigate the effects of turbo lag from the bigger turbo. Peak power on the new non-supercharged T6 is still about the same because it likely has the same bigger turbo, but the electrical system is helping on the low end instead of a traditional supercharger

Could very well be a larger turbo but that's a pretty impressive increase (around 25%) just from that.

V50_M66 · Jun 28, 2022

Wayne T5 said:
Could very well be a larger turbo but that's a pretty impressive increase (around 25%) just from that.

The T5 with Polestar makes the exact same amount of torque (295 lb-ft) as a regular supercharged T6, so it’s not as big of a stretch as it seems. Bigger turbo and different tune likely accounts for most if not all of it

Power6 · Jun 28, 2022

Wayne T5 said:
I wonder what the changes were to the gas engine that allows that part of the powertrain to generate 313 hp without any other forced induction aside from a turbo? A 25% increase in power over a T5 just from "tweaking"?

2022 Volvo XC60 Recharge T8 Extended Range Gets More Everything (caranddriver.com)

You hve to remember, the supercharger is tiny and uses a clutch, above 3500RPM it's disengaged. Removing it doesn't affect peak power, which is acheived above 3500. For simplicity think of it like the T6 has a "big turbo" to make more power than the essentially same T5, and the supercharger addresses the low RPM power issue of a big turbo, by filling in the low end. Now they remove the superchagrer and the ERAD addresses the low end issue of the big turbo.

unagi89 · Jun 28, 2022

Power6 said:
You may not be referring to this, just for clarity the ER completely eliminates the supercharger, there is none, no electric compressor, nothing, it's completely removed. The B6 model does replace the mechanical clutched supercharger of the T6 with an electric supercharger. There has been some confusion in the past there.

The replacement for the supercharger in the T8 is simply a more powerful motor in the ERAD unit.

It has been stated here by insider that the removal of the supercharger was for reduced complexity of the powertrain. For Volvo, that means less parts, easier to build, less costly to produce.

The supercharger is an eaton unit, industry standard supplier used by probably every automaker at one time or another, perfectly fine, plenty reliable and durable. For Volvo as a mfr the calculus on failure is...if they install 40000 superchargers and 40000 ERAD units, they are bound to have some failures of each. If they install 0 superchargers and 40000 upgraded ERAD units instead, they are guaranteed to have 0 supercharger failures, and probably ERAD issues stay the same or improve with engineering feedback. So it's a win for them, and for owners, even if they are eliminating a perfectly good part.

Are you sure about this? See the following two links for why I believe there is an electric compressor on the T8. The first link is Volvo's own "technical data" page for the '23 S60. You can see that for the T6/T8, they say "Turbocharged with e-boost". This "e-boost" is what I believe is the new electric compressor. Many other manufacturers have started using this for extra power on smaller engines. The second link is for a 2019 C+D article titled "Volvo to Start Using Electrically Driven Superchargers". Sadly, I haven't been able to find more concrete proof from Volvo as they really have been annoyingly quiet about all this. I'm really hoping I'm right though.

https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/models/s60/2023/specifications

Volvo to Start Using Electric Superchargers

The "turbocharged and supercharged" engines will now get an electric boost to one of their compressors.

www.caranddriver.com

Wayne T5 · Jun 28, 2022

That's sort of what I was expecting too. Here's BorgWarner's product:

Electric Boosting Technologies - BorgWarner

unagi89 · Jun 28, 2022

Ok, I found an article that definitively discusses the new electric supercharger. See link below, it's a JDPower article from just two weeks ago.

2023 BMW X3 vs. 2023 Volvo XC60 Comparison

The 2023 BMW X3 and 2023 Volvo XC60 are similar in size and pricing, yet they have different personalities. If you're trying to decide between these two compact luxury crossovers, this 2023 BMW X3 vs. 2023 Volvo XC60 comparison is worth a read.

www.jdpower.com

"Next up is the Volvo XC60 B6. In addition to a turbocharger and the mild-hybrid system, the B6 has an electric supercharger (called E-Charger). The result is 295 hp and 310 pound-feet of torque. The 8-speed automatic drives all four wheels through the standard AWD system.

The Volvo XC60 Recharge T8 eAWD Extended Range replaces the original version of Volvo's plug-in hybrid compact premium SUV offered early in the 2022 model year. The 2023 XC60 Recharge Extended Range uses the e-supercharged and turbocharged 2.0-liter engine. The 8-speed automatic drives the SUV's front wheels. There's also a front-mounted, 34-kilowatt electric starter motor (more potent than the mild-hybrid B5 and B6) that functions as a generator and augments the turbocharger's performance."

edit: I just reread your ( @Power6 ) comment and I see that I completely overlooked that you acknowledged the electric supercharger being in the B6. I think my focus on your statement on the T8 not having a replacement for the supercharger made me overlook that. Anywho, it wouldn't make sense to me to not have the electric supercharger on the beefier T8 but yeah this article confirms that the T8 should have it as well. I can't wait for my '23 S60 PE, I really think it should be able to do a sub-4.0s 0-60.

O-Deer · Jun 28, 2022

Yah I wouldn’t say the supercharger is “gone” it’s merely electrically engineered and not a mechanical system that the 19-21 T6s used.

Turbo/Supercharger Anxiety

GREY-FOX

FalconStar972

V50_M66

swroooxr

aptosca

unagi89

31355

swroooxr

1morerobot

Power6

swroooxr

Wayne T5

V50_M66

Wayne T5

V50_M66

Power6

unagi89

Volvo to Start Using Electric Superchargers

Wayne T5

unagi89

2023 BMW X3 vs. 2023 Volvo XC60 Comparison

O-Deer

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities