In the September 2009 issue of
Auto, Motor i Sport (Polish version of
Auto, Motor und Sport) there is a short article on the Volvo DRIVe series. There are now 7 cars to be "greenified": in the heavyweight class are XC60 and XC70 with average FE 6.0l and CO2 159g per 100km, middleweight S80 and V70 with 4.9l and 129g /100km reps., and lightweight C30, S40 and V50 with 4.0l and 104g per 100km. The lightweights also have the most aggresive greenpackage with a start-stop function (saving 8% in city driving) and regenerative braking (2-3% gain). (This makes me wonder what regenerative braking means, since these cars are not mild hybrids, as far as I know.)
One of the things that the article stresses is that Volvo is not very generous with it's green options: only a few models have electric power steering instead of hydraulic, the longer gears are only in certain manual transmissions, not in automatics, only a few cars have closeable grilles, and only the lightest cars (C30, S40, V50) have the start-stop option. And, of course, the only cars that get any kind of FE help have diesel engines.
The author of the article notices that the DRIVe Volvos are not specially constructed and dedicated greenmobiles, but only Volvos that are "painted a shade of green". The savings are not radical, but just enough to make it through current emissions standards, leaving a large "stink reserve" for later emissions restrictions.
Here is a list of the CO2 reduction steps:
- 29% Reprogramming the engine
- 25% Aerodynamic changes
- 18% Longer 3rd and 4th gears
- 18% Tires
- 3% Transmission oil
- 7% Optimalization of the steering mechanism
Added a scan of a drawing of the underside of one of the DRIVe Volvos:
The caption reads:
Quote:
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Pans improving the aerodynamics of the underside. Simple yet effective, successfully used over half a century ago on the famous Tatra 603.
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Just as a reminder, here's what a Tatra 603 looks like:
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