Which Volvo V40 is better: petrol or diesel?

First introduced locally in 2012, the Volvo V40 is based on Ford’s Global C platform and initially featured several Ford powertrains before the Swedish marque gained development independence under new owners Geely. A heavily updated V40 range debuted locally in 2016, with Volvo-developed powertrains and various mid-life improvements.

We will be using the updated model range for our comparison today and will not factor in each derivative as there were 23 V40 models, excluding the V40 Cross Country, at launch in 2016. We have therefore selected the base model of each engine derivative within the V40 range and compared them to determine whether the three petrol engines are better than the trio of oil burners that were available.

	Volvo V40 T3	Volvo V40 T4	Volvo V40 T5	Volvo V40 D2	Volvo V40 D3	Volvo V40 D4
Engine	1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, turbo petrol	2.0-litre, 4-cylinder, turbo petrol	2.0-litre, 4-cylinder, turbo petrol	2.0-litre, 4-cylinder, turbodiesel	2.0-litre, 4-cylinder, turbodiesel	2.0-litre, 4-cylinder, twin-turbodiesel
Power/Torque	112kW/ 250Nm	140kW/ 300Nm	180kW/350Nm	88kW/ 280Nm	110kW/320Nm	140kW/400Nm
Transmission Type	6-speed manual	6-speed manual	8-speed automatic	6-speed manual	6-speed automatic	8-speed automatic
Driven wheels	Front	Front	Front	Front	Front	Front
Fuel Consumption	5.5 L/100 km	5.5 L/100 km	5.9 L/100km	3.4 L/100km	3.8 L/100km	4.2 L/100km
0-100 km/h	8.3 sec	6.9 sec	6.3 sec	10.5 sec	8.4 sec	7.2 sec
Price (when new in 2017)	R337 700	R400 200	R459 700	R351 100	R432 400	R442 400

Six engines, three gearbox options

At launch in 2016, Volvo South Africa introduced a 23-model strong V40 line-up, including specification grades Kinetic, Momentum, Inscription and R-Design. The range included three gearbox options, a 6-speed manual in the T3, T4 and D2, a 6-speed Geartronic auto in the T3, T4 and D3 and an 8-speed Geartronic auto in the T5 and D4 models.

The petrol models

The petrol model range features two 2.0-litre turbo petrol engines in the T4 and T5 models while the base model T3 features a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. On paper, these engines appear to offer a strong combination of performance and fuel economy, with the T4 model striking a wonderful balance of fuel economy and accelerative ability, nearly matching the T5 in performance while offering the same fuel consumption as the T3. Our experience has shown that these Volvo-developed four-cylinder turbo petrol engines are far less efficient and not quite as brisk as claimed, so bear this in mind.

The diesel

The diesel models within the V40 line-up all feature 2.0-litre displacements, however, where the D2 and D3 feature a single turbocharged, the D4 is twin-turbocharged, offering less perceived lag and improved performance, which does see it boast the highest claimed fuel consumption among the diesel trio. The diesels, predictably, provide less performance but better claimed efficiency than the petrol models, again offering a healthy blend of power and efficiency, it would appear. Like the petrol engines in the V40, the diesel motors are not quite as efficient in the real world as Volvo claim, however, their real-world performance, from our experience is far closer to what is claimed than in the petrol models.

Analysis

Looking at the figures, both the diesel and petrol derivatives within the V40 line-up make a good case for being best within the V40 line-up. The petrol models offer strong performance and respectable fuel economy, while the diesel products are far more efficient, but are not quite as impressive from a performance perspective.

Verdict

On paper, the V40 petrol and diesel models appear to offer a compromise, with those wanting more performance likely better off in the petrol models and those wanting efficiency opting for one of the diesel models. In the real world, though, it is the diesel engines that provide a better blend of performance and fuel consumption, granting the oil burners victory in this comparison.