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Highway Speed Sweet Spot?

Help, Advice, Owners' Discussion and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's stylish, distinctive P2 platform cars sold as model years 2001-2007 (North American market year designations).

2001 - 2007 V70
2001 - 2004 V70 XC (Cross Country)
2004 - 2007 XC70 (Cross Country)
2001 - 2009 S60
2003 - 2007 S60 R
2004 - 2007 V70 R

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pgould
Posts: 5
Joined: 7 February 2011
Year and Model: V70 XC, 2002
Location: Chicago

Highway Speed Sweet Spot?

Post by pgould »

I recently bought a 2002 V70 XC Turbo and like it so far. Previous car was a 1992 Saab 900 Turbo 5-speed. The Saab was good up to 70 mph on highway but above that the tach and speedometer moved together and gas mileage suffered dramatically. So 70 mph was the sweet spot that I always drove it.

Is there a recommended highway speed for my V70 that optimizes speed without a dramatic penalty for fuel or the life of the car? (Obviously the faster one drives, the more fuel is used.)

PS an unsolicited kudos to VolvoWholesaleParts that I found through this site. I just placed an online order and they called to follow-up and fix my mistake - customer service is fantastic.

Beck
Posts: 52
Joined: 4 September 2009
Year and Model: 04 V70 2.5T AWD
Location: Toronto

Post by Beck »

Not sure about speed but 2250 rpm in 5th works well for me.

VCA
Posts: 645
Joined: 21 February 2008
Year and Model: 2008 S80 T6 AWD
Location: Orlando, FL
Been thanked: 5 times

Post by VCA »

pgould wrote:I recently bought a 2002 V70 XC Turbo and like it so far. Previous car was a 1992 Saab 900 Turbo 5-speed. The Saab was good up to 70 mph on highway but above that the tach and speedometer moved together and gas mileage suffered dramatically. So 70 mph was the sweet spot that I always drove it.

Is there a recommended highway speed for my V70 that optimizes speed without a dramatic penalty for fuel or the life of the car? (Obviously the faster one drives, the more fuel is used.)

PS an unsolicited kudos to VolvoWholesaleParts that I found through this site. I just placed an online order and they called to follow-up and fix my mistake - customer service is fantastic.
I've found that my S70 settled into a nice groove at 68MPH. The S80 seems most content at 75. I have no experience with P2s specifically, but my guess it that it should settle nicely into a speed around there.
2008 S80 T6 AWD
1999 S70 GLT

Responsible for the care of a '92 960 and an '07 S60R

pgould
Posts: 5
Joined: 7 February 2011
Year and Model: V70 XC, 2002
Location: Chicago

Post by pgould »

Thanks for the replies! I think 2250 rpm is around 70 mph, so that's a good speed.

JRL
Posts: 9350
Joined: 22 November 2005
Year and Model: Several
Location: 19333
Been thanked: 16 times

Post by JRL »

Yeah 68-71
After that whtch your mileage go WAY DOWN in a hurry
Mod note. Jim passed away in early 2022, his contributions to this forum are immortal, and he is missed. RIP

2000 V70R Black, 144,000 miles Wife's R.
2007 V70 2.5T White/Oak 111,000 MILES. Polestar tune, IPD bars, rear spoiler, dark grey Thors, DWS 06, HU850, sub.

priapism
Posts: 264
Joined: 22 July 2010
Year and Model: 01 S60
Location: LA
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by priapism »

Well, the sunroof starts making noise over 110, so somewhere under there.
Titan LE : S60 2.4t : 91 325i : Spec E30 #33

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