There's A 180bhp Three-Pot Volvo Engine On The Way

The legendary five-cylinder Volvo engine may no longer be present in the company’s UK showrooms, but here’s something we can console ourselves with: a new 1.5-litre three-pot.

We rather like the fizzy engine notes of inline-threes, which is fortunate as they’re becoming increasingly popular in our world of ever tightening emissions regulations. Volvo’s new 1.5-litre lump will help the Swedish manufacturer further reduce its average emissions, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’ll have the power of an electric pencil sharpener: in turbocharged form, it’ll be good for up to 180bhp. And given that the new XC90 will sport a 2.0-litre boosted to 314bhp - 400bhp when the hybrid system is added - there could be even more poke to come.

The new unit - which is designed for the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) that underpins Volvo’s smaller cars - will join the existing range of ‘Drive-E’ powerplants in 2017.