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Volvo Reveals 450hp Triple-Boosted Drive-E Engine Concept: Video

Riding high on the unveiling of its all-new XC90 SUV, Volvo has today pulled the covers from a high-powered concept version of its new Drive-E engine design. By ‘high-powered’, we mean, of course, even more powerful than the already impress


Riding high on the unveiling of its all-new XC90 SUV, Volvo has today pulled the covers from a high-powered concept version of its new Drive-E engine design.

By ‘high-powered’, we mean, of course, even more powerful than the already impressive 298kW/640Nm outputs of the four-cylinder T8 petrol-electric hybrid that headlines the new XC90 range.

This new technology, dubbed simply the High Performance Drive-E Powertrain Concept, sees that 2.0 litre four-cylinder design mated to a triple-boost turbo system that churns out a mean 335.5kW (450hp).

For those keeping score at home, that’s the sort of power developed by the mighty twin-turbo six-cylinder engine that drives BMW’s new M3 and M4 cars. More, in fact, with those heroes producing ‘a mere’ 317kW.

Figures so large from such a small engine would immediately invite concerns over the dreaded ‘turbo lag’, but Volvo says it has that base covered.

For its new HP Drive-E powertrain, Volvo ties two parallel turbochargers together with an electric turbo-compressor - not an especially new concept, but not one seen often with a four-cylinder engine.

The compressed air from that unit is used to spool up the parallel turbochargers, with fuel fed by a dual pump system working at a whopping 250 bar.

“There are several high power small size applications where one large turbo is used to create a high level of power available from other manufacturers, but the driving experience suffers due to slow engine response,” Volvo’s powertrain vice president Michael Fleiss said.

“We felt that with our heritage of being among the first car companies to embrace and offer a broad range of turbo technology since 1981, that we could improve this.”

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