1994 Volvo 460

Both versions had a 1.7-litre Renault engine at launch, carried over from the Volvo 300 Series; this was available between 1988 and 1992 in four different versions with a carburettor, singlepoint fuel injection, multipoint fuel injection in the early GLT models and with multipoint fuel injection and a turbocharger with intercooler. The standard 1,721 cc powerplant sported 106 bhp and an announced top speed of 185km/ h (115mph), which was marginally superior to some of its contemporary counterparts of the same class, such as the Volkswagen Passat or the Opel Vectra (their 1.8-litre engine only had 90 bhp). The turbocharged version offered 122bhp (91kW) and an announced top speed of 200km/ h (124mph). These kind of performances put it on par with higher-end 1.8-litre engines, such as the BMW 318 or 518 of the time, and on par with a host of other 2.0-litre engines of the time.

From 1992, the engines offered were substantially different; they were 1.6i, 1.8i and 2.0i naturally-aspirated petrol engines and the 1.7-litre turbo. The 1.6 was equipped with multipoint-injection, 2.0 with both singlepoint- and multipoint-injection and 1.8 only with singlepoint-injection.