level featured a slightly different front end was retained. A redesign of the manual transmission's cable actuator solved the shift quality issue, while a new Aisin Warner automatic transmission replaced the somewhat unreliable Renault unit. The engine lineup was completely renewed: Gasoline: 2.0 L (1948 cc), N7Q, 16v Volvo B4204S I4, 2.5 L (2435 cc), N7U, 20v Volvo B5254FS I5, 3.0 L (2946 cc), L7X, 24v ESL V6, Diesel: 2.2 L (2188 cc), G8T, 12v I4 Turbodiesel, The four- and five-cylinder petrol engines were Volvo designs and their inclusion in the Safrane lineup was a result of Renault's short-lived alliance with the Swedish carmaker during the beginning of the 1990s (the B41 was also fitted in the Laguna). The V6 was an all-new design by PSA and Renault. The turbodiesel was an all-new in-house design. While the Volvo engine designs would externally appear to be unchanged, there are some subtle differences. The engine mounts are one example along with the oil filter mounting, power steering pump, ECU, and timing belt cover. The AisinWarner gearbox appears to be unaffected though there may be a difference between driveshafts and possibly the mount. The camshaft pulleys were unique for Renault making the Volvo timing marks redundant. Despite these differences, many of the different parts were still manufactured and stamped by Volvo even though they were fitted exclusively to the Renault Safrane and are unavailable via Volvo parts. The engine requires a specialist alignment tool to set up the timing, however, this tool can also be used on the same Volvo engines. The 2.5 engine is technically a 2.4, being 2435 cc, but was rounded upwards by Renault. Volvo badges the 2435 cc engine both as a 2.4 and a 2.5. The Safrane 2.5 engine is not a B5244S, but a Volvo B5254FS engine. The Safrane has a compression ratio of 10.5:1 instead of the 10.3:1 of the B5244S. Although the head gaskets are very similar, the B5244S gasket has a coolant passage hole missing which features on the head gasket for the 2.5 Safrane and the B5254FS. The modernization did not increase sales and the model was discontinued in December 2000, having sold at a rate of less than 40% of the numbers achieved by the Renault 25 it had replaced. Just over 300,000 Safranes were built in its eight-year production span. For April 2002, it was replaced by the much more radically