Volvo XC70 Surf Rescue

The lowdown: XC70 Surf Rescue

Volvo is adding a touch of Baywatch glamour to the XC70, with this Surf Rescue concept car. The jacked up, yellow and red rescue vehicle was unveiled at the world's biggest aftermarket show – SEMA in Las Vegas – which starts today (Tuesday 30 October). CAR is reporting live from the show, which establishes key automotive design trends. Today's must-have cues – big wheels, vibrant paint jobs and amazing graphics – have spread with SEMA's influence, and all three trends feature big time on the XC70 Surf Rescue. 'We took the production car and turned it up to 11,' concept design manager Larry Abele told CAR. Those red extended wheelarches harbour 20-inch wheels, six-spokers as on all XC Volvos. The body is raised by 125mm, to enable real-life David Hasselhoffs and Pamela Andersons to get to stricken surfers across tough terrain. A 3.2-litre six sending 235hp to all four wheels also helps. And to get chilled surfer dudes quickly out of its way, the designers stripped off the brightwork around the production car's driving lamps and rear reflectors, changing them for flashing blue LEDs.

Surf Rescue: red bikinis or wet suits?

Other visual tweaks include an enlarged skid plate which looks as if the XC70 is sticking out its tongue, while at the back the underbelly protector features twin integrated tailpipes. The designers took the optional side sill, embossed with the phrase Cross Country and embellished it in chrome – very bling. 'The XC70 is coming into the US market, and we wanted to do something to mark that,' Volvo design boss Steve Mattin told CAR. 'A Surf Rescue vehicle has a strong safety message which is very Volvo, but adds some vibrant new colours.' Flourescent yellow trim and the use of neoprene make for a funky cabin too. Neoprene is used to make wet suits, and the rubbery material adorns the seats. Volvo found a Californian surf shop that specialises in custom diving suits to help with the materials. The trim is joined up by complex crossover stitching - used on wet suits because it's water-proof. How's that for attention to detail.

Article Source:Car Magazine

Volvo XC70 (2007): first official pictures

I see Volvo hasn't given up on the halfway SUV idea

Far from it. In fact Volvo UK watched sales of the old V70-based XC70 rise after the introduction of the full-blown XC90 off-roader. Apparently many buyers were lured into showrooms by the XC90 but found themselves signing on the dotted line for its smaller brother. This new XC was unveiled at the Geneva show this week but won't reach UK showrooms until September.

Which Volvo is hiding behind all that black plastic?

The new V70 also unveiled this week at Geneva and previewed in February here at CAR Online. Both are based on the platform of the luxo-cruiser S80 but there's no mistaking the XC70. As well as that chunky black cladding the XC gets standard roof rails, blacked-out side pillars and C-30-style tail lights.

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Volvo XC70 DRIVe (2009) CAR review

On looks alone, this Volvo XC70 may seem like old news, yet it puts a whole new twist on the urban off-roader theme. Why? Because, despite the jacked-up stance, it’s actually front-wheel drive.

What’s happened to the 4x4 version?

Don’t panic, it’s still on sale. The front-wheel drive XC70 has been introduced along with a front-drive XC60, both cars being cheaper and less polluting than the 4x4 variants that sired them.

So, the cheapest XC70 now weighs in at £27,995 (front-drive 2.4D Drive SE), where the cheapest four-wheel drive version starts at £31,535. The front-drive cars come only with the 173bhp version of Volvo’s 2.4-litre five-cylinder turbodiesel, where the nearest equivalent all-paws get 202bhp, so comparing the mpg and C02 benefits is difficult. However, we can see that, like-for-like, the front-driver is 79kg lighter.

Let me guess: mpg and C02 are down, but so is performance…

Only partly true. With the manual gearbox we tried, the 0-62mph dash is down by 1.2sec to 9.6sec compared with the four-by-four, plus mpg rises by a worthwhile 7mpg to 47.1mpg and C02 drops from 186g/km to a highly respectable 159g/km.

The auto figures are less appealing: there’s only 2mpg and 11g/km between the two, despite the four-driver’s extra weight and power. In fact, Volvo’s own figures reveal the XC70 torque converter auto to be spectacularly inefficient in front-wheel drive configuration – it covers 7.3 fewer miles than the manual car for every gallon of diesel. Yet when you compare the same figures for automatic and manual four-wheel drive XC70s, the gap suddenly shrinks to 2.7mpg between the two.

How does it drive?

Not well, sadly. The ride quality is still excellent (far better than the XC60), and it’s still refined in here, but that only makes the rampant torque steer seem more out of place. Strangely, neither the similarly powerful front-drive XC60 nor the S80 were similarly afflicted, but the XC70 torque steers in first, second, third and sometimes even fourth gear. Even if you’re a pootler, you will notice the wheel tugging, especially the unholy mess that unravels when you need to getaway from a junction fairly quickly. First there’s wheelspin, then the traction control cuts power, then power comes back in again and, finally, you torque steer down the road. And we drove it in the dry!

Verdict

Clearly, this isn’t a positive review, but it’s important to remember this is a variant-specific – not model – failing. The four-wheel drive XC70 is a smooth-riding, luxurious-feeling, highly practical estate car that holds much appeal. Removing the front driveshafts has spoiled it and, somehow, ruined the mpg and emissions when combined with the automatic gearbox too – surely the most fitting transmission.

No, the only way to go with an XC70 is four-wheel drive combined with, ideally, an auto ’box. It’s worth spending the extra for what is a far superior car.

Article Source:Car Magazine

Volvo XC70 D5 (2007) CAR review

You can't beat a big Volvo estate...

Yes, Volvo’s current line-up may run from funky sports hatchback to chunky off-roader, but its core model is the still the V70 big family estate. Since it introduced the PV445 in 1953, Volvo has utterly dominated the premium estate market in the UK, seeing off Audi, BMW and Mercedes with a car brought by drivers more concerned with safety, versatility and comfort than outright image and premium badging. The best-selling V70 may dominate Volvo’s sales charts, but it’s the soft-road XC70 model that’s always been the more interesting car.

This is the third generation XC70 and it borrows the front end from the new S80, the V70’s rear and mixes in jacked-up suspension, permanent all-wheel drive and a handy degree of off-road ability. Equipment levels are high, safety and versatility levels are peerless and there’s a choice of Volvos’ D5 2.4-litre five-cylinder diesel with particulate trap or the company’s new 3.2-litre straight-six petrol power, hooked up to six-cog manual or Geartronic automatic transmissions. The line-up runs the familiar SE, SE Sport and SE Lux models, with prices ranging from £31,035 for the entry-level D5 SE manual to £36,200 for the 3.2 SE Lux automatic flagship.

Article Source:Car Magazine

Volvo XC70

Volvo V70/XC70 information: everything you need to know if you own a Volvo V70/XC70, are thinking of buying one or just want to find out more about the V70 and XC70. Click on the links below for all of CAR Magazine’s news, reviews, videos, scoops and spy photos of the V70/XC70 car range. We list the top 10 stories for each model – and where appropriate you can click on ‘More’ to browse even more of our archive content.

Nobody does big estates quite like Volvo – and the V70 is the car you’ll picture mentally if you imagine the breed. It’s Volvo’s biggest wagon with an upright tailgate for maximum space and can now be ordered in wellies in XC70 crossover spec. For more information on the Volvo V70 and Volvo XC70, click on our further stories on the links below.

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Volvo announces 2014 XC90’s world-first safety tech

The next Volvo XC90 SUV will arrive in 2014 with loaded with world-first safety technology to take on the Audi Q7 and Land Rover Discovery. The safety arsenal will include after-dark pedestrian detection, road barrier detection, as well as fully autonomous cruise control  and parking capability. 

It’s the latest salvo from Volvo’s crack team of safety-obsessed engineers in the fight to realise the company’s ‘Vision 2020’ target – that no occupant of a new Volvo will be killed or seriously injured in an accident by 2020. It sounds ambitious – impossible, even – but here’s how Volvo plans to save your life.

After-dark pedestrian-spotting sounds a little sinister…

Spotting pedestrians at night: stand-up comedy material, or Orwellian nightmare? Volvo reckons it’s actually a game-changer for pedestrian detection technology, functioning in the dark and capable of alerting the driver to errant jaywalkers, cyclists and other vehicles. If the XC90’s pilot takes no avoiding action, the car  will auto-brake itself to an emergency stop.

The system will be updated soon after the XC90 arrives in 2014, to include animal detection – handy if your rural commute has ever encountered wild livestock with a poor grasp of the Highway Code. However, because the animal-seeing eye needs a different camera, the system won’t be a retrofit update available to buyers of the earliest 2014 XC90s.

Haven’t we seen active lane-keep-assist steering before?

Yes, but all the current systems depend on road markings to keep the car in its lane. Volvo’s new road-edge detection needs no such guidance, and will even steer you away from roadside barriers if you’re edging too close.

Sounds like the new Volvo XC90 will practically drive itself…

In fact, it will. Like the new Mercedes S-class, the 2014 XC90 uses radar-guided cruise control to follow the car ahead, automatically accelerating and braking to keep up with traffic. In combination with the active lane-assist gadget, it’ll also steer itself. Like all autonomous driving systems though, you’ll still have to maintain concentration, or the car’s drowsiness sensors will intervene with incessant alarm sounds.

And while plenty of cars offer automatic parking systems – even superminis like the Peugeot 208, Volvo is working on the next level – a gizmo that will drive itself around a car park, detect a large-enough space (it’ll have to be large, for the seven-seat XC90) and then go ahead and park itself.

Volvo’s dream is to allow drivers to vacate the car at the car park entrance, and leave the XC90 to go and sort itself out with a space. Similar systems are in development by everyone from Audi to Nissan. So, not only are you safer in the car, you’ll also spend less time in it overall…

What else do we know about the next-gen Volvo XC90?

The 2014 XC90 will use Volvo’s Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA), which will also underpin the next-gen S60 saloon, V70 estate and XC60 crossover. It’ll be lighter than today’s model and, with the current car’s five-cylinder diesel replaced by a more efficient range of four-cylinder engines. The car’s underpinnings have been designed to incorporate battery packs and a rear-axle electric motor, allowing an XC90 Hybrid model for the first time.

Article Source:Car Magazine

Volvo XC90

Volvo XC90 information: everything you need to know if you own a Volvo XC90, are thinking of buying one or just want to find out more about the XC90. Click on the links below for all of CAR Magazine’s news, reviews, videos, scoops and spy photos of the XC90 car range. We list the top 10 stories for each model – and where appropriate you can click on ‘More’ to browse even more of our archive content.

The XC90 was Volvo’s first foray into the SUV market, and delivered a practical, roomy four-by-four with three rows of seats to seat seven. Not quite as roomy as a Disco, but bristling with clever touches and a decent drive. For more information on the Volvo XC90, click on our further stories on the links below.

Article Source:Car Magazine

Volvo XC90 D5 R- Design Geartronic (2008) CAR review

My word, how excited we all were back in 2002 when Volvo launched its first SUV, the XC90. The initial production sold out almost on the spot, or so the message was from Volvo. Certainly there were premiums paid over and above the list price by buyers desperate to get into a Volvo XC90.

Why? Simply it was a seven-seat SUV. Volvo had built lots of estate cars with those funny rear-facing kids’ seats, but in the XC90 children looked in the correct direction and, hey, everyone wanted those cuddly, safe Volvo values in this newest 4x4 on the block.

Six years down the line, problem number one is there’s not much around that’s now older than the XC90. Problem two is the imminent XC60. It won’t have the space or the seven seats, but it’s newer, cheaper and crucially, greener. Is the XC90 R-Design any more than a last-ditch desperate grasp at a few more sales?

What’s special about R-Design?

It’s a specification introduced by Volvo across C30, S40, V50 and XC90. Modifications are usually cosmetic but in the case of the XC90 there’s a sports chassis to round off the package. The suspension on the XC90 had appeared previously on the SE Sport derivative, but now Volvo has pulled all the elements together.

There’s no mistaking this for a regular XC90. 19 inch alloys, quad exhausts, skid plate and matt finished to the mirrors show purpose, as do the deleted roof rails (though you can get them if you really need them). Inside the first things to hit you as you open the door are the contrasting pinstriping and stitching around the front two rows of seats. Tasteful? Your decision. We rather liked them. There’s lots of R-Design tomfoolery with logos, alloy pedals and so on, too.

Article Source:Car Magazine

Volvo XC90 SE Sport 3.2 (2006) CAR review

Looks like Volvo’s succumbed and added some attitude to the XC90

That’s right, this new pumped up SE Sport is clearly aimed at people who might have found the XC90 a bit too reserved and instead walked right into their local Audi or BMW dealer for a Sport-trim X5 or S-Line Q7. It’s part of a facelifted XC90 range, which in case you’d forgotten isn’t that fresh – having been launched in 2003.

So what’s so special about the SE Sport?

SE Sport cars are loud. Visually loud that is, and most un-Volvo-like. It’s got 19in alloys, twin chrome-plated tailpipes, extended body-colour wheelarch extensions and various bits of satin silver trim. Roof rails are not fitted. That makes it look sportier says Volvo although you can have them back if you want. Inside there are chunkier sports seats with bigger side supports to keep you upright on all those trackdays, some new leather coverings and the instrument faces feature chronograph watch-style faces. You can match the trim to every engine from the distinctly un-sporty but very useful D5 diesel (11.5sec 0-62mph, 31.4mpg) to the ballistic new petrol V8 (6.9, 20.9mpg). But we drove the new 235bhp 3.2litre straight six petrol which the XC90 shares with the latest Land Rover Freelander and lies between the old 210bhp 2.5 T and 272bhp T6 petrols it replaces.

Article Source:Car Magazine