McLaughlin Motors

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Driving Impressions

We found the XC70 offers moderate off-pavement capability and superb gravel road handling. Yet it's also smooth, quiet and comfortable on the highway, and more maneuverable than nearly any truck you can buy. While big inside, its exterior dimensions seem relatively compact, and it's easy to park.

The XC70 comes with a 3.2-liter inline-6 that generates 235 horsepower at 6200 rpm, with 236 pound-feet of torque at 3200 rpm. It's matched to a six-speed automatic transmission. The engine is mounted transversely (sideways), which is unusual for a straight six, but contributes to the XC70's interior space.

Inline six-cylinder engines, or straight sixes as they're sometimes called, seem to power-up faster than the more common V6s, spinning more freely and smoothly as they go. In a vehicle of the XC70's heft (4092 pounds), Volvo's 3.2-liter engine doesn't qualify as a screamer, but it delivers acceleration-producing torque in smooth, linear fashion. It breathes well at high rpm: It doesn't gasp or get rough if you run it near the redline. It accelerates eagerly from a stop or for passing at higher speeds.

Volvo's six-speed automatic transmission is probably its best automatic so far. It seems to shift in all the right places, and whether it's up a gear or down, those shifts are smooth, tight and relatively quick. Put it in Drive and go. Should the driver choose to get more involved, the Geartronic manual feature can be enjoyable. There are no paddle shifters behind the steering wheel, as many cars now feature (that's where Volvo put controls for its navigation system), but there's a manual slot for the shift lever left of the normal gear-selection path. The up-down gear change action has a smooth, quality feel, and the transmission won't insult the driver by shifting up on its own if the revs get too high.

The T6 comes with a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6. The small difference in displacement is more than compensated by the additional air pushed through by the turbocharger. The T6 turbo uses twin-scroll technology, meaning it takes in exhaust gases in two stages, from three cylinders each. This in turn permits the use of a compact turbo rotor, for swift throttle response with the lowest possible fuel consumption. Maximum torque is on tap from just 1500 rpm and remains available all the way up the rev range. Compared to the normally aspirated XC70 3.2-liter, the T6 generates 46 more horsepower and 59 more lb.-ft. of torque. EPA estimated fuel economy suffers only minimally, with the same 15 mpg city rating as the base model, and 22 vs. 23 mpg on the highway.

We found the XC70 does not get tiresome around town or on the open road, as some conventional sport-utilities can. The XC70 rides comfortably and quite smoothly, and despite some fairly substantial suspension travel, it's not mushy. There's none of the stiffness or racket you'll find in some truck-based SUVs, either. The XC70 leans a bit in corners when driven aggressively, and pitches some between hard acceleration and hard braking. Yet not so much that it's not enjoyable.

The brakes are superior to most. They stop the vehicle right now, with Electronic Brake-force Distribution to instantaneously transfer the most stopping power to the tires with the best grip. And Volvo has nearly eliminated the spongy feel that characterized its brake-pedal action for years. Braking distances are very, very long on unpaved surfaces, however, where controlled locking of the brakes is far more effective.

The all-wheel-drive system gives the XC70 handling stability in slippery conditions. It normally delivers 95 percent of the engine's power to the front wheels, so the XC70 behaves like a front-drive vehicle. But if the traction starts to degrade, as it might in snow, on dirt or on a rain-slick road, the AWD will send up to 60 percent of the power to the back wheels, balancing torque among the tires with the most friction underneath, and increasing the chances that the XC70 will continue controlled forward momentum. The AWD system works well, and seamlessly, in that few drivers will ever notice when it shifts power between the front and rear wheels. It's a genuine safety advantage.

Dynamic Stability and Traction Control, or DSTC, uses sensors to monitor forward or lateral movement. If it detects a potentially dangerous sliding movement under any of the four tires, it automatically tries to correct the instability by braking one or more wheels or throttling back the engine.

Hurtling along 120 miles of logging roads in the unpaved wilderness of northwestern Montana showed off the stability, handling and ride of the XC70. The all-wheel drive made driving around corners easy and predictable on gravel, dirt, and mud as snow began to fall. The suspension had just the right amount of compliance to keep the tires to the trail yet gave the driver lots of control. Bumps in the middle of turns never upset the handling. More aggressive tires would improve on this further in these conditions.

The XC70 has good suspension travel, and 8.3 inches of ground clearance, more than most crossovers and more than a few truck-based SUVs. That means a bumper is less likely snag on something when traversing a deep rut or nosing up a steep rise. The skid plates offer an element of protection for underbody components if it encounters fallen tree limbs or large rocks. You won't find skid plates on a Lexus RX350, for example, but they come standard on the XC70. That says something about the customers of these cars. We see XC70s in Moab and other outdoors settings, while the XC90 appears more at home at the shopping center.

Hill-Descent Control works great, managing the throttle and braking and minimizing slides on the way down fairly steep dirt surfaces. We've tested it at a moderately challenging ATV park in Germany and on a much more challenging trail in northwestern Montana. With HDC, the car is slowly lowered down a steep descent. All the driver has to do is steer. And that's the point: Without this system, it's easy to lock up the wheels and slide off the trail and into a tree or rock or over a precipice, none of which is convenient. With all-wheel drive and Hill-Descent Control, the XC70 can traverse some truly primitive roads, limited only by ground clearance. We drove the previous-generation models down the Baja Peninsula in Mexico over some of the same rocky roads used in the Baja 1000 off-road race and up the icy haul road that runs along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to Deadhorse, for thousands of grueling but trouble-free miles. And this new one is superior in every respect.

The Collision Avoidance Package is based on research that suggested that driver distractions cause up to 90 percent of all traffic accidents. The package includes Adaptive Cruise Control, Collision Warning with Auto Brake, Distance Alert, Driver Alert Control and Lane Departure Warning. Adaptive cruise control issues a warning if the XC70 is closing quickly on an object and pre-loads the brake system, and it can actually engage the brakes if the driver fails to respond.

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