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Review: 2009 Volvo XC70
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| The 2009 Volvo XC70 is shown in this photo courtesy Volvo. (Volvo) |
Finally, a Volvo that can sprint and be safe
By AARON COLE
The Aurora Sentinel
I remember the first Volvo I ever rode in. It was a nondescript tank with uncomfortable church pew seats and strange three-bar headrests that carried me, a friend and two mothers into Oregon for a two-week odyssey. For that trip, I’m sure my lumbar vertebrae have never forgiven me.
I couldn’t move my legs, my knees screamed in pain, my back wrenched in disgust, and because I was traveling with a best-selling Christian author, the only music allowed was the sound of the tires rolling on the asphalt outside at an alarmingly slow rate.
It was my own version of “Footloose” in an iron maiden with four wheels. Not much, in my estimation, had changed for the Swedish carmaker in the 10 years since that cramped voyage into the Beaver State.
Through heavy counseling and chiropractics years later, I learned that trip shaped my preconditioned response to Volvos — stretch my back, listen to rap music and curse Kevin Bacon — but I think with a little help I’ve moved on, mainly because Volvo has made better cars rather than Stridsvagn tanks since that grueling journey.
The engineers at Volvo, it seems, have made the philosophical shift from cars that can run through things to cars that can run around things. Case in point: The 2009 Volvo XC70.
Walking around the five-seater, all-wheel drive, self-appointed “concept” isn’t as revolting as I once thought it would have been. Although the marketing team has branded the vehicle a concept, they really mean “crossover.” Buyers shouldn’t believe either, however.
For 2009, the larger XC90 has taken the crown as the Scandinavian’s true-blue SUV, and the new XC60 is now occupying the smaller SUV category, leaving the XC70 the feel more wagon than ever before.
As a result, the new XC70 stands taller than its wagon mates — the V50 and V70 — but not nearly as tall as the SUVs with which it shares half a nameplate.
It’s attractive, modern and a little intimidating when looking at it head on. And despite the instinctive guttural moan I bellow every time I think about a Volvo wagon, this one truly doesn’t deserve my wails.
The third-generation XC70 comes equipped with either a 3.0-liter, 6-cylinder turbocharged engine capable of cranking out 281 horsepower, or a 3.2-liter, 6-cylinder engine mustering only 235.
Our test model was the turbocharged variety, and I can confidently say that Volvo should consider ditching the naturally aspirated version. The turbo and the two-ton curb weight of the XC70 sing better together than ABBA ever could.
This wagon is no Ferrari, but it’s no frump either.
Considering the largess of the car along with the massive interior that one could pack crap, kids and mountain bikes into, the Volvo is swift around town and into the mountains. I suppose it could even make a comfortable trip or two into the Pacific Northwest if one would ask it to.
As usual, the XC70 comes with Volvo’s safety features that include everything short of ejection seats and driver seats that double as flotation devices upon a water landing.
But at $46,000 fully loaded, this kind of comfort, speed and safety doesn’t come without a similarly loaded pocketbook. Similar-sized and faster wagons can be had for cheaper, but brand loyalty to Volvo is so fervent in their customers, it’s pointless to mention anything else.
The Volvo XC70 stands as the ideal all-wheel-drive wagon for people who want a little punch with their practicality — too bad it wasn’t for best-selling Christian authors on their way to Oregon.
Aaron Cole, managing editor of The Aurora Sentinel, writes a regular auto column. Reach him at acole@aurorasentinel.com or at 303-750-7555.
I couldn’t move my legs, my knees screamed in pain, my back wrenched in disgust, and because I was traveling with a best-selling Christian author, the only music allowed was the sound of the tires rolling on the asphalt outside at an alarmingly slow rate.
It was my own version of “Footloose” in an iron maiden with four wheels. Not much, in my estimation, had changed for the Swedish carmaker in the 10 years since that cramped voyage into the Beaver State.
Through heavy counseling and chiropractics years later, I learned that trip shaped my preconditioned response to Volvos — stretch my back, listen to rap music and curse Kevin Bacon — but I think with a little help I’ve moved on, mainly because Volvo has made better cars rather than Stridsvagn tanks since that grueling journey.
The engineers at Volvo, it seems, have made the philosophical shift from cars that can run through things to cars that can run around things. Case in point: The 2009 Volvo XC70.
Walking around the five-seater, all-wheel drive, self-appointed “concept” isn’t as revolting as I once thought it would have been. Although the marketing team has branded the vehicle a concept, they really mean “crossover.” Buyers shouldn’t believe either, however.
For 2009, the larger XC90 has taken the crown as the Scandinavian’s true-blue SUV, and the new XC60 is now occupying the smaller SUV category, leaving the XC70 the feel more wagon than ever before.
As a result, the new XC70 stands taller than its wagon mates — the V50 and V70 — but not nearly as tall as the SUVs with which it shares half a nameplate.
It’s attractive, modern and a little intimidating when looking at it head on. And despite the instinctive guttural moan I bellow every time I think about a Volvo wagon, this one truly doesn’t deserve my wails.
The third-generation XC70 comes equipped with either a 3.0-liter, 6-cylinder turbocharged engine capable of cranking out 281 horsepower, or a 3.2-liter, 6-cylinder engine mustering only 235.
Our test model was the turbocharged variety, and I can confidently say that Volvo should consider ditching the naturally aspirated version. The turbo and the two-ton curb weight of the XC70 sing better together than ABBA ever could.
This wagon is no Ferrari, but it’s no frump either.
Considering the largess of the car along with the massive interior that one could pack crap, kids and mountain bikes into, the Volvo is swift around town and into the mountains. I suppose it could even make a comfortable trip or two into the Pacific Northwest if one would ask it to.
As usual, the XC70 comes with Volvo’s safety features that include everything short of ejection seats and driver seats that double as flotation devices upon a water landing.
But at $46,000 fully loaded, this kind of comfort, speed and safety doesn’t come without a similarly loaded pocketbook. Similar-sized and faster wagons can be had for cheaper, but brand loyalty to Volvo is so fervent in their customers, it’s pointless to mention anything else.
The Volvo XC70 stands as the ideal all-wheel-drive wagon for people who want a little punch with their practicality — too bad it wasn’t for best-selling Christian authors on their way to Oregon.
Aaron Cole, managing editor of The Aurora Sentinel, writes a regular auto column. Reach him at acole@aurorasentinel.com or at 303-750-7555.
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