2005 Volvo Xc70 Review

Ice Racing Anyone?

Prior to a recent drive, I had forgotten just how good Volvos XC70 Cross Country is, what with most everyones focus being diverted to the Swedish automakers more recently introduced XC90, a true sport utility.

The fact that the XC70 is not a true SUV, but rather a tough looking wagon cum crossover, similar in configuration to Audis allroad quattro (lower case intended) and Subarus Legacy-based Outback, the latter being one of the Granddaddies of the crossover segment, is a bonus in my books. While still offering considerable ground clearance for clearing rougher ground, Volvos first “off-roader” still manages to deliver the agility of a sport sedan and comfort of a luxury car.

Yes, Im aware that by dubbing the car with 4×4 creds Im on rocky ground, especially considering the XC70 doesnt even offer a low range of gears or locking differential, two staples of anything even hoping to be deemed capable while off the beaten track. Instead, Volvo offers up a very sophisticated all-wheel drive system made by Swedish auto supplier Haldex, a company that Volvo insiders jokingly remark has so much of its equipment in its factory it is partially owned by the profitable carmaker.

No doubt, with the kind of sales success Volvo has enjoyed within the last few years, 2004 being its best on record, it could easily purchase Haldex if needed.

Part of its success is directly attributable to a newly minted Volvo philosophy; offer all-wheel drive on all models across the board. This, among other things, such as dramatically elegant styling, dynamic performance, top notch interior quality and competitive pricing, has allowed it to gain market share while rising up from an entry-level premium brand to true premium status.

Essential for that premium status is rear- or all-wheel drive. Premium customers dont buy in to front-wheel drive, at least for the most part. The collective position of companys such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which infer that rear-wheel drive as the optimal setup for sport-oriented performance, has been strengthened all the more by top-tier luxury newcomers such as Lexus and Infiniti. Even GMs Cadillac luxury division, which will have entirely abandoned front-wheel drive when the upcoming DTS soon replaces the DeVille, now preaches the merits of rear- and all-wheel drive. It should be mentioned that the old German guards have all recently come on-board with all-wheel drive variants of their most popular models, but the stoic firms make sure to point out that the cars are rear-wheel biased until the need for all-wheel drive intervenes.

Actually, only a handful of premium automakers still offer anything configured to power only the front wheels anymore. Audi only offers its recently updated Cabriolet with front-wheel drive, dubbed FrontTrak, while Acura, on the low end of the premium price line, only offers all-wheel drive on its MDX sport utility and recently introduced RL. Four-wheel power is expected as part of a mid-cycle TL upgrade, however, as well as the upcoming RXD compact sport utility.

Volvos historic rival Saab still sells the majority of its customers a front-wheel drive car, only because it doesnt offer all-wheel drive on all of its models - its Subaru-sourced 9-2X and upcoming Chevy TrailBlazer derived 9-7X are the only all-wheel drive Saabs. The GM owned sport/luxury division is the minority as you can plainly see, with even long-time front-wheel drive proponent Chrysler Group now shifting to rear- and all-wheel drive on the majority of all-new models.

Despite long rivalries with Swedish competitor Saab, due to Volvos rather recent adoption of all-wheel drive, at least compared to Audi which has offered its famed quattro system in production cars since the early 80s, it considers the Volkswagen-owned German marque to be competitor number one. I would add Acura to that mix, at least with regards to Volvos front-wheel drive cars plus its top-line
S80 pitting against the new RL, and XC90 flagship SUV fighting it out with the MDX.

But, as previously said, the unique XC70 has few competitors. No doubt, owners of the crossover wagon hardly care which models may or may not compete with it, but rather only concern themselves with the merits of their cars. The XC70, an extremely competent machine on any road surface, is built to exacting standards and can stand tall and proud beside any premium competitor.

During a recent press event to Quebec City, and the surrounding area, I had the opportunity to stretch the cars legs, so to speak, and making the matter much more interesting did so on snowy roads and sheer ice surfaces - more on that in a minute.

During a press preview that morning, Volvo representatives went over a few key improvements that might not be immediately noticeable but nonetheless add refinement to the 2005 model. I noticed the first of these as soon as I slipped behind the wheel, a process that planted my backside into one of the most comfortable driving seats Ive ever experienced. Volvo knows its XC70 customers well, and rather than subject them to firm sport seats, which are quite suitable to the brands S40, V50 and S60 models, such wouldnt go over as well in the luxurious midsize crossover.

Volvo also redesigned the center stack, featuring an updated stereo interface and an innovative climate control system. What makes it innovative? The Volvo Electronic Climate Control system (ECC), standard equipment on the XC70, uses two temperature sensors to keep temperatures comfortable. An on-board computer not only senses the temperature and then determines the level of heat or air conditioning needed, but it also decides where in the cabin the temperature is higher or lower and sends hot or cold airflow to the location out of sync with the chosen temperature level.

Important in Quebec this time of year, the system also heats up the car quickly. It only needs the engine to be running at 37 degrees F in order to start sending heat through the vents, which means soon after the engine starts up heat begins to flow.

I was also grateful for the dual-mode heated seats, keeping mine on level three (high) most of the time. Like the HVAC system they also heat up quickly, and when at top temperature wont get as hot as on Audis 6-way system, but still managed to provide me temporary lower back pain relief just the same.

Like most features on the XC70, the seat heaters are not the usual fare being offered by Volvos competitors. Rather than just two settings, warm and warmer, Volvos heat pads incorporate sensors that keep the seats a few degrees above the ambient temperature of the cars interior, making certain occupants dont become uncomfortable. They also wont work in warm weather conditions, just in case the switch gets activated by mistake.

Incidentally, it makes sense that Volvo offers some of the most sophisticated heated seats in the industry, as the automaker has had a great deal of time to perfect the technology that makes winter mornings bearable. It has made heated seat cushions available for some thirty years, the first being optional in the brands 1975 140 sedan. This is a great deal longer than any of its luxury rivals, which have comparatively started to offer bun warmers in order to offset the chilling effects of body parts rubbing up against cold leather seats in wintertime.

Being an environmentally conscious automaker, Volvo is respectful of the air you have to breath inside its XC70. An air quality system is available which uses a gas filter featuring active carbon, capable of filtering and purifying recirculated cabin air as well as new air coming in from outside.

It was so cold out on the lake where we were “ice racing” the cars, I couldnt help blasting the heat once inside in order to
warm up. It seemed that I would never get warm enough, especially my hands which suffered from the use of inappropriate leather gloves. OK, Im a West Coast wimp, give me a break. While I enjoy the cozy warmth when riding around in an ultra-hot car, I tend not to turn the heat up too high as I am prone to getting sleepy when the cabin is oven crisp.

According to Volvo it seems that Im not alone when it comes to the affect of heat. The Swedish company conducted a study in which it examined the results of two sets of test drivers over the same route, with two different interior temperatures. The first group set the temperature to 70 degrees while the second group set the heat to 80 degrees. Volvo says that the “number of mistakes and missed actions were dramatically higher for the drivers operating in the higher temperatures.” Some food for thought the next time youre behind the wheel with the heat set to high.

So Ive mentioned driving the XC70 on sheer ice surfaces as well as “ice racing”, whats this all about? Well, Ive exaggerated the racing aspect of my experience, it was more of a few runs through a preset slalom course on a frozen lake. There was a race track set up too, but I took the V50 through that so will have to comment when this review is available - stay tuned.

The first slalom was designed to help us improve our long-range visibility, or in other words, it was an attempt to get us to lift our heads upward and correspondingly raise our vision to a few hundred feet in front of the car rather than the 100 to 200 feet most of us focus on. Why? Again its a safety issue, as well as one that if perfected will dramatically improve a persons skills as a driver. Let me explain. The farther a driver looks down the road the more likely he or she is to notice a potential accident, such as someone backing out of a driveway, someone driving erratically, or a row of brake lights suddenly brightening. While focusing further down the road is at first a little uncomfortable, Im always surprised at how well my peripheral vision takes over all that is going on directly in front, or to the immediate sides of the car.

Volvo helped us understand this by spacing out orange cones in a row on the ice, with ample room to move the car between if driving at about 20 mph. While this doesnt sound fast, try it on ice and see how confident it makes you. The trick is to look at the cones further down the line, rather than the one that youre about to negotiate. Making it imperative that we kept our vision on the horizon, there was a really annoying guy at the end of the line holding up flags sporadically, and quickly, a sign that we were to pass by the current cone and take the next one. If you werent looking ahead, you missed the sign and therefore probably went through around the cone that you werent supposed to. While it sounds remedial, the exercise was a good example of how maintaining higher vision allows quicker reaction to what is happening up ahead. If that flag-waver had been an out of control car instead, and I had just taken the turn I was planning on without looking ahead, I would have been hit. A sobering thought indeed.

The XC70, by the way, managed the slalom easily. Equipped with snow tires on all four rims and standard all-wheel drive, the sudden
corrections forced upon me by my flag-waving nemesis were no challenge for the big wagon. Its transitional response is actually quite surprising, considering how tall it is and how much ground clearance there is between the axles.

It was even more agile on the open road, and by that Im referring to dry, or at least relatively dry pavement. There were miles and miles of the stuff on our way through the Quebec countryside, some winding and undulating, replete with ski-jump like frost-heaves and crumbling tarmac where the roadbed underneath had eroded and a depression formed; and some four- and six-way highways, allowing my Francophone comrade and me to let our hair down and really open up the throttle - within reason of course.

Again, the XC70 is surprising. Its light-pressure turbocharged five-cylinder engine produces only 208 horsepower at 5,000 rpm, not exactly the stuff of hotrod dreams. Its 236 lb-ft of torque is adequate, but once again not particularly stimulating, or at least it isnt on paper. Wind out the engine in real life, however, and it really charges forward with enthusiasm, making full use of the every cog in its slick five-speed automatic transmission in order to get to 60 mph in just a hair over eight seconds. Top speed is 118 mph, by the way, but due to the conditions, and laws of course, we never tested this out.

The autobox features an optional Geartronic manual mode, as is expected in a vehicle targeting the premium class. Its electronically controlled, of course, and features a “W” on the console, representing a special “winter” mode that was ideal for the conditions outside. Basically, winter mode starts the car out in second rather than first gear, reducing the opportunity for wheel spin and therefore enhancing traction.

Traction control is part of the XC package, mind you, a truly sophisticated engine and brake managed system that makes the most of slippery situations.

Of course, traction control only enhances the sophisticated Haldex all-wheel drive system. In more detail, the technology incorporates a mechanical pump, control valve and wet multi-plate clutch in order to send drive power to the rear. While this might be a more mechanically technical description of its components than your personal education may have covered, suffice to say the various parts combine to instantaneously launch the car forward with only a fraction of an inch of slip. This is unlike the majority of all-wheel drive systems offered, which allow significant slip prior to takeoff, a practice that is more prone to either getting stuck in one place or promoting lateral sliding.

How does it get power down to the rear wheels almost instantaneously? A small electrically-powered auxiliary pump pre-pressurizes the system so that power transfer happens quickly. Any sense of slippage causes a pressurized blast of oil to make a B-line to the wet clutch in the rear differential, temporarily melding the clutch plates and simultaneously sending power to the rear wheels. Hey, that almost sounded simple for a minute.

While I tried the Haldex AWD system on ice and snow during this Quebec event, I previously experienced it walk away from all
competitors on a 35 degree gravel slope - an exercise that embarrassed rivals, one of which merely spun its wheels in vain while sliding back down the hill it was supposed to be climbing.

To be clear, unlike most rival system, among premium brands at least, Volvos AWD setup allows the car to run in front-wheel drive the majority of the time, diverting only five percent drive power to the rear wheels during dry, light load situations. It can be flexible, however, sending up to 95 percent of the engines power to the rear if necessary. Its Haldex all-wheel drive is definitely a top-tier system for what is fast becoming a mainstream premium brand.

On the negative the XC70 takes its premium status too seriously, forcing its owner to fill it with high-priced premium fuel. While such is expected of a powerful performance car, the Volvos 208-horsepower five-cylinder hardly warrants such extravagance.

But most will see this one negative is a small price to pay for all of the XC70s positive attributes. Altogether Volvos crossover wagon is a distinctive entry in an equally unique market segment, one that deserves a great deal more interest than it is currently getting. Of course, the fact that it is relatively small compared to the crossover SUV segment, makes the XC70 exclusive, an ideal purchase for new car shoppers wanting to stand out, in a subtle way.

Rather than flashy, the XC70 makes its owner look intelligent as well as outdoorsy, and after spending the better part of a morning inside my test car I can attest that the owner might also feel rich.

Yes, Volvo isnt on its way upscale, it truly has arrived as an equal player in the premium segment.