Driven: 2008 Volvo XC70 3.2, Fun is where you take it

September 7, 1:10 PMAuto Review ExaminerJohn Matras

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For sports car enthusiasts, automotive excitement means a winding road. For drag racers, it comes a quarter-mile at a time. For Jeep off-roaders, it’s driving a trail called The Rubicon.

There’s another variety of excitement, however. It comes when the liftgate goes up and the antique rocker goes into the cargo area, the bicycles on the roof rack and the three year old on a special built-in booster seat. With clever packing and a tie-down strap or two, the Volvo XC70 is a wagon that’s more than a car where it needs to be and less of an SUV where it doesn’t.
Completely revised for the 2008 model year, the Volvo XC70 straddles the gap between SUV and station wagon. Volvo knows wagons well and Volvo buyers like them. Almost a fourth of all Volvo cars sold in the U.S. are wagons.

However, Volvo’s XC70 is no ordinary wagon. The “XC” stands for “cross country,” and although that name suggests off-road ability, it’s no rock crawler.

But the XC70 will go where mere cars won’t, thanks to its standard-equipment all-wheel drive and greater ground clearance, allowing this Volvo to go where most automobiles would drag bottom. Every XC70 also has “Hill Descent Control.” HDC uses the antilock brake bits to allow the XC70 to creep down a slippery steep hill with no feet on the pedals.

To go uphill—and on the level as well—every XC70 sold in the U.S. is powered by a 235-horsepower 3.2-liter six, a real smooth runner. The two tons of wagon work those Swedish ponies, however, particularly noticeable when attempting a fast merge. Volvo claims 0-60 mph in 8.1 seconds. It’s absolutely adequate.

Adequate—in its best sense—describes this Volvo’s roadway demeanor as well. It’s competent on winding roads but it’s not grand prix wheels. Instead, the XC70 excels at the around-town handling, feeling smaller than it really is, due in part to a small turning radius, making it easier to get in tight parking spaces. Maneuvering is also helped by good all-around visibility, thanks to the wagon’s panoramic array of windows.

The XC70 is a smooth highway cruiser. Our personal quiet meter pegged road noise somewhere in the middle, neither so quiet nor loud to be noticed. There’s little wind noise and the engine is relaxed and quiet at highway speeds. The Volvo XC70 to be pleasant if unspectacular performer. Or about what it should be.

The same can be said about styling. Volvo’s designers took pains to make the 2008 Volvo XC70 look different from its predecessor, but it’s undoubtedly a Volvo, with its artfully updated version of the upright Volvo grille, including the trademark diagonal slash of chrome.

(The Volvo logo, the circle with an arrow pointing up and to the right, is not the symbol for “male” but rather the alchemy symbol for iron. And incidentally, “Volvo” is Latin for “I roll.” Now you know).

Other Volvo design cues include a strong “shoulder line” and at the rear, taillights lenses that extend upwards to the roof. Volvo emphasizes the XC70’s off-road capabilities with gray matte-finished surfaces around the lower parts of the body, similar to the larger, more SUV-ish Volvo XC90.

It may be a cliché, but a Volvo’s interior does resemble an IKEA store. Volvo has the Scan design thing down to an art…or perhaps a science, and unlike some earlier Volvos, radio and heater/air conditioner controls are simple to use while still graphically pleasing.

A recent Volvo’s design element is a freestanding “center stack”—that vertical section in the middle of the dash—that looks like it’s a half inch thick with empty space behind it. It’s a styling gimmick, perhaps, but a cool one.

Volvo has long touted its seats as “orthopedically designed.” We can’t vouch for a doctor-on-staff, but the XC70’s seats are both supportive and cushy.

A clever option for every grandparent of small children is a two-level booster seat built into the back seat, one per side. The front of the seat cushion pantographs up and rearward, then once again, to safely seat small and smaller people respectively. It’s great for picking a child up from school when Mom has the booster seat in her car.

Volvo has a well-earned reputation for safety and the new XC70 takes that a step further, with improvements including stronger side-impact design and standard side airbags and side curtain airbags, plus improved whiplash protection built into the seatbacks.

An optional feature is Volvo’s “Collision Warning with Auto Brake” which first warns the driver of a too-fast closing rate with a vehicle ahead and then, if the driver doesn’t react, applies the brakes automatically, reducing the impact of a collision.

Volvo also offers “Driver Alert Control,” which analyzes driver behavior (such as drifting on a long straight road), the alerting the driver to take a break. Lane Departure Warning signals when the driver edges across a lane marker without signaling a lane change, and “BLIS,” a blind spot warning system tells the driver that another car is on the Volvo’s rear quarter with a little light on the outside rearview mirrors.

A “climate package” includes heated front seats, headlight washers and heated windshield washer nozzles with rain sensor wipers, an obligatory option, we think, north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

In addition to the booster seat trick, the rear seatback also folds forward 40/20/40, allowing for a number of cargo hauling options. It folds flat, unlike many SUVs, so cargo can be slid all the way forward for a minivan-like 72 cubic feet. Under the rear load floor is a shallow hiding space sectioned off with raised dividers like fancy paper plates.

The XC70 has tie-down rails in the cargo area, and if that’s not enough, the XC70 has a full-length roof rack for your kayak, bicycles or other fun things.

Of course, fun is subjective, and the 2008 Volvo XC70, entertainment started at $36,775 and was optioned up to $44,065 with lots of room on the side from that. Depending on the dollar/kroner relationship, that’s likely to change for 2009. But excitement is where you find it, and with the Volvo XC70, you’ll be able to take it with you. 

Illustrations: 2008 Volvo XC70, courtesy Volvo Cars of North America Inc.