10k Update on 2007 XC70

[calhanian]

So far mostly love the car. No visits to dealer other than scheduled maintainence. Only 5 complaints.

1) Gas mileage. I see in the forums that I am not alone. I am meticulous with my calculations and at 10k miles I am averaging 19 miles/gallon always using 87 octane (around 50% highway miles). This kind of pisses me off, but I feel better seeing others with the same gas milage. Recent 2k trip to/from Canada with 90%+ highway miles doing about 70 avg I had 21 miles to the gallon.

By the way an excellent website is fueleconomy.gov to keep track of your gas milage and look at others. Check it out.

2) Second complaint is with the the side mirrors - they don't seem to dim at night and I am always annoyed by the bright lights reflecting when I am driving at night.

3)Blind spots - much larger than any other car I have had.

4)Sound system especially speakers could be improved.

5)Road noise seems higher than my 2004 XC70. My 2007 is stock.

All in all I would probably not buy the car again secondary to the road noise, fuel economy - my wife on the other hand is not that bothered by the above complaints.

And finally I got an email from volvo with advertising the new rear dual dvd entertainment system as a retrofit. Anyone had this put in yet? How much did you pay?

[Willy]

Hello and welcome!
The road noise probably comes from the tyres, if they need to be replaced you could try different ones.
Tyres (and fuel) can also have some effect on fuel consumtion.
I don't know what sound system you have, but if it was delivered without the tweeters in the
front doors (don't be folled by only looking, Volvo puts in dummys as well), they will be a major impovement.
I wonder about the blind spots: do you have the small (V70 style) mirrors? The larger XC mirrors don't
have much blind area, mostly the D-pillars I think.
Willy

[Coutainville]

Calhanian,

Hi, I am interested in the advert you received from Volvo about the retrofit of rear screens, do you have any more info? I did not see any advert on the European website.

As far as your complains are concerned, well I must admit that the road noise is not discreet but I think that it is part of the set up high ride and chunky tyres.
Fuel comsuption is OK on the D5 Turbo Diesel about 42 mpg on motorways and about 35mpg if I drive in town and motorway.
I have a HU850 sound system , and, it is quite good, funny thing is ,it does sound MUCH BETTER from the back seats...so if you drive, you cannot enjoy it really !!!
Have you ever tried the BLISS system, to detect object moving in the black spot area? I saw it on an XC70 demo car, it worked very well, expensive though... I do not know if you can retrofit it?

One thing that bothers me is the accessibility for the bulbs, whoever designed the lamp clusters was probably not thinking straight !!!, mind you, my wife's V40 is not much better, you need hands the size of a malteiser to access to the bleeding bulbs...

But it's still a brilliant car, and it looks is fabulous.

Cheers

[marcinrudzki]

Calhanian,

I also have 07 XC70 and I experience a clunk coming from the lower part of the steering column. I can only feel it when I start moving from a complete stop. There is no sound associated with it, just something I can feel through my steering wheel. Do you experience something similar?

Thank you,
Marcin

[Dr Fonta]

Coutainville,

I got the Dual DVD player postcard in the mail today. It's available for 2005 and newer XC90, and 2007 and newer S60, V79, XC70, and S80. The price is $1797 installed. They come with wireless headphones, and can play the same thing on both, or individual programs on each. Connectors for video games are available too. They are part of the headrest, so my guess is they replace the headrests and connect power to them...They look real nice!

I might get them!

[Aviator]

always using 87 octane

Your fuel mileage would improve if you went to a higher octane fuel. These engines require, basically, the highest octane fuel possible short of using avgas. Check the owners' manual.

Dave.

[JRL]

Your fuel mileage would improve if you went to a higher octane fuel. These engines require, basically, the highest octane fuel possible short of using avgas. Check the owners' manual.

Dave.
89 is fine, 91-93 is better but NATURALLY you're getting poorer mileage using 87, that's a no no.
While it won't hurt the engine you're getting poor performance and poor mileage using it

[Forkster]

I agree with JRL. I noticed that after my wife accidentally put 87 in, our gas mileage went from around 9.0L/100km to 10.5L/100km (26mpg to 22mpg).

[Ron N]

I have close to 20,000 miles on my 2007 XC70. Mileage was not that great for the first 15,000 miles. I routinely averaged between 20-24 mpg combined, using 87 octane fuel. Now, I am averaging 25 combined. When on the highway, with cruise set at 60 mph, I will get 29-30 mpg according to the car's computer. I have checked these numbers manually myself for verification. If I set the cruise to normal flow of traffic (70-75 mph) my milage drops to 23-25 mpg.

This is an excellent car. I have not had any problems - knock on wood!