Surviving the streets of nyc

[tahoe7]

Hi all,
I am currently driving a 1995 Volvo Sportwagon and last night i hit my final pothole in that car..it simply is not made for the streets of NYC..I am seriously considering getting the new Toyota 4runner,though a friend suggested i take a look at the XC 70..Is the suspension and ground clearance substantially better on the XC70 than the regular Volvo wagons??I cant begin to tell you how many tires,rims and other things i have blown out in NYC

[Low Tide]

Bluntly, Yes.

Height is 8.2 inches.  You'll find that nearly the same or greater than most SUVs/pickups.  Ford Explorer and Nissan Pathfinder for example are lower (off the top of my head)

Definately check out the XC70!  Its quite a bit different that the 95 you are currently driving.

Good luck...

[wiz]

Member xcny lives in NYC. Send him a personal message through this site. The next time he logs on he will see it. I also think he's published his AOL IM handle in the members area if I'm not mistaken. Whatever, he'll be able to tell you whether the car can deal with the roads there. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[budrichard]

If I had to drive in New York City, I would be driving a JEEP Liberty with SelecTrak. Tough suspension, wheels and tires, go anywhere, curbs etc and reasonable safety at the slow speeds. That said, we drive Chicago in XC's but only about 15 times per year. My JEEP Cherokee is pretty much retired in place. -Dick

[Avid Edit]

Tahoe,
       I had 99 V70, and was loathe to drive it locally in NYC
due to its low profile tires and low but tight suspension.
Great handling, bone jarring when hitting those holes.
  Now, with th XC I laugh at them !!!! A little mushy, not as tight but no longer fear to tread where cabbies go  
   Go with the XC, stay away from those tubs of lard known  as SUV's.

[xcny]

Thanks, Wiz.
Tahoe, my previous car used to be 1998 V70 which got replaced by a 2001 V70XC. By the end of the lease of the first car the rims had numerous bends, one of the wheels was doing "figure 8" because i must have cought a big enough pothole, and the whole car was "falling apart". Oh, and let me not froget that I lost the plastic engine cover on the streets of NYC, twice.

Then I got the XC. What a difference. First of all, the ground clearence is 8.2 inches, as Low Tide says, so you don't ever have to worry about scraping the bottom of the car or loosing the engine cover. Second, the tires are big enough to handle the worst of the potholes NYC has to offer. Lastly, the whole car feels much stronger than the previous V70. Like Avid Edit, I am not afraid of anything that the road brings anymore.
A nice bonus on the car, IMO, is the unpainted bumbers. No more paint scratches on the bumpers if you leave your car on the street. But the bumpers get scuffed up anyway after a while, especially the rear one.

I hope this helps. If you have any more specific questions, let me know. I will gladly answer.

Good luck.  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[Low Tide]

Might be good to mention that the plastic engine cover is avail in Steel as an option.  In the event that you did hit an utter sinkhole or a tire flying off a runaway cabby- that would provide the ultimate in NYC street protection.  

Just might add that the 1 time I drove in NYC (with my OWN car) while living upstate- I hit a pothole and dented/cracked a rim so bad it had to be replaced. (It was a VW though....forgive me.)

[tahoe7]

thanks Guys,
 i appreciate the input..I shudder to think how much i spent the last year in repairs due to the "streets of nyc"...I will be test driving the XC70 vs some trucks this week..Its time to take back the streets http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[tahoe7]

This may be a silly question,but are the rims actually stronger on the wheels of the XC70 versus the rims on the V70http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

Is there an option to purchase your car with extremely durable rims and tires???

[wiz]

Almost certainly no tangible difference between the V70 wheels and the XC70 wheels. Both standard Volvo OEM alloys. The difference is I think that the XC70's wheels are 16" with regular tires (not low profile tires) - the standard tire dimension for an XC70 is 215-65-16 with an outside dimension of 27" - they are big wheels. Keep them well inflated and you will be just fine. We just had the worst winter in Boston in years with lots of very big new potholes created and the XC70 sailed through it all.

Where you get killed is 17" or 18" wheels with low profile tires that are also under-inflated. That's just asking for trouble.