Automonkey's osd adventure

[AutoMonkey]

Warning: long post ahead! - though I have tried to focus on the things that future OSDers might find helpful. Feel free to respond to this topic or send me a message if you’d like more details on anything.

Summary: We picked up our car (Platinum Green XC70, Premium + Touring packages) and drove 425 miles in Sweden, involving highway, city streets, country roads and even a muddy, potholed dirt track! I was quite pleased with the mileage (22.9mpg according to the trip computer), considering that we had the climate control on continually and that we did a lot of starting and stopping. My wife and I both enjoyed driving the car, and we anxiously await its arrival in the US in late April. The entire OSD experience was wonderful and exceeded my expectations.

Weather: Clear and sunny. Temp in low 40s during the day, around freezing overnight. Our last day was significantly warmer – temps even reached the 50s. Some patches of snow on the ground in the shade, but mostly all melted. Some waterways frozen (Gothenburg canals), but even these were thawing rapidly by the time we left.

Some hints and tips:
- There is an excellent free map of “Volvo Country” at the FDC, which was both more detailed and clearer than the Michelin map we had bought. It is 1:1200000 scale and covers most of Sweden. They also have a useful guide to Swedish road signs. Roads are generally quite empty and very nice to drive.
- Hotels, kiosks, tourist sites etc. have free maps of the local area that are excellent. You can also get them online at www.besokskartan.com.
- There are many signs along the roads with a design that looks like the option key on a Mac keyboard. These indicate points of historical interest, and are often worth checking out.
- Try to speak some Swedish! It’s always appreciated, even if your accent is horrible and the only phrases you learn are “thank you” and “do you speak English”. Everyone we met was exceptionally friendly and helpful.

Our travelogue:
Wednesday 12th - Thursday 13th
Flew from San Francisco to Gothenburg. For anyone connecting through Seattle, I’d recommend at least 1.5hrs connection time. We only had an hour, and even though our arriving flight was early, we didn’t have any time to spare. Long haul flight was – well, long – but we were lucky enough to get upgraded to “economy plus”, which gave us a few more welcome inches of real estate. On arrival, we were met as arranged and driven to the Radisson (in a Ford transit van! - though I guess that’s the same family as Volvo these days). Walked around Gothenburg for a few hours, then had dinner. We ate at the restaurant “bbb”, which stands for bistro.brasserie.bar. It’s near the hotel (on the corner of Södra Hamngatan and Östra Hamngatan), moderately priced and the food was excellent.
Friday 14th
We were picked up in an S80 and taken to the FDC, arriving at ~8:00am. We were the first delivery of the day. Leif was our “salesman” – he went through the paperwork and gave us quite a thorough introduction to the car. We learned a lot! We officially signed for a vehicle that had 2 miles on the odometer.
Went for the obligatory drive around the test track. As others have commented, it’s nothing much – just a divided strip of asphalt with room to turn around at either end. However, it’s fine for checking that the car works and listening for any squeaks, rattles etc. (There were no obvious causes for concern in our case). We went on the factory tour at 10:30am - highly recommended! There was (i) a short movie about the history and current line of Volvos, (ii) a slide show, and (iii) a groovy film advertising the XC90. We then headed for the “blue train” and the factory tour proper. This was really great – you actually get to ride in amongst the hydraulic presses, welding robots and assembly lines. Next up were Swedish meatballs at the cafeteria, after which we hit the road.
We left the FDC and drove north. Took the ferry to Lysekil, then back to the E6 and on to our hotel (Tanums Gestgifveri) at Tanumshede. Returned to the coast and visited the incredibly picturesque village of Fjällbacka, then saw the sun set over the archipelago from above a bay to the north of Grebbestad. Had a wonderful dinner at the hotel.
Saturday 15th
Visited the ancient bronze-age stone carvings at Vitlycke, a few minutes drive from Tanumshede. The museum was closed, but you can just walk around the nearby carvings. We had an entire World Heritage Site to ourselves! The nearby carvings at Litsleby are also worth a visit.
We drove south and inland to Lidköping, where everything closes at 2pm on Saturday! This is a medium sized, fairly unremarkable provincial town. We drove out to nearby (closed) Läckö castle and visited a stone/iron age burial ground and an old manor house on the way back.
Sunday 16th
We really lucked out this morning. We wanted to see at least one runestone during our visit, so followed a vague direction on our Michelin map. We ended up in a small village called Levene, the churchyard of which is home to the tallest runestone in Sweden (and possibly all of Scandinavia! ) We also visited a nearby stone-age site, and several more runestones (including the remarkable Sparlöse stone). Drove back towards Gothenburg, following the Göta canal.
We visited Kungälv, an old town just outside Gothenburg, where we walked around the castle and the old town. Back in Gothenburg, we went to the Haga district and the Skansen kronen – an old tower with a commanding view over the city. We had a wonderful dinner at Popcorn - quite expensive, but quite excellent.
Monday 17th
Returned car to the FDC and briefly met up with Low Tide, who was about to pick up his new XC70. Alexandra was great – took us through the rest of the paperwork, and arranged a cab to the airport. Then, the long journey home…

Hope that wasn't too self-indulgent! To summarize - Volvo OSD was an excellent experience that I would recommend to anyone.

[wiz]

AM thank you for the great report! Those runestones sound really interesting. Now you have to wait for about six weeks, right? That will be hard...

[barrysharp]

AutoMonkey:

That was a great trip report and I've printed it as backup info for my pending trip to FDC. I'm especially appreciate you posting so quickly as well after your flight back

So how did that Platinum Green Metalic look in the shiny delievery room -- can't wait to see mine in the same room.

I'm assuming the 22.9 mpg was with computer set for US gals. With low 40 deg outside temp I would expect the climate control not to be too much burden on the mpg number.

Those "hints and tips" are most welcomed -- the free map, road sign info, almost empty roads, etc etc -- great stuff to be armed with.

Hmmmm, the Apple option key -- do you mean the "Apple command" key -- the ones immediately to either side of the space bar? (sse attached image)

I'm certainly brushing up on my Swedish -- Tack

Did you do anything special to encourage SAS to upgrade you to Economy Plus. I'm very anxious to be able to do this as the Airbus 340 doesn't have computer power outlets in coach class seats.

Did the person at Goteborg airport have a sign with "AutoMonkey" held high

I think I'll treat my son to the "bbb" when we arrive.

Are you allowed to drive the XC70 out of the delivery room or isn't that allowed?

It sounds like you had reasonable non-rainy days and were able to strut about some

Care to reveal how "expensive" the popcorn was? (approx per person & w or w/o drinks)

I hope Low Tide was in good spirits -- great that you were able to meet up with him.

The return cab from FDC to airport was free or not?

...and you weren't too indulgent at all -- I've read thru your post at least three times gleaning all the snippets of info I could.

As my trip is nxt week I'm planning on being somewhat flexible as the current world conflict could impose some travel changes

Sooooo, when your nxt FDC visit going to be

Take care and I'll be joining the long wait line for XC70s to arrive in USA. I'm expecting mid to late May for mine. You say late April for yours yet mine will be back at FDC just 2 1/2 weeks after yours -- Hmmmm.

Great trip report and thanks again.

[AutoMonkey]

Aaaaah!!! Question overload!!!

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">So how did that Platinum Green Metalic look in the shiny delievery room [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Pt green is great. Depending on the lighting, it seems to change considerably - which is something I like about it.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hmmmm, the Apple option key -- do you mean the &quot;Apple command&quot; key [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Yep, that&#39;s the one

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Did you do anything special to encourage SAS to upgrade you to Economy Plus[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Pure luck - they wanted to seat a family together, so kicked us out to make room

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Are you allowed to drive the XC70 out of the delivery room or isn&#39;t that allowed?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

You pretty much have to drive the XC70 out of the delivery room There is a small parking lot right outside, and the test track is adjacent

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Care to reveal how &quot;expensive&quot; the popcorn was[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Check out the website. I believe it was ~SEK240 per person for appetizer and main course on their &quot;Sunday menu&quot;, excluding drinks. They have a nice wine list if you&#39;re into that sort of thing. It&#39;s a bit &quot;nouvelle cuisine&quot;, so don&#39;t go there if you&#39;re really hungry and just want a big plate of grub. However, as I mentioned, we had a wonderful meal - a fitting end to a great trip.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The return cab from FDC to airport was free or not?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Cab ride courtesy Volvo

Our car is coming across on a ship called the Terrier. The Terrier?&#33;&#33;&#33; I mean, that&#39;s a little yapping dog, right?
Due to leave on 3/22, estimated arrival at my dealer on 4/25.

Barry - hope you and your son have fun in Sweden. Part of the fun for us was discovering and figuring stuff out along the way, so my advice would be not to overanalyze things too much - just go with it.

Regards,

AutoMonkey

[barrysharp]

AutoMonkey:

Thanks for answering the questions etc. I promise not to ask any more today

Yes -- I also like the chameleon nature of the Plat Green.

Yes -- Re: overanalyze -- Know what you mean -- I&#39;m leaving most of the navigation and stuff to my son -- he can decide on places to visit and stay at for the most part as we wing it along thru Sweden/Norway. We will alternate driving so I can play with the Nav Sys as well. I&#39;ve only booked one place to stay at todate. I&#39;m assuming late March early April should mean plenty of places will be avail without booking. We will stop when we find a good spot to do so.

He&#39;s want to take lots of video and may even approach Volvo for making an XC70 Video Ad &nbsp;-- you know, Father &amp; Son &amp; OSD -- whoops, that sounds a bit too religious -- sorry.

I&#39;ll be sure to give up our seats for the first family gathering on the A340 &nbsp;I&#39;ll be travelling with MGC on the flight over so we can exchange thoughts if we connect.

Oh -- I like that boat name &quot;The Terrier&quot; -- hope mine isn&#39;t named &quot;Miss Lucy&quot; (name of my female Terrier) as that would be just too odd.

[barrysharp]

AutoMonkey:

It&#39;s a new day &nbsp;

After your 425 mile trek about Sweden in your new XC70 was there one specific outstanding aspect about the car that you feel worth mentioning -- be it +ive or -ive ? Would you give the car a grade of 10 out of 10 for example, and if not what makes you grade it below 10 ?

[AutoMonkey]

Well, 10/10 is a pretty high standard and I will defer final judgement until after I&#39;ve actually owned the vehicle for a while. Nevertheless, my first impressions were overwhelmingly positive. To me, the most outstanding feature is somewhat intangible - more of a feeling that everything is in the right place and works as it should. Perhaps ergonomics would be the best descriptor, though it seems to be more than just the cabin layout.

My main concern was getting used to an automatic transmission. I did notice what I think some others have called a nonlinear throttle response - gently depressing the gas appears to do little initially, then all of a sudden you&#39;re away. However, I recall this sensation with driving other automatics too, and I think it&#39;ll be relatively easy to adapt driving habits. I used the geartronic once or twice - my impression was that shifting down (eg to overtake) was very smooth and delivered power on demand. There seemed to be more of a lag on shifting up.

For the driving we did, I thought the ride was excellent. It dealt with rough roads very adeptly and although it&#39;s clearly not a sports car, I felt it handled just fine (though in fairness I didn&#39;t try anything too extreme).

The cabin appointments and comfort are exceptional.

Things I didn&#39;t test: radio (Europe uses all FM frequencies, whereas US only uses odd frequencies - 92,3, 92,5, etc). Also I forgot to bring and CDs with me. Also had no use for the rain sensor


Things I didn&#39;t like: The lumbar support is a bit awkward to adjust. If this is the worst fault I can find, I think I can live with it

[AutoMonkey]

For anyone who&#39;s interested, I have uploaded some photos of my recent OSD trip to Sweden. You can find them here...

Many thanks to Taylor for hosting these. They don&#39;t all show a picture of an XC70 - but since they all show places you can go within ~150km of the FDC, hopefully they will be of interest to future OSDers.

Feel free to ask if you have specific questions&#33;

AutoMonkey

[barrysharp]

AutoMonkey:

Interesting Avatar face you have I hope you didn&#39;t wear that mask when approaching the FDC staff people

Thanks for the picture gallery of FDC and surrounding countryside. The Plat Green looks excellent.

I&#39;m wondering if you have a pic or two of your stay at the hotel in Tanumshede(sp?) as it&#39;s quite likely I will stay there just before returning my car to FDC. I&#39;ve had some email from the hotel and they sound very hospitable -- I&#39;ll probably wing it rather than making a firm reseravtion -- do you think this wise or should I make a firm reservation -- I&#39;m thinking it&#39;s not too busy at this time of year. Does this hotel charge for overnight car parking? Also, I&#39;m assuming the driving time from this hotel to FDC isn&#39;t anymore than 3 hrs with no side trips or stops -- is this a reasonable estimate?

Thanks.

[AutoMonkey]

Barry -

Tanumshede is a fairly small village, and I would describe the place we stayed as more of a country inn than a hotel. No charge for parking, breakfast included. I included a link to their website in the first post of this thread. You shouldn&#39;t have problems getting in, though their front desk closes at 18:00/6pm. If you think you&#39;ll be later than that, I would definitely recommend reserving in advance. They were very friendly and helpful.

The restaurant, by the way, is excellent - apparently people come from miles around to dine there. Whilst I doubt it will be overbooked, I&#39;m sure they would appreciate knowing in advance if you&#39;re going to have dinner with them.

Tanumshede is about 150km from Gothenburg. We didn&#39;t drive direct, so I can&#39;t give you a definitive estimate of driving time - but 3 hrs should be more than enough, even if you call in at one or two places on the way. I don&#39;t know what your interests and tastes are, but I highly recommend visits to the nearby rock carvings at Vitlycke and the picturesque coastal village of Fjallbacka.

AutoMonkey