The XC70 will be hard to replace

[duncan]

That's what just occurred to me as I was washing mine a few hours ago. She's going on 10 years old, which is frankly amazing considering everything is in perfect mechanical shape. I just came back from a road trip where I couldn't imagine doing it with any other car.


This weekend I went on a road trip to a neighboring province (PEI). It was myself and 3 friends, plus two windsurfers. The windsurfers were on the roof, with equipment and sails in the back and across one folded down seat. Plus lots of beer, people's belongings, and even two bodyboards for good measure. It was a very full car, yet everyone sat in perfect comfort without being pressed for space.

On the drive to the ferry we realized were going to be late and may miss the boat. With straight and largely wide open roads, we effortlessly flew at speeds reaching 160km/hr, with the car completely comfortable and stable, despite the full load and windsurfers on the roof. My friends were all amazed at how smooth the ride was at these speeds, as was I.

At one point we did a short off-road excursion with large bumps and ditches. While other cars would bottom out or get hung up, the XC took it with ease.

On the twisty island roads the car felt great, even when accidentally being thrown into unfamiliar corners that ended up being much sharper than they appeared.

All in all, I continue to be amazed at what a versatile and capable car the XC70 is. I'm afraid I'm reaching the end of my car's life expectancy, although presently she shows no signs of letting up. Nevertheless, I can't imagine replacing it with anything other than another <MY07. It's too bad the new ones just don't seem to have that same appeal.

My only complaint over the entire trip was that I did get stuck in deep sand. The front wheels turned while the back were reluctant to engage. However, I was extremely careful not to spin the fronts, to avoid digging a pit - which I think is what would have been needed to engage the rears. Although with a push from a friend we were back on track.


P.S. sorry no pics - I forgot to take a camera. But just imagine a blue XC70 with red clay sprayed up the sides

[markwemple]

How many miles does your car have? If the Volvo 5 cyl is anytrhing like the old Audi 5 cyl. then your not NEAR the end until you have 250-300k. Heck, 240s can do 300k.

[JRL]

Go buy a low mileage 2007

[ifnt420]

I hear you.. mine just broke 300k on Monday, and it drives better than it did when I drove off the showroom floor.

[Ocean Racer]

6.7L/100km

I wish I could do that !

[billr99]

6.7L/100km

I wish I could do that !

Damn, no kidding! Just got back from a 3500km trip to PA and averaged about 8.8 and that was at an overall average speed of 98kph (according to my GPS).

Cheers,

Bill

[ifnt420]

With the XC lowered, I think I lost about 1L/100km when cruising on HWY.

[duncan]

Mine is in mpg, but I know on the first half of my trip I was averaging 18mpg, and that was on the highway

Edit: that is 13 L/100 - sweet jesus!

[skibo]

18 mpg on the highway doesn't sound right.

I typically see 28-30 mpg on the highway. In fact, I'm in the middle of a trip right now, and the first tank took me 443.3 miles in 15.30 gallons, or 29.0 mpg, and that was with some town-driving thrown in as well.

lets see - 29.0 mph = 8.1 liters/100 km

[sjonnie]

My only complaint over the entire trip was that I did get stuck in deep sand. The front wheels turned while the back were reluctant to engage. However, I was extremely careful not to spin the fronts, to avoid digging a pit - which I think is what would have been needed to engage the rears. Although with a push from a friend we were back on track.

That can happen with any car nothing to do with the capabilities of the AWD system. To escape you have to turn the steering wheel from left to right while rocking backwards and forwards. To make the VC lock up from a standstill you do have to make the front wheels move, it can't lock up until you've heated the silicone fluid, just do it gently, no need to floor it.