There’s a pleasing air of solidity and quality about the cabin, too – the plastics, metals and woods used are all top notch and perceived quality is high. It’s cool and relaxed and distinctly Scandinavian – and a real antidote to its German rivals. And the dark brown leather fitted to our test car really complemented the cabin’s caramel and tan colour scheme. The electrically adjustable seats deserve special praise too – incredibly comfortable and supportive, they deliver you fresh and cramp free after any journey. The stubby joystick control for the satnav is mounted at the back of the steering wheel, which means with high-mounted satnav screen you can programme your destination on-the-go without taking your eyes of the road or your hands off the wheel. All the controls are intuitively laid out and logically ordered, and there are some brilliant touches like the driver-shaped controls for the climate control – during the day it’s a tactile silver, at night it changes to a translucent green. Despite being loaded with features and gadgetry, it’s so intelligently configured that there’s no need to fall back on rotary iDrive controllers and vast display screens. The XC70’s cabin is an ergonomic work of genius. That cladding also has the effect of shrinking the Volvo’s dimensions, making it look far stubbier and chunkier than the V70 estate, and the matte chrome detail finish around the front foglamps and front and rear scuff plates give the XC70 a distinctive visual character of its own. And like the V70, the XC70 gets integrated two-stage child booster seats in the rear. There’s the added versatility of a three-way split rear bench, integral flip-down rear divider and an optional powered tailgate – useful when approaching the car when loaded with children and shopping. The XC70’s revised tailgate design results in an even larger loading aperture than before, boosting boot space by 55litres to a useful 575litres. The line-up runs the familiar SE, SE Sport and SE Lux models, with prices ranging from £31,035 for the entry-level D5 SE manual to £36,200 for the 3.2 SE Lux automatic flagship.īoth XC70 and its V70 donor were designed by Brit designer Steve Mattin – late of Mercedes-Benz – and while they follow a just-what-you’d-expect evolutionary line, there are some very neat new touches. Equipment levels are high, safety and versatility levels are peerless and there’s a choice of Volvos’ D5 2.4-litre five-cylinder diesel with particulate trap or the company’s new 3.2-litre straight-six petrol power, hooked up to six-cog manual or Geartronic automatic transmissions. This is the third generation XC70 and it borrows the front end from the new S80, the V70’s rear and mixes in jacked-up suspension, permanent all-wheel drive and a handy degree of off-road ability. The best-selling V70 may dominate Volvo’s sales charts, but it’s the soft-road XC70 model that’s always been the more interesting car. Since it introduced the PV445 in 1953, Volvo has utterly dominated the premium estate market in the UK, seeing off Audi, BMW and Mercedes with a car brought by drivers more concerned with safety, versatility and comfort than outright image and premium badging. Yes, Volvo’s current line-up may run from funky sports hatchback to chunky off-roader, but its core model is the still the V70 big family estate. View all Volvo Reviews You can’t beat a big Volvo estate…
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