Volvo V70 2004 Review

Only in Australia, one hopes.

You wouldn't find the Swedes effusively embracing a term that shatters their conservative and sheltered social standing so it's unlikely that the 'bloody Volvo driver' advertising campaign will have them rolling in the snow-laden footpaths of Stockholm.

If the concept of Volvo blatantly promoting itself as the curse of Australian motoring seems ridiculous, the more recent revelation that it has made a fire-breathing station wagon that will cream most other road users will appear to be outrageous.

But that's what has happened.

Welcome to the Volvo R-series, comprising at the moment the V70R wagon and S60R sedan.

Both have high-pressure turbochargers, all-wheel-drive, sports suspension, six-speed manual gearboxes (auto is optional) and go-faster paint colours.

In our case, the test V70R came in blood, or should that be bloody, red livery which I felt was probably good for an extra 20km/h.

The serious part of the V70R starts with a 220kW/400Nm 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine with help from a fat turbocharger and two intercoolers to dramatically reduce air temperature as it enters the combustion chamber.

Along with variable-valve technology, the relatively small-capacity engine delivers a thumping 400Nm of torque from as low as 1950rpm.

It is this torque that gives the V70R such flexibility, ease of driving and rapid acceleration, especially when exiting a corner.

The 0-100km/h time of 5.9 seconds isn't to be sneezed at.

All this in a vehicle that is ostensibly a lowered, luxuriously appointed, family station wagon.

The cabin is spacious, though the slimline side windows reduce the view and make it appear less roomy. The leather trim interior is soft, supple and black, so while comfortable it wants to burn your body after a hot day in the sun.

Few make dashboards as good as the Swedes. This one has topaz-coloured gauges that are backlit so you can know exactly what speed you are doing through the Graham Farmer Freeway tunnel.

A great sound system and lots of electric motors to power things your arms can't be bothered doing reflect the status, and high price, of the car.

The six-speed gearbox works well with close ratios that keep the engine on the boil.

It works with an adaptive suspension system that the driver can use to dial-up a choice of firm, soft and automatic damper rates, so that country trips and winding road become an adventure.

On some of my favourite roads just northeast of Perth the wagon showed exceptional road grip and excellent body control.

Under the body there's automated all-wheel-drive that detects where most of the engine's power should go, giving more power to the rear when driving through a corner and more drive to the front wheels when exiting – a system that forces under or oversteer.

That could get nasty, so there's a stability program to lessen the chance of you leaving the road sideways. Again, this can be controlled to be aggressive or benign.

There are a lot of electronic aids in the V70R but that probably suits the Volvo safety mandate.