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Photos: 2008 Volvo XC70
Although on the pricey side, the 2008 Volvo XC70 is a good-looking practical wagon that feels like it can go anywhere. Its safety tech is incredibly innovative, but Volvo needs a more integrated strategy for cell phones and digital music players.
The XC70 is the off-road version of the V70 station wagon, enhanced with all-wheel-drive, descent control, and more clearance. During our time with the XC70, we felt like it could go anywhere.
Volvo's styling has changed from its boxy cars of the past. The XC70 and V70, with their smooth lines, are the nicest-looking wagons we've seen in a long time.
The 3.2-liter straight six engine in the XC70 represents a good compromise between power and economy. We enjoyed its quick throttle response.
The XC70 seats four very comfortable, offering plenty of head-room.
Volvo offers quite a few safety technologies in the XC70, including adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and a blind spot warning system.
As a wagon, the XC70 offers plenty of cargo room. You could easily include luggage for four.
Our XC70 was optioned up with leather seating surfaces, wood inlays, and a sunroof.
The XC70 uses fairly simple audio controls on the wheel. We also liked its steering response.
The instrument cluster is very high-tech, with message displays in the center of the speedometer and tachometer.
We love the design of the center stack, which is built as a panel stretching from the dashboard to the shifter, leaving space behind it.
The six speed automatic works well enough in the XC70, but its manual mode delivers slow shifts.
The auxiliary input is hidden in the center console, but unfortunately doesn't have a 12 volt power point next to it.
Sirius satellite radio came with the premium sound system on our XC70, and is also available a la carte.
Along with the paper white radio display, we like the design of the display's graphics, such as this one for the FM tuner.
The single CD slot in the stereo can read MP3 CDs, and show ID3 track information.
The stereo lets you navigate folders on MP3 CDs, but we weren't impressed with this part of the interface.
As an option in our XC70, we had rear seat audio controls, which let the rear seat passengers plug in headphones and control the music.
As part of the premium sound package, the XC70 had 12 Dynaudio speakers. It also came with a dealer-installed Garmin Nuvi 760, a strange option considering you can get a built-in navigation system.
The audio system offers a lot of different settings, including the ability to turn up the surround sound level.
The sound system also has graphic equalizers for the front and rear, letting you fine-tune the audio quality.
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