V70

The V70 wagon beat its S60 sedan twin to market by almost a year. It embraced the qualities with which Volvo earned its reputation - safety, comfort, safety, practicality, safety and eco and family friendliness.

And it delivered on sexy good looks inside and out, with a comfortable and inviting cabin. But even a quick drive revealed this as no BMW threat.

The problem was the front-wheel drive P2-Platform Volvo’s overly light steering and at times hard ride.

Just as in the S60 range, the V70’s base 2.4’s 125kW/230Nm 2435cc five-cylinder engine was lightly turbocharged for the 147kW/245Nm 2.4T and strongly turbocharged for the scrabbling V70 T5, which pumped out 184kW/330Nm.

Gearbox choices were a five-speed Geartronic auto or a five-speed manual. But unlike the S60, there was no AWD version.

A mild re-specification and model reshuffle occurred in mid-’03 across the V70/S60 range, with the 154kW/320Nm 2.4 turbo Activ replacing the 2.4T and T5, in preparation for the hard-edged V70 R slingshot – which features AWD, an active suspension system, luxury car cabin levels and a new 2.5-litre 2521cc 220kW/300Nm five-cylinder turbocharged engine tied to a five-speed automatic or six-speed manual gearbox or, in the six-speed manual model, the same motor but mustering 50Nm more.