XC70 Performance

What is the performance of the XC70.

With a car of 1860kg, it's hard to see how to design such a big car to perform. The D5 engine has plenty of torque and with a manual gear box it can shuffle along quite nicely. You do need to rev the engine and the D5 doesn't have an unpleasant noise.. a bit more gruff than purring.

The car can apparently get to 60mph in under 9 seconds - which is normally brisk enough in most circumstances. It can roll along to 130mph - not a speed I would particularly want to run at in this car - but respectable enough. The car can easily run at 90mph without too much difficulty and this is something you need to be careful when on the motorway.

So the car can move well enough for a big family estate. But how well does it stop?

The car is equipped of course with disc brakes all round, ventilated. The handbrake is an electric activated system on the rear discs. The brakes have a decent feel and are progressive - you don't have that on off switch that you tend to get on the VAG cars like an Audi. For everyday driving the brakes bring the car to a smooth halt. However as you start to build up some speed on country roads, you start to notice the bulk of the car. This is particularly the case when you make start to go downhill. You need to press the pedal particularly hard and you can get a sense the deceleration isn't enough..you press harder to almost the point of the ABS being activated.