Test drive Volvo S70 R 1997 - 1999 sedan

Christmas Eve

Why is there no sun?

- Because night.

“Again night ...” Kabani said with longing ...

 

A. and B. Strugatsky. It is difficult to be a god

 

At the end of November 1996, the world premiere of the new generation of Volvo cars took place. The event stretched for almost a month. The company carried representatives of the press from around the world to the distant Norwegian town of Kirkenes. In mid -December, it reached Russian journalists.

 

New family

The premiere passed in two stages. The first representative of the new Volvo family - C70 compartment - appeared before the public at the Paris Motor Show in October (Motor 7). In Norway, the S70 sedan and the station wagon V70 were demonstrated. The priority of the presentation of cars looks somewhat strange - usually the sedan is first shown and only then variations on its topic. But Volvo now has a lot of unusual. It seems that we are witnesses of the new stage in the development of the company, which gets rid of traditionally angular forms of its products, switching to a more modern and dynamic design.

 

The first -generation of the new generation of Volvo cars can be considered the S40/V40 series, which appeared in 1995. A year later, it was followed by C70/S70/V70, the appearance of which echoes the S40/V40 in the same way as the previous Volvo models of different classes were similar to each other (we recall that in the new SI Swedish company, the Swedish company means compartment and means the coupe and Cabriolet, s - sedan, v - station wagon, and numbers - car class).

 

By the way or inappropriately, but a few words about S40/V40. One of the employees of the company in a private conversation admitted that the cars on the test in Spain were, as they say, damp, and problems with boxes (motor 8) really took place. The company has seriously worked, and now these problems do not exist. But we will not be distracted. The new 70th series was built on the basis of the Volvo 850 model, which appeared in June 1991. The reputation of the car was good, which is evidenced by both flattering reviews of the press and sales volumes. But in the automotive industry, the competition is no less tough than in sports. And one of the rules is Quit While Ahead (leave the undefeated). It sounds somewhat pathetic, but after five and a half years, Volvo decided to replace the car. And here is the result - the sedan and the station wagon of the 70th series.

 

According to company representatives, cars are updated by almost 70%compared to Volvo 850. The total number of changes made is 1800. What they are, it is only known to God and specialists Volvo - the technical part of the presentation left much to be desired. Obvious alterations affected the appearance of cars. The front and hood S70/V70 are unified with the C70 compartment. The forms of machines have become more rounded and elegant. The sedan has a new back, and the station wagon was left unchanged, reasoning that the best was the enemy of the good. Bumpers, moldings, external mirrors are painted in the color of the body.

 

All cars received new, more luxurious salons. Improved adjustments to the front seats, the design of the steering column, the device for prelimination of seat belts. There were additional stop-signals on LEDs, which are lit 250 times faster than ordinary ones. The story about this time was given more than technical issues. Here they limited themselves to the assertion that one of the best chassis in the world in the 70th series has become even better, including due to the optimization of the characteristics of shock absorbers.

 

The V70 station wagon is available in two versions: ordinary front -wheel drive and with all -wheel drive - AWD. The all -wheel drive modification is equipped with a viscous coupling and a self -locking rear differential. For outdoor enthusiasts, there is a version of the V70 AWD Outdoor with a special aerodynamic trunk on the roof and other configuration of the luggage compartment.

 

The Volvo approach - the buyer must get just the car that he needs, therefore, for the S70/V70 there is an extensive list of options and configuration options. Engines, for example, are provided for a total of eight, however, not all of them are delivered to all markets. The box is also a lot - five, of which one is automatic.

 

Seven gasoline engines-all 5-cylinder 20-valve with two-wool heads. The smallest 2 liter is produced in three versions - atmospheric (126 hp), with low boost pressure (180 hp) and turbocharged (225 hp). A 2.5 -liter engine also has three options - two atmospheric (144 and 170 hp) and one with low boost pressure (193 hp).

 

The most powerful turbocharged (240 hp) has a slightly smaller volume - 2.3 liters. In the range there is a 2.5 l of a turbodiesel with a direct injection with a capacity of 140 liters. with. Turbated motors for the S70/V70 are slightly modernized. For example, 2.3 liters of B5234T3 added 15 liters. with. Power and 30 Nm of torque compared to the predecessor of B5234T, which was equipped with the Volvo 850 T-5 model. The characteristics and 2 l of the turbo engine have improved (plus 15 liters and 10 nm). It is probably useful to recall that turbocharged engines require gasoline no worse than the 98th, the rest, including with low boost pressure, are satisfied with the 95th.

 

Kirkenes

The world premieres are not cheap - airplanes, hotels ... By our arrival, journalists have already killed five cars - about 10% of the presentation for presentation. The test drives of cars represented by the press are rarely accompanied by such serious losses. The reason was most likely the choice of the venue of the event - the northern part of Norway. It is unlikely that journalists from warm countries, and among them were representatives of not only automobile publications, have extensive experience in snow. And winter was just beginning. By the way, our group also contributed to the damage to the company. And we were not the last in the schedule. But, we must pay tribute to Volvo cars, none of the people was injured.

 

The place for showing new cars was chosen really deaf. Town Kirkenes, Administrative Center of the Municipal District Varanger. The north of Norway. The latitude of the northern part of Alaska. To Murmansk in a straight line of about 200 km to the southeast. Our long -standing readers probably remember that at the beginning of last year we drove Mercedes Gelandewagen from Germany to the north of Finland, in Ivalo. Then we were very proud that we drove in a car so far in the Arctic. So, Kirkenes 150 kilometers north of Ivalo.

 

The airport is small, so the journalists were assembled in groups in Copenhagen, and from there a charter flight on a small plane was delivered to Kirkenes. It seems that not all the Norwegians imagine where this town is located - the journalist from Oslo tried to find out the telephone code from the hotel ... Norway.

 

The population of Kirkenes is 4 thousand people. They work mainly in the mine, extract iron-nickel ore. Our city Nickel is at the other end of this field. They are going to close the mine in a month. In the vicinity, however, they found gold, but it is not yet a fact that they will begin to mine it - the deposit is located in the territory of the national park, and in Norway they treat nature with care. Traditional classes remain - reindeer husbandry and fishing. And the hope of developing business relations with Russia, which is quite active. Maybe that's why the Russians are good here. In the central square of Kirkenes - a Christmas tree. Several shops with luminous signs. The largest is the sale of clothes. In Russian.

 

One of the events of the presentation was held in a log -made one -story building of traditional northern architecture. Small windows, a huge fireplace, a stuffed bear. They said that the bear, until he was shot, managed to lift several hundred sheep in the district. The scarecrow is real, not like that gypsum trout at Jerome K. Jerome. The ceiling beams struck - whole logs with a diameter of forty centimeters and a length of fifteen meters. Where do they come from, in the district only the clumsy Karelian birch grows? It turns out that the logs were caught from the sea, they are our Russians - of those that they missed during a forestry.

 

Test

The test program was designed for two days. The first is public roads, the second is the track on the ice of the frozen lake. We would have done the opposite, at first it would be better to try the capabilities of the car on a safe highway, and only then go on the roads, but the organizers decided that way. Maybe that's why they beat so many cars?

 

All options for the 70th series, except for the compartment, were proposed to the test. What to choose? They reasoned like that. Despite 1800 alterations, there seems to be no special technical innovations in the S70 compared to the familiar 850th. Wkeeper V70? Well, another body. But on all -wheel drive - V70 AWD - I did not have to ride. It is decided, we take it.

 

On the received keys-a keychain of a security system and a tag that identifies a car: V70 AWD, registration number is such and such, some other letters, the color of the car is indicated. Running (coldly) to the site on which about 40 cars were lined up. Hope quickly finding my car instantly disappeared - the temperature is -25C, all the cars are white from the thick layer of hoarfrost. Yes, and dark. But still found.

 

The Unlock button on the keychain, the outbreak of overall lights, the internal buttons of door locks with a weak click rise, but the door cannot be opened. The rear too. It turns out that the frost. Only the right front succumbed. We penetrate inside, the key to the ignition lock, turn - the engine comes to life instantly. The stove is full, heated the seats, turn on the scraper and the brush in hand. In the process of cleaning, the car was curious about rubber - of course, winter, Nord Frost II, and even his studded, spikes are located along the very edges of the tire and quite rarely.

 

While scrapping the glass, they warmed slightly. You can climb inside. The stove fan roars, but it is still cold in the car, only hot seats save. We look around. The front panel, the same on all cars of the 70th series, including the compartment, became more round and elegant. The shape of the buttons and pens has slightly changed, but their location remained the same. On the dashboard, the same three dials are a speedometer, a tachometer and a round combination of fuel margins and coolant temperature. Under the dials - the scale of the waybill. The same keys to the right of the steering column, and still, instead of turning off APS, sometimes you try to open the hatch in the roof. The alarm button has moved to the lower part of the beard and is now placed under the ashtray. The location of the keys on the horizontal console between the seats is slightly changed.

 

Convenient leather seats with a full set of adjustments and memory, a leather steering wheel adjustable in length and angle of inclination of a steering column, heated mirrors - all familiar, only with small, but pleasant changes. Neither in the appearance of the machine, nor in the details of the cabin of any differences between the V70 AWD and the usual V70 could not be found (a small difference in height, wheelbase and width of the rear track is not visible to the eye).

 

A mechanical box (AWD with an automatic machine does not happen), but what is the engine of the machine? There is no description at hand, but I don’t want to get out and open the hood at all. Having thought, they decided that since there was no boost pressure indicator on the dashboard, which means that we have the second of two engine options for AWD - B5254T with low boost pressure. And then the LPT letters on the tag became clear - indeed, Light Pressure Turbo.

 

The car, meanwhile, warmed up, you can go. At first, it was a little uneasy, because they did not go in the winter - in mid -December, when they left Moscow, there was not a snowflake there yet. Under the wheels of a narrow highway, the track is pierced to asphalt, there is almost no ice.

 

Speed \u200b\u200brestriction - 80 km/h - the organizers asked to observe. We observe, especially since the few local drivers behave very disciplined. The road is even and almost straight, the fourth gear, the car is easy and obedient.

 

The congress from the highway, the asphalt disappeared, under the wheels - a layer of rolled snow. Without reducing speed, we go to the third gear. So far, everything is fine. The road becomes narrower and winding, the ascents and descents began to come across, on which I wanted to turn on the second. When switching, the right armrest slightly interferes, however, the same was observed on the 850th. The steering amplifier on the car is quite powerful, but the control seemed more sharp than on the S40/V40. And this is in the snow!

 

There are more and more snow under the wheels, but the car is absolutely obedient and willingly forgive small jerks with improperly switching gear - the ass on the classics would have been carried a long time ago, and the front -wheel drive car would also react accordingly.

 

Judging by the technical characteristics of the V70 AWD, under normal conditions, 95% of the engine torque is transmitted to the front axle, and the machine behaves like a regular front -wheel drive. When one of the axles slips, a viscous coupling comes into effect, which corresponds accordingly to redistributes the torque. When slipping of the wheels of the coupling, APS is helped (at a speed of up to 40 km/h) and a self -locking differential.

 

Gradually impudent and add speeds. At the same time, we try to go normally, because we are not suitable here on the public road and sports methods for passing turns. The rear suspension of the V70 AWD is not Delta -Link, as on the S70 or front -wheel drive station wagon, which provides slight steering rear wheels in the bend, and the usual multi -link. But the car goes perfectly, and if there is a small skid, there is a feeling that it itself adjusts it. I must admit that we have long been tired of the stamp as for rails, but try to come up with another.

 

Emergency flashing lights are visible through the snow veil ahead. On the road - a car of the organizers, under the slope - one of the test cars. I did not fit into the turn. All are intact, but only a lifting crane will be removed. Of course, we are not a front -wheel drive S70, but an all -wheel drive V70, but the spectacle acts soberingly - we go more precisely. Once on a long straight, they tried acceleration. First, second, pedal to the floor. The car literally shoots, while it goes completely smooth and stable. The speed of 100, somewhere at 5500 revolutions, the limiter is triggered. Now the brake is on the floor. With light vibration, not only the pedal, but the entire body, the car slows down without losing stability, you only have to slightly correct it with the steering wheel.

 

By 11 o’clock in the morning we got to the destination - the tiny village of Grence -Yakobselv. A small orange light appeared on the shield, which warns that on the road it can be slippery - the so -called. black ice. I came to your senses! As it turned out later, it is not surprising, it is lit at temperatures several degrees higher or below zero. Indeed, it got warmer overboard, only -5C. Gulf Stream.

 

The coast of the Barents Sea. We get out of the car. Following thirty meters. A river flows into the sea, also Grense-Yakobselv. The border with Russia passes along it. Strict warnings - it is forbidden to photograph Russian border guards and border structures and in general it is generally possible to use telephone objects with a focal length of more than 200 mm. The warnings sound like a mockery, from 10 to 12 hours - the brightest time of the day, but the illumination, approximately as in Moscow at the end of December at three days and even with a cloudy sky.

 

The polar night in our articles on test drives we rarely use proprietary shooting, photographs that we publish, as a rule, own. And to describe local attractions without accompanying the story at least a few pictures, is wrong. But this time there were no chances for good pictures, taking pictures in the dark - the occupation is useless.

 

When they moved on the way back, the bright time was already ending. The road is familiar, and they managed to sit down to the car. It turned out that it is quite possible to go only in the third gear, as on the machine, the regiment of the maximum torque of the engine (270 Nm) stretches from 1800 to 5000 rpm. When they drove up to Kirkenes, it was completely dark. Everything seems to be correct, the body tells you, the work is finished today, which means that it is in the evening, it's time to have dinner and sleep. Eyes automatically begin to close. And the time is only an hour of the day.

 

I had to read that the polar night is an unpleasant thing. For the three days spent in Kirkenes, they were convinced of their own skin - it’s hard to live in the dark. Perhaps that is why the light burns everywhere - both on the street and in the hotel room. And in the houses do not blame the windows. The hotel calculated: 130 kilometers on B70 AWD we passed at an average speed of about 65 km/h. Slowly and completely without straining, almost all the time in the snow and ice, without a single hint of any dangerous situation. Not bad. In the evening, the organizers distributed penalties with the team of journalists from different countries - in terms of the number of killed and rumpled cars. Most of all, strangely enough, scored a group in which all cars remained intact. But someone from this team forgot the cassette in the car - with the emblem of Mercedes!
 
Ice track

 

The next day, there was a roll of cars on the ice of the lake, on which a winding track was cleared. There was little snow, so there are almost no bars, so - the sides of centimeters are thirty high. Even in daylight, the track does not matter, and rare melons help little. The car is the same - V70 AWD.

 

The lake is not public roads, you can try a car in maximum modes without fear of sad consequences. Trying. But we ask you to take into account that we have no serious practice of driving on all -wheel drive cars. And they behave in different ways, depending on the distribution of torque along the axes. The sensations remained mixed - it was not possible to fully understand the car. On the one hand, AWD on the highway is more stable than ordinary cars. But depending on the situation, up to 95% of the torque is supplied to the front or the rear axle, and the machine shows either the front or rear-wheel drive habits. You enter, for example, in a turn on the front drive, and you go out - unexpectedly for yourself - in the back. It doesn’t work to throw the ass with a handbrake, the car is more likely not in the drift, but to the drift. The same thing happens with an excess of gas in a bend - instead of demolition of the front axle, the car is completely falling outwardly, and it is not possible to return it to the desired trajectory with the usual techniques.

 

The overall impression that has developed after a short skiing can be formulated as follows: AWD combines the advantages and disadvantages of traditional drive options. But, we repeat - this is on ice and in the limit modes. And in full -time situations, the car showed itself perfectly. For normal driving on winter roads, this is what you need. True, there is one but. On the road, AWD behaves so stable and obediently that it lulls vigilance. It seems that the car can do everything - and the driver gradually adds speed. But when the AWD nevertheless gets out of control - trouble, it will not work to catch it with ordinary techniques, you need special preparation.

 

For comparison, they tried on the same V70 highway in the usual version. Traditional front -wheel drive, everything is more familiar and understandable. The car behaves more predictably, and it is easier to control it - and in the skid it rises as it should, and the ass throws easily and controlled. But when the cars flew off the highway into the snow, the AWD in almost all cases went away by itself, and the usual V70 had to be pulled out with a cable.

 

When and how much

The release of the 850th series was terminated in November last year. At the factory near Gotheborg, cars of the new series are assembled with might and main, including C70 compartment. With might and main - it is said, of course, too much, the brigade assembly and the volume of release is small, they work for the time being at the warehouse. In any other country, dealers before the appearance of the 70th series would drop prices for the 850th, and those buyers who are not very important could save. We probably don’t have to count on this.

 

It's too early to talk about the sales of new cars. As for the compartment, a test drive for the press will be organized in the spring, and only then the car will go to the market. And the S70, V70 and V70 AWD will appear earlier, in Russia, apparently in March. The Russian package provides for the entire range of engines, except for diesel, which will be delivered only on special orders. The catalytic neutralizer is not included in the package. The price of cars has not yet been determined, it is only known that it will be higher than that of the 850th. The question is, how much?

 

Text: Mikhail Galkin
 
 

 

Source: Motor magazine [No. 2/1997]