volvo cars 2014 Volvo XC70 Reviews

The Volvo XC70 is almost completely fresh following a thorough interior revamp for 2013 and a subtle exterior nip/tuck for 2014. The latest luxury crossover wagon from the safety experts gets a macho new grill design with giant honeycomb pattern, LED fog lights, an LED running light blade in each headlight, a freshened LED taillight design and additional matte-finish silver trims all around.

The look is far more current and allows Volvo to keep up sales momentum even as the traditional wagon body style is in retreat from the best-selling XC60 SUV and upcoming XC90 replacement.

The XC70’s boxy profile is part of the lasting charm that gives Volvo wagons such huge cabin space and cargo area capacity. This latest model finally addresses the main critiques of post-Ford Volvo: few meaningful updates to keep the line fresh and competitive.

The latest XC70 fights perception that it might be slow and pack dated cabin infotainment solutions. For 2014, this five-passenger crossover gets ultramodern TFT instruments, a new touchscreen HDD nav solution called Sensus Connected Touch, quicker automatic transmissions and a Polestar engine upgrade on the official options list.

With the last two enhancements, this stops being just an ultra-plush and luxurious family car and starts fighting back with real performance credibility – acceleration to 60 mph for the top engine falls from about 6.9 seconds down to just 6 seconds flat. The XC70 is a niche choice but an exceptional vehicle in a segment flooded with floppy crossovers. How does it compare with the Subaru Outback and the new A4-based Audi allroad?

Click past the jump for the full review of the 2014 Volvo XC70 with exclusive images of the new LED fog and running light designs.

Exterior

This Volvo design only seems like it has been around forever. In fact, the color choice of these images makes it difficult to quickly distinguish between the 2014 model and the past decade of XC70s that also were popular in this bronze hue.

The biggest updates are to the wheels, grille and the fog light bezel designs. The grille is now larger and drops the cross-hatch pattern from before in favor of a jumbo honeycomb internal mesh for the upper grille and a tighter matching mesh below. The fog light bezels are a new, more metallic finish and form just a check over the lamps instead of a rounded box as before. The front and rear bumper skid plates and taillight trims are also this new finish and look sharp - despite losing to the Audi allroad for overall presence and style.

This grille still includes Volvo’s external black box of safety sensors in the left-hand side of the front badge, but the box does not protrude as embarrassingly as the first few generations did. The tech could be much better integrated behind the bumpers or deeper in the grille, such as the similar Cadillac tech that hides all the scanners within the bumpers and grilles.

The LEDs are where the real action is. There is a new white LED vertical blade between the low-beam projector and the high-beam reflector that acts as a daytime running light accent. The LED combines nicely with new dual-xenon lamps. These headlights run four total xenon bulbs for independent high-beam control and truly astounding forward lighting.

This is in contrast the bi-xenon lamps in many other premium cars. The typical design has a motorized shutter inside the single projector ball that repositions the bulb for high beam needs. The Volvo design is rare and offers more total illumination but can be less helpful when flashing to pass.

Xenon bulbs often take a few seconds to power up completely and using a second set for the high beams means they are not as quick-reacting as bi-xenons. It is worth it for the miles of high beam light the XC70 delivers on a dark night.

The fog lamp is now an LED design similar to that used on some high-trim XC90s recently. It uses a single high-power bulb with a quad reflector that produces an extremely bright and crisp appearance on the road. LED fog lamps are also very helpful because the type of light they emit causes road signs to shimmer with clear detail.

The new taillight design is less of a departure but sees brighter LEDs swoop across the shoulder of the Volvo and up the rear pillars. It’s still unique and classy light signature that helps the understated XC70 feel worth the money in traffic.

2014 Volvo XC70 – Exterior Dimensions:
Wheelbase (in.)     110.8
Length (in.)     190.5
Width (in.)     73.3
Height (in.)     63.1
Track - Front (in.)     63.5
Track - Rear (in.)     62.2
Weight (Pounds)     4147

2014 Volvo XC70 – Standard Exterior Features:

    Active dual Xenon headlights with LED accent blade
    Front LED fog lights
    Central power door locks with remote keyless entry, tailgate and fuel filler locks
    Chrome trim accent around side windows
    Hill Descent Control (HDC)
    Power glass moonroof with slide/tilt positions, sliding sunshade and auto-open
    Power heated outside mirrors
    Power tailgate
    Protective bodyside moldings

gallery: Exterior

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Interior

The interior of the Volvo XC70 for 2014 is defined by the new adaptive digital instruments and the updated Sensus Connected Touch system to control the nav and infotainment functions. The center stack is also redesigned and helps the XC70 to feel wide and extremely luxurious inside. The XC70’s dashboard runs a broad wood trim across its horizontal surface and twin rectangular central vents. This looks much better than the ugly single center vent that mars the cabin of other Volvos.

The adaptive displays are familiar from Jaguar Land Rover but have all-new graphics and features, including a personalized startup screen and three driving themes. From Elegance with traditional gauge faces, to Eco with a green tint and eco monitors, to a red-lit Performance setting that adds a digital tachometer display.

The Sensus Connected Touch runs a dash-mounted 7-inch infrared-mapped touchscreen that can register clicks even if a user is wearing gloves. The Sensus system provides far better navigation performance, Bluetooth voice and audio streaming, 3G/4G web access (via subscription or data tether using a smartphone’s internet) and dozens of must-have app integrations like Spotify and Pandora.

The system is a huge improvement over previous designs and easy in daily use. Traditional climate controls, steering-wheel toggles and dash knobs help make fast changes outside the touchscreen.

The interior of all XC70s is very nice with some of the world’s best seats. These chairs offer bear-hug support and long-haul comfort, as well as safety via side airbags and a whiplash prevention system. The XC70 does without some of the wilder woods and leathers from Volvo’s new Inscription personalization service on the S80, but does come with technical fabric or three leather choices in higher trims.

The base models look slightly nicer than the loaded cars because the T6 models all come with a red cherry wood that is not to all tastes.

There is a lovely cream and saddle color option that looks very nice. As ever, Volvo provides an excellent audio system as standard and it is upgradable to high-performance sound in higher trims. Don’t be fooled by the lack of co-branding by a major speaker maker: this stereo has all the clarity, bump and thump of the competition’s high-dollar optional systems.

The Volvo XC70 comes standard with a backup camera and front/rear parking sensors in most trims. It also includes a power-operated tailgate, power rear headrests and optional power-operated rear child locks (a la the Audi A6).

The major interior options are a front parking camera for $795, blind-spot assist for $700, the tech pack for active safety at $2,200 and a climate pack with heated seats all around for $900.

The rear-facing jump seat in the third row is no longer available as a factory-installed feature, due to some slight safety concerns from the extra-careful company. Dealers will typically install the folding jump seat with seatbelts for about $1,500.

2014 Volvo XC70 – Interior Dimensions:
Front Seating Capacity     2
Rear Seating Capacity     3
Headroom - Front (in.)     37.8
Headroom - Rear (in.)     38.5
Legroom - Front (in.)     41.9
Legroom - Rear (in.)     34.6
Shoulder Room - Front (in.)     57.4
Shoulder Room - Rear (in.)     56.5
Hip Room - Front (in.)     54.8
Hip Room - Rear (in.)     55.1
EPA Cargo Volume (cubic-feet)     33.3
EPA Cargo Volume - Rear Seats Folded (cubic-feet)     72.1

2014 Volvo XC70 – Standard Interior Features:

    New-for-2014 Ambient Light designs for programmable interior LED accent lighting
    Ergonomically Designed Seats: Power Front Passenger Seat; Power Driver’s Seat w/3-Position Memory
    Flat-folding Three-split 40/20/40 Rear Seat; Flat-folding Front Passenger Seat; Power Folding Rear Head Restraints
    Heated Front Seats; Heated Rear Seats; Heated steering wheel
    Power Glass Moonroof
    Auto-dimming Rearview Mirror; Illuminated Vanity Mirror
    Park Assist Sensors, Front and Rear
    Electronic Parking Brake
    Power Retractable Door Mirrors with Ground Lighting
    Volvo Sensus Driver Control Interface: Navigation System w/Voice Control, Real Time Traffic & Map Care
    Bluetooth Hands-free System with Audio Streaming
    Park Assist Camera, Rear
    High-Performance Sound System; Volvo Premium Sound System

2014 Volvo XC70 – Optional Interior Features:

    Remote Engine Start ($499)
    Blind Spot Information System ($700)
    Rear Seat Entertainment (RSE) Dual Screen w/Dual Players ($1,800)
    Park Assist Camera, Front Blind View ($795)
    Technology Package ($2,100): Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Queue Assist; Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake (CWAB); Pedestrian Detection with Full Auto Brake; Distance Alert (DA), Driver Alert Control (DAC), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Road Sign Information (RSI), Active High Beam
    Climate Package ($900): Heated front seats; Heated rear seats; Heated windshield washer nozzles; Interior Air Quality System (IAQS)
    Dual outboard two-stage child booster seats with adaptive seatbelts and power child rear door locks ($500)
    Dual Two-Stage Integrated Booster Seats w/Adaptive Seatbelts and Power Child Locks ($500)