Great Cars... Fabulous Places!
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Great Cars... Fabulous Places! |
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Volvo XC70 D5 By Rick Trawick
Available was a 2008 Volvo XC70 D5. The D5 in the name stands for something we don’t get here stateside, a 5-cylinder diesel engine. Amazingly quiet for a diesel, the XC70 started quickly and idled smoothly. In Europe, diesel is still less expensive than gasoline. While I was in Finland, the price was 1.41 Euro per liter for diesel, 1.57 Euro for regular gasoline. Now before you get all excited, remember there are 3.79 liters in one US gallon and the exchange rate at the time of my visit was $1.55 to equal one Euro. So do the math… 1 gallon cost $8.28! That’s a little steep don’t ya think. But Europeans love diesels thanks to getting about 25% better fuel mileage than an equivalent gasoline fueled powerplant. We don’t see more diesels here mostly thanks to very strict upcoming EPA requirements, which were only finalized last year. Mercedes is the only carmaker currently building vehicles that meet the 2010 requirements. Performance wise, the diesel was a little hesitant off the line but once the turbo was spinning, it would build power quickly. Once moving, the diesel XC70 could be pushed to perform just like its gasoline powered brethren. The suspension was well up to the task with electronic ride control allowing the driver to choose between Comfort, Sport and Advanced modes. I left it in Advanced mode for most of the time and found the ride fine for all but the poorest road surfaces. Full time all-wheel-drive keeps the car steady on the road in all conditions. And they see plenty of varying road conditions in Finland!
The station wagon style is very popular in Europe where the whole
SUV thing really never caught on. Many standard sedans are offered in a station
wagon, often with three rows of seats just like US station wagons had at one
time. (As SUV’s start to die off with gas price increases, look for the
resurgence of the great American station wagon, only it’s called a crossover!)
The XC70’s rear seats fold flat to open up the cargo space and offer another
interesting feature, a built-in booster seat for children too small for a car
seat but needing extra
I was able to spend a little time in Helsinki, down by the waterfront, which is very picturesque with a nice marketplace right on the water. Check out the hat, it seems there is big business in reindeer fur. Try this in the US and you would have kids picketing the stand protesting Rudolph, Comet and Blitzen being sacrificed for hats! Finland is a beautiful country to visit and a Volvo XC70 is a great way to travel around it. We have the opportunity to drive XC70’s here also, just not the diesel. Your local Volvo dealer has the XC70 with 3.2 liter inline 6 making 235 horsepower. Our gasoline powered XC70 is available with all of the nifty options that I had in Finland, just no diesel for us. XC70’s start at $36,775. See more at www.volvocars.com. |
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For
those that don’t know, I do have a “real” job as an engineering consultant. My
client needed me to go to Finland for a few days and my nice contacts at Volvo
offered to arrange a car for me while I was there. 
height
to properly fit the safety restraints. It easily opens and then just snaps back
down to comfortably seat an adult. The cargo area is also equipped with a cargo
divider that folds against the roof when not in use, very handy when carrying
heavy, shifting cargo or even the family dog. A great comfort feature is the
automatic climate control with heated and cooled seats. Cooled seats are
wonderful on a warm day when you are doing a few hours behind the wheel. No more
sweaty backs! Overall the interior design is great for distance driving, the
front seats offering a full range of support and adjustability. One negative and
this is something that bugs me on many cars, the side sills are extended to give
an aggressive look and to reduce road grime and mud being thrown on the sides of
the car. But to exit the car, you inevitably slide your pants leg across the
sill, if it has collected any road splatter, it is now on your leg!
Loaded
with almost every option, the XC70 was definitely well equipped. The adaptive
cruise control is something that is a great boon to travel. Engaging
automatically when you get behind a car running slower than your cruise control
set speed, it keeps you at a safe distance from the slower vehicle, then
automatically brings you back to your preset speed when you move out to pass.
The drivers of Finland are very courteous, most keep to the right except when
passing and I noticed very few folks traveling more than 10 kph over the speed
limit even though there was little police presence on the highway system. The
speed limit was generally 120 kph on the highways, dropping to 100 inside of
population centers. Country roads were mostly 60-80 kph and city traffic 40-50.
On
my last day in Finland I discovered that the town I was staying in had its own
racing facility, the Ahvenisto Race Circuit. I decided to drive by and check out
the circuit and see if I could take a few photos. I timed it right as the track
was in use by a group of local performance car enthusiasts who had rented the
track for the day. Tracking down the track manager, I was introduced to Pertti
Kurki-Suouic, who gave me a brief history and description of the circuit.
Ahvensito is situated in the rolling hills just northwest of Hameelina. Built in
1967, the track features some wonderful elevation changes over its 3 km length.
After describing the track, Pertti asked if I would like to take a lap to see
the track from the correct perspective. Well, this was hard to refuse! He
checked with the folks renting the facility to see if it would be ok if I took a
lap, they looked at my diesel powered Volvo and said ok, just time it so I don’t
slow up any of their drivers. In the end the group’s organizer offered to ride
with me. We left with a Ferrari 360 with a half a lap lead. Without abusing the
car on a track I had never driven, we laid down a decent and fun lap, needless
to say, no one caught up to the Volvo!