Quote:
Originally Posted by Kev0607
What do you mean by twitchy ride? Give me an example.
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This is how the What Car review puts it, and I completely agree:
"Unfortunately, the ride is far from perfect and even minor bumps and road scars will be felt by occupants. The V70 settles down a little bit at speed, though, making it an adept motorway cruiser."
And from Autocar:
"Much of the time, the Volvo's V70’s ride quality – surely a priority in a family wagon – is impressively pliant and on the verge of displaying that loping absorbency that was once the speciality of French cars.
It doesn’t quite have that suppleness, though, and at times its body control could be tighter, but overall this is a restful place to be. Until, that is, the wheels pass over a particularly scabby piece of tarmac and thump out a crude drumbeat that shatters the calm.
There’s often some light jerking to go with it, too. Which is a shame, because without this curious behaviour, the V70 would have a well-above-average ride, and handling that’s capable, if no more than that."
Personally I think it's a combination of the heavy 5-cyl Diesel engine, which is inherently less smooth than a petrol engine, big wheels and wide tyres, front-wheel drive and a six-speed auto gearbox. Remember that I'm comparing the car with a straight-six RWD four-speed petrol automatic saloon. Possibly the other thing that contributes is the tyre pressure, which Volvo suggest is set at 38psi all round for economy. I tend to go a bit lower than that to be honest.
Having said all that, when the car is fully laden, with four adults and luggage then I reckon that things definitely improve, and as I think What Car imply, it's less of an issue at higher speeds. Certainly driving the car in heavy stop-start traffic over the pot-holes and speed humps that litter the roads of Leeds is a wearing experience, and not the best way to enjoy a V70.
For me, the car is at it best on good, straight fast A-roads. It is a fine motorway cruiser - if you can find a decent stretch of motorway, but as my regular commute involves the West Yorkshire M1 and M62 morning and evening, a decent stretch of motorway isn't something that I see very often!
Jack