As the fond owner of a 1990s Volvo 850 estate (a future classic, as I stoutly maintain if anyone dares to criticise it) I like to keep tabs on the progress of its successor, the V70.For a long time, I've felt that this car was the centrepiece of the Volvo range. It was only when the V40 was devised a few years ago that the company got round to designing and building anything that did not seem to be a V70 stretched or crammed into the wrong shape. I could have sworn that this was the only car Volvo really wanted to be involved with.Recent developments have included a mild restyle to make the car look lower, even though it isn't. The basic structure, however, is the same as before. This is a large-ish estate with a good if not class-leading luggage volume of 575 litres when the rear seats are in place.When those seats are folded down, the capacity increases to 1600 litres. This is not bad at all, but Volvo strays into hyperbole when it describes that space as cavernous - it seems modest when compared with the equivalent Ford Mondeo's 1728 litres, and almost trivial alongside the 1865 litres of the Skoda Superb.Admittedly, those cars are longer, but by less than an inch, which does not explain why the Skoda can carry very nearly as much as the V70 and a Ford Fiesta combined.This particular car is distinguished by its use of the new-for-2014 D4 two-litre D4 turbo diesel engine, which is something of a marvel. It produces a maximum of 179bhp at full chat and over 100bhp at less than 2000rpm, so while there's little risk of your head smacking into the rear window when you floor the accelerator pedal the performance is certainly adequate.In spite of this, and a kerbweight on the high side of 1.7 tonnes, the D4 engine also gives the V70 official combined fuel economy of 62.8mpg and CO2 emissions of 117g/km when fitted with the eight-speed Geartronic automatic gearbox fitted here. Manual versions achieve 65.7mpg and 113g/km, though in each case Vehicle Excise Duty is just £30 per year.These figures are, in combination, almost miraculous. My old 850 can't get within hailing distance of any of them. But while I realise that low VED payments are attractive I'm not sure why anyone would get excited about paying just thirty quid for a tax disc rather than, say, a couple of hundred when an unadorned V70 SE Lux Geartronic costs £36,270 and one equipped in the same way as the test car will set you back £46,315.The options included the £1000 Active 4 C suspension upgrade, the four Cs in question standing for Continuously Controlled Chassis Concept. This sounds awfully good, but I'd give it a miss because it doesn't make the car ride or handle particularly well. Specifically, it makes the car feel like it's several inches taller than it actually is, and I don't know why anyone would want that.Your local Volvo dealer will be able to talk you through everything else that's available, but I'll close by noting that in charging £400 for power adjustment of the front passenger seat, £200 for a heated steering wheel and £150 for a spare wheel and jack, Volvo shows that it has nothing to learn from Audi or BMW about making a profit out of optional extras. Engine 1969cc, 4 cylinders Power 179bhp Transmission 8-speed automatic Fuel/CO2 62.8mpg / 117g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 8.6 seconds Top speed 137mph Price £36,270 Details correct at publication date
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