"Who," asked the RAC man (don't forget him - we'll be meeting him again shortly), "would buy a car like this?" A fair question, and one which Volvo answered some time ago when preparing the XC70's press pack, which I could have quoted if I'd happened to have it with me.The XC70, according to Volvo, is intended for people who genuinely venture off-road, perhaps more than buyers of conventional SUVs, but who don't want to hear people accuse them of being Chelsea tractor drivers when they enter a city. On top of that, and in what strikes me as rather a neat turn of phrase, XC70 Project Director Tomas Ahlborg claims that owners will use the car "to drive to nature, not to drive over nature".Don't expect to leave Land Rovers trailing in your wake during a weekend's motorised orienteering, then. But the XC70 is nevertheless a fairly serious off-roader, up to a point. Four-wheel drive is standard, of course, there are larger bumpers along with scratchproof cladding to prevent the scenery making its mark on the bodywork if you get too close to it, the ride height is much greater than on a standard V70, and Volvo has fitted Hill Descent Control as a cheaper and possibly more effective way of allowing you to inch down a steep slope than you would achieve with a low-ratio gearbox mode.With one exception which I won't be able to avoid mentioning for much longer, I must admit that I didn't test the XC70 to its limits off-road, but I did go exploring in a forest and found nothing to complain about. If you want a large, comfortable car that can cope easily on loose surfaces, and have over £30,000 to spend on it, I can see how the XC70 would be very appealing.This wasn't foremost in my mind, however, when I managed to get the test car completely and utterly stuck in an accident which took place at precisely zero mph. It happened like this: I was driving along a single-track road and encountered a lorry coming the other way at a point where there were no passing places between us. It would have been unreasonable to expect the lorry driver to reverse to the passing place behind him, and I didn't want to reverse to the passing place behind me because it was on a blind corner and I didn't want to risk a rear-end shunt. Okay so far?Fortunately there was a verge on the left-hand side, so I drove on to that (thinking that, although I now had two wheels on wet grass, the XC70's four-wheel drive would help me get back off it again) and waited for the lorry to pass. Unfortunately, at this point the verge collapsed and sent the car tilting to port by about 30 degrees.Now, four-wheel drive is useful in many circumstances, but not when only one wheel is touching the ground, another is several inches off it, and the other two are dangling in the water flowing through what turned out to be a really rather astonishingly deep ditch. The lorry driver tried to tow me out but couldn't, and nor could the very kind gentleman who tried to release the Volvo with the winch on the front of his Land Rover Defender (the only result being that the Volvo tried to pull the Defender into the ditch instead).A very nice lady at the other end of the Volvo Assist helpline put a rescue plan in motion, which is how I came to meet the RAC man. He was simply brilliant, hoiking the XC70 back on to solid ground at the first attempt by means of a tow rope attached to his Transit, dislodging an enormous amount of mud from the suspension, chatting away good-humouredly all the time and generally being a Splendid Fellow. If I ever get stuck in a ditch again I hope I'm in a Volvo then too (though I will take great pains to make sure this doesn't actually happen).I can't really criticise the XC70 for failing to get out under its own power, because I doubt there's an SUV on the market which could have done so without assistance either. As previously mentioned, though, most SUVs will go much further off-road, and I suspect that my incident-free forest exploration was both as much as could be considered advisable and as much as most owners will attempt.If you think the XC70's off-road abilities are useful and suitable, you're also going to have to accept a considerable sacrifice in terms of what the car does on tarmac. It's comfortable inside, and well laid-out (though you have to lean forward to operate the electric parking brake button, which isn't the greatest piece of ergonomic design I've ever seen), and the test car's 182bhp five-cylinder turbo diesel is definitely the sensible option compared with the alternative, more powerful but much more expensive and thirstier six-cylinder petrol unit, but that extra ride height creates considerable problems.On a smooth, flat road, all is well. Once you get on to the hilly and twisty stuff, though, the high centre of gravity becomes very apparent. There is a lot of rocking and rolling, and you have to concentrate hard on your driving to prevent possible seasickness from overcoming you and your passengers. Although the XC70 is noticeably lower than most SUVs, it feels less well controlled on tarmac than nearly all of them, which is both surprising and disappointing. Unless you really need such off-road prowess as the car has, you'd be much better off with a regular V70.£32,895 is the list price for a D5 (that's the diesel) with automatic transmission and in SE trim. The SE comes with leather upholstery, a very fine audio system, an electrically adjustable driver's seat with memory function, climate control air-conditioning, cruise control, heated door mirrors with auto-fold function and the usual array of Volvo safety aids including Brake Assist, Dynamic Stability Control, traction control and side airbags. (The side airbags on the V70 - which can be considered as the same car for these purposes - did not operate properly in two separate Euro NCAP crash tests, but a maximum five points were still awarded for adult occupant protection. Euro NCAP gave four out of five for child occupant protection but only two out of four for pedestrian protection.)If you want more than this, the SE Lux adds wood trim, posher seats, active headlights, a powered tailgate (not that the non-powered one is especially difficult to operate), rear parking sensors and load-compensating suspension for a further £2600, while SE Sport - which includes 18" rather than 17" alloy wheels along with speed-dependent power steering and active suspension - is a less expensive alternative at £2100 more than the standard SE. Engine 2400cc, 5 cylinders Power 182bhp Fuel/CO2 34.0mpg / 219g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.9 seconds Top speed 127mph Price £32,895 Details correct at publication date
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