Introduction

What's New – Volvo has added hill-descent control and integrated child booster seats to the standard features of the XC70. Add to those items a variety of standard and optional safety equipment, such as Blind Spot Information System (BLIS), Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS) and stability and traction control, and it's clear that Volvo's reputation for safety is, uh, safe.

What We Think – Crossovers are the 21st century station wagon – room for the family and all its stuff, but more frugal than a big SUV and certainly more hip than a minivan. Volvos are known for being safe and solidly built, low on flash and high on substance. The XC70 fits that definition well, although from a mid-$30,000 starting price it gets to the mid-$40,000 level pretty fast.

Volvo XC70 – 2008 Review:The cool, pre-dawn air and the lightening sky have a unique power to beckon us to the open road with the promise of a reward at the other end of the day. Getting up early, packing the car and feeling that low, simmering urgency to go somewhere morphs the family car into a chariot that carries us to places we’ve never been. Children feel this in a way that wells up from deep in their young souls. It’s almost too vague to put into words. It’s freedom. This year’s adventure is about to begin.

For parents, that feeling is tempered with some unexciting realities: long, straight slabs of interstate highway, ever-rising gasoline prices and the pressure of making sure nothing’s forgotten and that everyone is safe from departure to arrival. To ensure that happens, Americans have flocked to vehicles for safety reasons real or perceived. Volvo has never relied on perception, having long engineered safety into its vehicles, and the 2008 Volvo XC70 is no different. It builds on their history and adds to their emerging reputation of convenience and driving enjoyment.