Volvo S70

Infobox Automobile


name = Volvo S70
manufacturer = Volvo Cars
parent_company = Ford Motor Company (2000)
predecessor = Volvo 850
successor = Volvo S60
production = 1997-2000
class = Entry-level luxury car / Mid-size car
body_style = 4-door sedan
layout = Front-engine, front-wheel drive / four-wheel drive
wheelbase = auto in|104.9|0
AWD: Auto in|104.5|0
length = auto in|185.9|0
width = auto in|69.3|0
height = auto in|55.2|0
AWD: auto in|57.0|0
engine = 2.0L Convert|136|hp|kW|0|abbr=on I5
2.4L Convert|168|hp|kW|0|abbr=on I5
2.4L Convert|190|hp|kW|0|abbr=on I5
2.3L Convert|236|hp|kW|0|abbr=on I5
transmission = 4-speed automatic
5-speed automatic
5-speed manual
assembly = Torslanda, Sweden

The Volvo S70 is a mid-size luxury car produced by the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1997 to 2000. The S70 was the sedan and the V70 the station wagon; they both represented mainly new styling and revised suspensions from the 1993 through 1997 Volvo 850. The S70 was replaced with the Volvo S60, which is in fact smaller in size.

Introduced in the U.S. for the 1998 model year, the first Volvo S70 sedan and Volvo V70 wagon were updated versions of the Volvo 850. The S70's body style was a more rounded version of the 850.

The six trim levels were: Base, SE, GL, GLT, T5 and R (exclusive to Europe). The exterior has new headlamps and a reshaped hood as well as a rounder front end. The new interior included dual front and side airbags.

New electronic brake modulation helped optimize performance in normal stops. Volvo's traction-control system now included throttle as well as brake intervention. A starter interlock was added to models with a manual gearbox, while automatic transmissions gained "adaptive" shift logic. Immobiliser became standard. Dashboard airbags received new two-stage sensors that matched deployment force to road speed and belt use; they also automatically unlocked doors after the bags triggered.

In the 1999 model year, the Volvo badge was changed. For the 2000 model year (2001 in the U.S.), the S70 model was discontinued and V70 was replaced by a completely new car with same model designation. The newcomer was built on Volvo's new large car platform that is shared by Volvo S80 (the first that was to be available of this series) and Volvo S60. Also, seat-mounted side airbags were modified to improve protection to the head and chest in case of impact. Newly standard was Volvo's WHIPS system, designed to move the front seatbacks and headrests rearward in a rear-end collision, to minimize whiplash. The S70 Base models gained an all-new 5 speed automatic transmission using a synthetic based transmission fluid. The potent engine in the V70 R AWD now was rated Convert|261|hp|kW|0|abbr=on.

Engine

The base engine was a 2.4-liter dual overhead cam straight-5 gasoline engine that produced a maximum output of Convert|168|hp|kW|0|abbr=on. The GLT had a turbocharged version of that engine that increased the power to 190 hp (141 kW). The T5 had a more highly tuned 2.3-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with an output of 236 hp (175 kW). The Base and T5 models had an optional five-speed manual transmission, the GL and GLT were available with only an automatic transmission. An option on the S70 was the TRACS traction control system that would apply the front brakes to limit wheel slippage. All models had disc brakes and anti-lock braking system. These were also among the first cars in the United States to offer side airbags, an option that has extended to nearly all models today. Drive-by-wire was added starting with the 1999 model year, replacing the traditional throttle cable arrangement with an Electronic Throttle System (ETS); also added was coil-on-plug ignition, first featured on the Volvo 960, replacing the distributor and spark plug wires. Such cars can easily be distinguished from the 1998 model year versions by the presence of an ETS light on the instrument cluster. All-wheel drive was also offered with the GLT model in 1999 and 2000 years.

Trim levels

In 2000, the SE trim level was made available to the S70 "base" and GLT model. Therefore four trim levels were offered, Base, Base SE, GLT, and GLT SE. (Trim levels were named differently in Europe) Starting for the 2001 model year, the S70 was replaced by the S60, as the S80 had been introduced in 1998.

An S70-R version (which was not released in North America) was introduced later to offer higher performance. The engine was an extra-tuned edition of the 2319 cc unit, rated Convert|250|hp|kW|0|abbr=on and convert|350|Nm|ftlbf|abbr=on for models fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox and limited slip differential. Models fitted with a four-speed automatic gearbox rated 240 hp (179 kW) and 330 Nm.

pecifications

This table describes the engine specifications of the 2000 models.

Trivia

The Volvo S70 was built for five people. It can however contain far more than that: on June 24th 2008 British teacher Abraham Gniwosch was found guilty of dangerous driving by the English Courts. He was discovered by the police driving his Volvo S70 having crammed a total of 13 people inside of it. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7471102.stm BBC Wales homepage, 11:30 GMT, Tuesday, 24 June 2008] ]

References