Volvo V70

Call us cynics, but when a manufacturer starts wheeling out a 'Sport' special edition, we reckon that car is living in the shadow of the executioner's axe.
By this logic, the Grim Reaper's blade is currently hovering over the Volvo V70, which has just had the Special Edition Sport model introduced to its line-up.

With a name like that flagging up its status, it's all the more disappointing that the new range is based on the standard 2.4-litre 168bhp petrol engine or either of the two D5 turbodiesels with 161- or 182bhp.

The Special Edition Sport replaces the previous plain old Sport and costs £1,500 less.

What is Special Edition about this new Sport model? Well, it comes with speed-sensitive power steering, 17-inch alloys, lights in the door mirrors to illuminate your feet, colour-coordinated body bits and chronograph-style instruments.

The other thing that makes us think the V70 is not long for this world is that Volvo has trimmed down the V70 range, getting rid of the slow sellers from the catalogue.

This means you can no longer order an AWD model with the 2.5 T or D5 engine options, and the entry-level 138bhp 2.4 and 126bhp 2.0 T have bitten the dust.

When will you see a new Volvo V70? That'll be 2008, with an all-new model based on the same platform as the latest S80, which brings the possibility of a V8 model into the mix.

© Source: article on topgear.com