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Volvo V70 Safety Concerns

PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
edited March 2014 in Volvo
Whether it's airbags, seatbelts, or crash test ratings and results, this is the place to discuss safety issues for the V70.
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Comments

  • jim314jim314 Member Posts: 491
    Dynamic stability and traction control (DSTC) is not standard on the V70 in the USA, but from the volvocars.com website DSTC is standard on the V70 in the UK, i.e. even the lowest trim level has DSTC.

    In the US DSTC is only available in the base model V70 as part of the run-flat package (~$1350), but the run-flat package requires the luxury package (~$3500). So in the US DSTC is an ~$5000 option. VW used to offer DSTC as a ~$300 stand alone option on the Jetta. I haven't checked to see that it still does.

    I wonder who made this marketing decision--Volvo management or Ford management? This was a terrible decision by the "safe-car company".
  • volvomaxvolvomax Member Posts: 5,238
    Cost was the issue. Also, in certain parts of the US it is not necessary. Los Angeles, Phoenix, Fla etc.

    However, DSTC will be standard on all 2007 Volvo's.
  • jim314jim314 Member Posts: 491
    Citing cost is honest and realistic. Although I would call it a hard-nosed, calculated marketing decision. Is Volvo currently making or losing money? Since it is owned by Ford, does Volvo have a separate public balance sheet?

    I'm glad to hear it will be standard on the 2007 V70. Will some superefficient new engines be available? Although the EPA highway on our 2004 2.4L NA was 30 mpg and we get that or a little better, I would like even better. The EPA highway ests for the 2005 and 2006s were only 28 or 29 mpg. Why was that? Stickier tires? Her 2004 has 195/65-15 Michelin MXV4 Plus (51 psi max, we run 38-40 psi cip on the highway), which is presumably a low rolling resistance tire. Is the rolling resistance of the lower profile, wider tires that much more?

    To say that DSTC is not needed is wrong. It helps control the vehicle under strong evasive maneuvers on dry pavement as well as wet. My wife made a strong evasive maneuver in her beloved 1996 850 wagon on a dry day on a Dallas expressway and fishtailing turned into rolling. According to witnesses it rolled twice (720 deg) about the longitudinal axis and 180 deg about the vertical axis. It ended up on its wheels facing the previous direction of travel just beyond the stackup she swerved to avoid and without contacting any other vehicles. She was unaware she was rolling, and was unhurt, not even bruised by the belts, she didn't even have to take an aspirin. No air bags deployed, but the car was totalled.

    She bought a 2004 base V70 to replace it, and it has worked perfectly. Volvo's decision to not have DSTC standard, however, may work to Volvo's favor in our case. She will probably get a 2007 V70 base model, and I'll take the 2004 as a replacement for my 1991 Dodge Spirit which still runs great, but which is not as useful an all purpose vehicle as a V70. So maybe the marketing management made the right decision for Volvo's bottom line. Although, if the 2006s had DSTCstd she would have probably already changed. She thinks it might have saved her from wrecking her 850 wagon (855). Of course, it might have steered her into the rear bumper corner of the vehicle that suddenly stopped in front of her.

    Still, I'd like to know at what level of Ford/Volvo was the decision made to have DSTC only available with two expensive packages. Was it in Volvo or in Ford? And what level of management?
  • volvomaxvolvomax Member Posts: 5,238
    All car decisions come down to cost.
    Volvo could make an entire car out of Boron steel and carbon fiber with 4 point racing harnesses, puncture proof tires, and a fully active suspension system but the thing would cost over a million dollars.

    DSTC is relatively new technology, anti slip systems have been around for years, but yaw systems are fairly new and the technology isn't cheap.
    No amount of technology is capable of defeating the laws of physics, given the accident you described, I seriously doubt that DSTC would have prevented what happened to you.
    All American content decisions are made at Volvo NA headquarters in Irvine CA. Ford Motor has no say in how we outfit our vehicles. As always, care is given to pricing and what our competition carries. Individual dealers can order whatever they like and they order what they can sell the fastest. IF in a given market DSTC is a big deal then the dealers will carry it.

    As an aside, my S60R has DSTC and I usually have it shut off because it interferes too much in the driving enjoyment of the car.
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