Volvo station wagon offers a luxury and exclusive alternative

By John Aglionby

WHEN I collected my V70, T5 the sales assistant asked me where my driver was.

I told her she was looking at him. She was shocked -- obviously I was meant to have a driver -- but reluctantly handed over the key.

It quickly became apparent, however, that the V70 and S70, particularly the turbo versions, are wasted on hired hands.

Yes, the passenger seats are comfortable and yes, there is plenty of leg and headroom ("I feel like I'm flying in business class," one friend said) but it seems stupid to pay Rp 204 million (US$60,000) and then let someone else have all the fun.

And there is plenty of fun to be had. The five-cylinder, 2.3 liter turbo-charged engine has an output of 240 bhp and produces 330 Nm of torque at 2,700 revs, and with automatic transmission, can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 7.4 seconds.

Thanks to the advanced suspension, spring-strut lower-link with an antiroll bar at the front and semi-independent Delta-Link with coil springs and an antiroll bar at the back, the handling is very smooth, even on Indonesia's roads at high speeds.

It is improved by the small steering wheel and the excellent power steering. Little effort is needed to maneuver the car and with the turbo, one can escape from the vast majority of potential accidents.

Ventilated antilock brakes ensure the V70 stops promptly, in a straight line and without skidding, although this quality of braking is now considered standard in top-of-the-range cars.

The gear changing is not always as smooth as it might be however. There is more than a hint of reluctant lethargy, particularly when trying to accelerate after braking suddenly.

It is an improvement on previous models but Volvo still has some work to do in this department to catch up with its competitors.

In other areas it is way ahead. Safety is one of them. Air bags and side-impact bars may be de rigeur in luxury cars these days but Volvo has not stopped there.

The most significant improvement is the reinforced B-pillar, the key feature of the car's leading-edge protection system. The result is that the doors deform more slowly in a collision, giving the side-impact air bag more time to inflate and thereby giving more protection.

The V70, and S70, also have improved seat belts, a steering column split at three points to reduce the risk of knee injuries and faster acting eye-level brake lights at the rear of the car.

One safety feature not include is a passenger-seat air bag. The company's theory is that most people will be in the back seat or are too small to justify its inclusion.

Another feature that is categorized as a part of the safety system is the individual temperature controls for the driver and front-seat passenger.

The driver can have air blasting at his face at 18 degrees while the passenger can bask in temperatures almost twice this.

Volvo is also well ahead of its competitors in reducing engine noise inside the car.

Even when cruising at high speeds (top speed is 225 km/h) one can only hear a soft purr, which is almost reassuring. There is no sound of a struggle to stay at high speeds and nothing rattles or appears likely to fall apart inside.

But I spent little time listening to the engine as Volvo has included a purpose-built stereo.

Equipped with eight speakers and a remote control so it can be operated from the rear seats, the seven compact disc system (six stored in the trunk and one in the stereo itself), makes the worst Jakarta traffic jam almost bearable.

The 20 pages of the manual devoted to its use demonstrates it is no flea-market acquisition.

Two complaints I have are that the nearside blind spot is unusually large and the simple air conditioning controls belie an unnecessarily complicated system.

There are four different modes to the latter and one has to go through a lengthy palaver to in order to breathe pollution-free air.

Volvo has raced V70s in Australia (although a more powerful model than is available here) and not disgraced itself all.

But one does not need to take it to a race track to see that it is much more than just a family workhorse, although with the seats down it can accommodate more than 1,550 liters of luggage.

It is undoubtedly a luxury car which performs just as well as its competitors in most situations and with a much more spacious interior (Indomobil managing director Angky Camaro says you would have to pay Rp 100 million more to get the same space from a competitor).

If Volvo can persuade enough people to test drive it, I would not be at all surprised if the company meets next year's sales target, combined with the S70, of 720 models.