Volvo XC70 estate (2007-2016) - Practicality & boot space
The Volvo XC70 is a traditional estate car, with a huge and well thought-out boot
The phrase ‘Volvo estate’ has become virtually synonymous with excellent practicality and the XC70 very much follows this tradition, with a cavernous boot, plenty of thoughtful touches dotted round the cabin and excellent visibility for the driver. A necessary consequence of all that load capacity is the car’s significant length, but Volvo has tried to mitigate this as much as possible by fitting rear parking sensors to all models.
Volvo XC70 interior space and storage
There are some thoughtful touches inside the cabin of the XC70, including an umbrella holder in the tailgate and a rubbish bin in the back for rear passengers. Those passengers are treated to plenty of headroom and legroom, too, plus there are plenty of cubbies and cup-holders dotted around the cabin for all occupants.
Boot space
The XC70’s 575 litres of luggage space behind the rear seats is excellent. Fold them down and a wardrobe-swallowing 1,600 litres is available. You’ll have to lift items a bit higher than with the Volvo V70, but there’s no awkward loading lip to contend with and aluminium rails help with sliding cargo inside.
Not only is the boot large, but there are also cargo hooks and anchor points for securing fragile or heavy items. The anchor points are particularly useful in this respect, as heavy items sliding around in such a large space could cause serious damage to the inside of the car, or the item itself.
The rear seats split and fold in three parts, with the middle seat folding to allow longer items, such as skis, to sit between two rear passengers. For sheer load space, the XC70 isn’t the best in its class – the Skoda Superb Outdoor can swallow between 633 and 1,865 litres and it costs less – but that doesn’t detract from the XC70’s overall practicality.
Towing
The front-wheel drive versions of the XC70 are capable of towing a braked trailer weighing up to 1,800kg, with four-wheel-drive versions able to tow up to 2,100kg. The T6 petrol model could pull up to 2,000kg. In comparison, the Audi A6 Allroad can tow a maximum of 2,500kg.
