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IT was
my first time to drive a Volvo car.
Over a
long distance, I mean. I tried various models last year
when we test-drove various brands of new cars for the
2007 Car of the Year Awards. And some of them were
Volvos.
So, when
an opportunity with the new Volvo XC70 came, I didn’t
think twice and immediately said “yes.”
Recently, Viking Cars—distributor of Volvo cars in the
Philippines—has been sending motoring writers on a
series of road trips called “The All-New Volvo XC70 AWD
Freedom Test Drive.”
My group
included Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Aida Sevilla-Mendoza
and Manila Bulletin’s Aris Ilagan. We were to take turns
at the wheel of the vehicle from Manila to Pangasinan
and, after a night’s rest, back. The destination was the
beautiful resort of Puerto del Sol, which is right in
the heart of the long beaches of Pangasinan that face
the Lingayen Gulf and the South China Sea. Aris begged
off at the last minute, giving way for my youngest kid,
Migoy, to hitch a ride.
I took
the first stint in the driver’s seat when we left
Manila. It was then when I realized that the car was
diesel-powered. It was Aida who told me that when I
mentioned the quietness of the car.
As the
engine purred sweetly, the car rolled quite easily,
although I felt the rigidity of its structure through
the steering wheel. “Let’s rock and roll,” I said
quietly to myself, enjoying every bit of the drive.
Under
the hood of the XC70 D5 AWD was a 3.2-liter, five-cyclinder
in-line common rail direct-injection turbodiesel which
gives you firepower (no, it’s horsepower, I mean) of 185
Nm at 4,000 rpm and torque of 400 from 2,000 to 2,700
rpm. According to Volvo, the car has a top speed of 205
kph, but I didn’t give it a try since I intended to have
a leisurely drive until we reached our destination.
Driving was too easy with the six-speed driver-adaptive
“Geartronic” and electronically controlled all-wheel
drive. Safe braking is assured with the four-channel ABS
with electronic brake distribution.
We were
surprised to see our gauge dipping to only the quarter
point when we stopped at Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac for
a late lunch. We then drove to Dagupan City, which was
devastated by Typhoon Cosme. At that point, Aida asked
that she be allowed to drive.
I took a
short nap, which was not hard to do as the luxurious but
sporty interior became a veritable bed to me, thanks to
the steady ride brought about by the MacPherson struts,
coil spring and hydraulic shock absorbers that kept all
the three of us comfortable. Migoy, who sat beside me
while I was driving, was awake all throughout, enjoying
the scenery along the way. This was his longest drive so
far up north and he really enjoyed every minute of it.
Driving
rain met us somewhere inside Bolinao as we negotiated
the steep and winding mountain roads, a few minutes away
from our destination. But the aggressively driving Aida
tested the car really hard as we drove through
water-filled side roads. Luckily, the XC70 can really
wade in 300 mm of water since it has a running clearance
of 210 mm. It can also go up a ramp at an angle of
approximately 18 degrees.
We
missed the street that led to the beaches by a few
meters. After a 15-minute drive from the main road
(approximately 20 km), we arrived at Puerto del Sol—said
to be the most beautiful boutique resort along the
several kilometers of shoreline of Lingayen Gulf inside
the tranquil barangay Ilog Malino.
The
place was a perfect hideaway for rest and recreation for
me and Migoy together with Aida, as well as Volvo’s Loi
Concepcion, the amiable senior manager for marketing
communications of Viking Cars Inc., who greeted us later
that afternoon at the Puerto del Sol, and Mike. The next
day, we visited the lighthouse where we tested the Hill
Descent Control of the car.
Then, it
was my turn to test the agility and speed of the car as
we raced back to Manila. I was impressed with the way
the car handled the different maneuvers I did as we
broke free of traffic. I managed to reach the entry to
the Nlex in less than three hours from Bolinao, but with
heavy traffic it took us almost two hours to reach
Viking Cars’ showroom on Pasong Tamo,
Makati.
What a
car it was! If I can afford to cough up P3.395 million
today, I won’t think twice about getting one. A hundred
thousand bucks less and you can have the gasoline-fed
3.2L AWD with almost the same power and agility. |
