Stay away from the 3.2,... did you find a T6? 2011 Geartronic also improved alot, ...if I am not mistaking, the S-Sport mode is NOT FOUND on the pre-2011 and that is simply nice to have!! Go for 2011 minimum to avoid little bugs left and right, keep searching!!

The 2011 model got refreshed styling and updated powertrains. A 3.0L turbocharged engine replaced the previous year's 3.2, boosting output to 300 hp and 325 lb-ft; the base model's non-turbo 3.2 got a power boost to 240 hp, though its 236 lb-ft of torque carried over.

The 2012 model got new trim designations (again), as well as Volvo's new "Sensus" multimedia interface, ambient lighting, City Safety, and a new (optional) adaptive cruise control system with a pedestrian detection component.

A nov or dec 2010 T6 will also be a 2011 model so dont look from jan 2011 and up. Its the model you want not the year!! Sure you know this.

Read this and it will be a 2011(+) http://www.newcartestdrive.com/reviews/2011-volvo-xc70/

Did you consider a T6 XC60 with a few spoilers left and right with one, two or four pipes? Also not bad: [emoji51]

Did I réály just say: XC60 in a 70-Forum? [emoji33]

XC70 D5 2011 Polestar AWD/IPD

 

Stay away from the 3.2,... did you find a T6? 2011 Geartronic also improved alot, ...if I am not mistaking, the S-Sport mode is NOT FOUND on the pre-2011 and that is simply nice to have!! Go for 2011 minimum to avoid little bugs left and right, keep searching!!

The 2011 model got refreshed styling and updated powertrains. A 3.0L turbocharged engine replaced the previous year's 3.2, boosting output to 300 hp and 325 lb-ft; the base model's non-turbo 3.2 got a power boost to 240 hp, though its 236 lb-ft of torque carried over.

The 2012 model got new trim designations (again), as well as Volvo's new "Sensus" multimedia interface, ambient lighting, City Safety, and a new (optional) adaptive cruise control system with a pedestrian detection component.

A nov or dec 2010 T6 will also be a 2011 model so dont look from jan 2011 and up. Its the model you want not the year!! Sure you know this.

Read this and it will be a 2011(+) http://www.newcartestdrive.com/reviews/2011-volvo-xc70/

Did you consider a T6 XC60 with a few spoilers left and right with one, two or four pipes? Also not bad: [emoji51]

Did I réály just say: XC60 in a 70-Forum? [emoji33]

XC70 D5 2011 Polestar AWD/IPD

Thanks for the feedback. That was a very informative article.

The 2009 I'm considering is a T6. As you said, it's got less power and it's a couple iterations behind 2011/2012. I would certainly prefer a 2011/2012, but I'm finding it very difficult to find one with essentially every option and dark interior.

I actually have also been considering the XC60 T6 (ideally the R-Design). This all started when I was considering S80 V8/T6's, but realized it's not really a functional upgrade to my SR, so then I thought the XC's would be a better match.

I keep hoping one of these days the right one will pop up. Just before I started searching a 2011 XC60 T6 R-Design sold nearby me (of course). Oh well, the search continues...

 

The right one will pop up. Dont just use the regular APPS but use RAW DATA; just google what you want and type it together with your nearest big city and you will be surprised of the findings. Skip the "smooth path and apps and websites" and what else you have...go RAW! Try it. For instance search: "XC70 T6 2011 Pittsburgh"

I love the 70's. By the way, Pittsburgh....lived on DeepCreekLake for six years, u must know the place! Garrett County? Miss it every day...
Go Steelers? [emoji51] Pirates? Penguines?

XC70 D5 2011 Polestar AWD/IPD

 

I went from an '04 VR to a 2011 XC60 T6. Not a slow vehicle but you won't be happy with the chassis or the much smaller cargo area. I only kept my XC60 for a year, as it just didn't suit my needs. Great car, comfortable, looks good...just not what an R wagon guy was looking for.

The XC70 T6 is THE best Volvo I've ever owned. Mine also has Polestar on it. With that, it is faster than my R ever was, has just as much room as the VR (if not more), but doesn't handle quite as well. T6s are out there, you just may need to look out of your State if you really want one. There are quite a few up here right now. But these are the hot ticket items right now among the Volvo purists. True T6, full-sized swedish beast wagon.

Some plastidip, different wheels and tires, and I got to this...

 

I went from an '04 VR to a 2011 XC60 T6. Not a slow vehicle but you won't be happy with the chassis or the much smaller cargo area. I only kept my XC60 for a year, as it just didn't suit my needs. Great car, comfortable, looks good...just not what an R wagon guy was looking for.

The XC70 T6 is THE best Volvo I've ever owned. Mine also has Polestar on it. With that, it is faster than my R ever was, has just as much room as the VR (if not more), but doesn't handle quite as well. T6s are out there, you just may need to look out of your State if you really want one. There are quite a few up here right now. But these are the hot ticket items right now among the Volvo purists. True T6, full-sized swedish beast wagon.

Some plastidip, different wheels and tires, and I got to this...

Oh man, that looks good. I'm not picky about the exterior color, but yours is basically exactly what I'm looking for. My "ideal" is a 2011+ XC70 T6, dark interior, technology package. Haven't had much luck finding "it" yet.

Did you add the Polestar tune? Is that the Polestar tune from the 2012+ XC60 T6 R-Design?

Do you find that you commonly use the technology package features (lane keeping, dynamic cruise, not sure what else)? I want to have them, but I've never had them before to know if I'd actually use them much or if I should be writing cars off for not having it.

 

XC70=ART

b a ཉ xc ཛ l o ༀ a [emoji264]__

 

Thanks, dude. I'm in love with this car, I won't lie, lol. I have the black interior, and have put black "brushed metallic" vinyl over the wood-grain pieces to complete the effect. The car came with the Polestar optimization, which I believe is the same tune as that XC60 R-Design would get (325 hp, 369 ft lbs). It hauls.

I have all options on that and do the following:
Lane departure = off
Adaptive cruise = used it once to see if it worked
Crash Warning = amazing system, worth the price of admission even if you don't use the other stuff

I don't know what else comes with it, as I don't utilize much of those features. But the crash avoidance thing is really nice. It blaps loudly and flashes red lights on the windshield in front of the driver (like a heads up display) if you are approaching an obstacles too quickly, or if some jack knob cuts across two lanes of traffic to make a left turn.

 

The crash warning is specifically a part of the technology package, right? It's all in that same unit in the grille?

I wonder if that module is plug and playable...

 

I think it's part of that package. I gets me confused with all that come with it.

But I don't think it can be retrofitted. The crash avoidance thingamajig is tied into an internal alert system, which is a light bar on the dash in front of the driver (near the defroster vent) that projects onto the inside of the windshield. Then there's the software that makes it work. I imagine retrofitting the whole system would be expensive.

 

I doubt the radar sensor is plug-n-play without a lot of flashes to update the CEM and enable features not in the car build, if it's even possible, but then again I'm not really up to date on these P3's. As an aside I've included the 2009-2010 XC70 T6 in my search and for grins I checked the Polestar optimasation. The 2011+ goes from 300hp/325tq to 325/354, but the pre-2011 seems to benefit more from the upgrade from 281/295 to 311/354.

 

Yeah, sounds like there's way too many parts to incorporate.

That's great info! Thank you for that! Knowing that the 09-10 could be made to have roughly the same power takes away some of my concerns about buying those years.

 

No problem, I've been wondering the same thing myself. I guess the caveat is to check with your local Volvo dealer and verify the info https://www.polestar.com/us/product/xc70-t6-awd-automatic-2009/

Not that 281hp wouldn't be fast enough for me ... heck I have a P2 S80 with 208 lol. I like the P3 S80 better, but no P* for the S80 (sad), and I really need a bigger ,more flexible vehicle, preferably a T6 over the V8.

 

I think I've become a little too accustomed to the aftermarket support of the R... I was just looking around and basically no one makes anything aftermarket for the XC70 T6. That's disappointing. Not a deal breaker, just surprising considering how potent the T6 can be and how prevalent it is in the model lineup.

Wonder if Polestar is still trying to charge $1,500 for the firmware upgrade.

 

XC70 D5 2011 Polestar AWD/IPD

 

Earlier this summer after I gave up on finding an '07 XC70, I was sort of in the same boat as you, considering a 2011 and 2009 (after looking at many). They were similarly optioned and both black/black, but the '11 had more miles and was more money. In the end, I went with the 52k mi '09 and I'm really happy that I did. You may disagree, but I LOVE the interior of the '09 compared to the later ones. It's much more "traditional Volvo," imo, with beautifully finished wood (straight grain and not shiny) and very little silver (the steering wheel and console are the old all-black style). While everyone else is trying to figure out how to update their chrome window surrounds to the '16 all-black XC70 Classic look, I just look at mine and smile, as they're black already too.

For the money difference between the '11 and the '09, I can get Polestar (which I hope to soon) and still have saved a decent bit, so the power difference wasn't a big deal to me. Besides, I was coming from a 240. Anything that moves seems like a rocket.

I might have made a different decision if the '09 had been the first year of the P3 XC70, but since it wasn't, I figured I was okay in that respect.

Get whichever one you like, of course, but I wouldn't necessarily be turned off by the '09 if you find a nice one.

 

Something like this: ?

Nice! How is the geartronic doing in the 2009? Smooth?

XC70 D5 2011 Polestar AWD/IPD

 

Depends on what you're going for. If you have the money, as I always say, go for the 2011+ T6. More powerful engine, gen II of the transmission which is miles faster and better fuel efficiency. I've driven a 2014 T6 enough to say that it in sport mode drinks as much petrol as my S80 V8 does and sport mode does feel more bonkers. V8 sounds better but it's not like the T6 doesn't sound good; it sounds really great. In all honesty I'd pick a well-equipped low milaged "old" T6 above a 2011 one but if you want the "full" T6 experience you'll want the latter. Overall I think it's the drive-trains' biggest let-down on my S80.

As for where to look, MY11 should've begun production as early as may-june sometime in 2010, the aforementioned 2014 T6 was produced in May 2013.

Auto-braking: Was fitted as standard from some certain model year, I don't know which. I think adaptive cruise can be obtained without autobrakes but it's easy to check, you'll have a lot of sensors on the wind screen in front of the rear view mirror. Lasers and what not. And no, it's not retrofitable. Neither keyless nor autobrakes nor adaptive cruise can be retrofitted as there's no software available to install (a CEM flash as someone said might do the trick but that's not something that's done in a jiffy).

Power: The early T6 benefits more from being polestared than the later one. The 2008 T6 has a much steeper torque curve, if I recall correctly and I've heard it does a lot for the power delivery whereas the new T6 "just" has the torque curve extend from the previous cut-off at 440 Nm up to 480 Nm.

 

Is the 2011+ such an improvement that I should forgo all -2010 models?

Yes. I test drove an 09 T6 and then an 11 T6 and it was a massive difference. We bought the '11.

 

Out of curiosity, what did you find different? I drove a few '11s and [my current] '09 and the only difference I found was that the '09 didn't rattle. I didn't really push any of them though, so if it was a power difference only, I wouldn't have noticed.

 

@ Warped: TELL US Buddy... So you did a thing in 2009?

[emoji316]

b a ཉ xc ཛ l o ༀ a [emoji264]__

 

Well like I said before in this topic; reason I bought the MY11+ was basically the Geartronic improvement. Much much smoother from what I read in reviews and I can confirm it. I changed oil in mine and man it is smoooothhhh, both in Sport and D! Remember when you testdrive:

"UNDERSTEER" is when you hit the fence with the front of the car.
"OVERSTEER" is when you hit the fence with the rear of the car.
"HORSEPOWER" is how fast you hit the fence.
"TORQUE" is how far you take the fence with you.

XC70 D5 2011 Polestar AWD/IPD

 

I've been in that "hate every automatic camp" myself...you get over it, lol.

No rattles from mine, and I'm up here with you, posaune. 72,700 miles on the clock and no noises

 

Really, only one of the '11s I drove had rattles. I was mostly referring to a few peoples' comments on the newer center console and its creaking. I have no first hand experience with it. I'm actually amazed at how well these cars are built. My wife drives a SAAB, and, well... a garbage can full of ball bearings on a metal trailer being driven on a dirt road would rattle less. I do have to say that it has been 100% trouble-free over its almost 220,000mi though. AND IT'S A MANUAL!

As for that, I'm in my 40s. I don't think I'm going get over it anytime soon.

We're sort of off topic here (sorry). R-P, are you any closer to buying anything?

 

Glad to hear you guys are so happy with the XC70.. Manual or GT...

Dont buy a pre-2011
Dont buy a post-2011
Buy a 2011... For the sake of the GEARTRONIC...and a Polestar chip for x-mas.
All years after 2011 are better and better Im sure but not all THAT much... More expensive for sure. Like somebody said before; money no issue-->>MY16+!

Not sure when in 2010 they changed to MY11.
Let us know what its gonna be(...)

b a ཉ xc ཛ l o ༀ a [emoji264]__

 

Interesting: MY13 gen V haldex... Hmmm... Worse huh? Good to know.

b a ཉ xc ཛ l o ༀ a [emoji264]__

 

I've driven gen III and gen V enough to compare. Gen III is passively powered by the prop shafts rotation and by an electrical pump. Gen IV is purely electrical but also has an accumulator and a valve which allows it to build up pressure beforehand that can be released in an instant by opening the valve (not sure if gen III has this though). Gen V scrapped the accumulator in favor of a bigger pump, overall in favor for a cheaper haldex unit.

If you're coming from a 2WD car it's heaps better. Gen V is no deal breaker, it's just that it's not as quick in favor of being cheap. My gen III does feel better but I'd guess it causes more fuel consumption than gen IV or V. Gen V has even been unpredictable at times when the front tires have understeered on snow only to engage the rears with a thunk and kick the tail out. Not just once but a bunch of times and not under particularly aggressive driving. But I guess that might be software correctible too.