I own a Subaru, my GF is the one who just bought a 2006 S60 2.5T. I am just wondering how that AWD system is. Is it more passive and the car is FWD most of the time ? I see it more of a reaction type system ? Anyone got any good vidoes of Volvo's in the snow or comparison videos. I have seen a few on Youtube but most are not in English so while I can see, I can't understand how they are describing it. Thanks !

 

A friend of mine has a xc70. The AWD is actually pretty amazing. He crawls right up the snot with no problem.

But I have heard that the AWD is Volvos weakest link.

 

I have a 98 xc v70awd and love it in the snow. Beyond tires, my guess is that it's heavy and fairly so front and back. Been in snowstorms where everyone is stuck and I'm plowing (literally) through two feet of snow. This is a highlight of this car for me. I'm more confident of not getting stuck (in snow) than I was my disco or range rover. I have a steep driveway that is a problem with everything else but the volvo just chugs right up it everytime.

 

I have never owned one but from what I understand they are AWD. No passiveness about it. Post '01 they are great, really no problems from what I have read. All 4 wheels get the same power and torque.
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Just learned that they are passive. Mostly FWD.

 

My mech told me to stay away from anything under 04. He said the only reason he likes em, is they put food on his table.

 

I've heard similar, but haven't had any issues (knock on wood twice) and my awd 98 xc had 198k miles. I think a big thing is that when they do fail it is big dollars. Have heard of many just de-coupling when that happened rather than repair/replace.

 

Yep. A lot of them become fwd, because they are pretty expensive to replace. I belive its something to do with the transaxles.

 

A Volvo indi shop around here said that if you run tires that are worn evenly you usually don't have a problem. Start mixing tires like putting 1 new one on and the rest being worn 60% will likely be the beginning of the end. Keep them with even tire wear and they usually last a long time.

 

Up to '07 the AWD is a reaction type of system. The car is either (can't remember off the top of my head) 90% or 95% FWD bias and when the car detects wheel slip, then you will get power delivered to the rear wheels.

The Volvo's usually get around pretty damn good in the snow, but that being said my parents Outback dominated my S60R a few years back in the snow.

Here's a decent video of Subaru AWD Vs. others. Volvo is at 2:45
Subaru AWD vs. Everyone Else - YouTube

 

Owners manual info on the AWD:
https://customers.volvocars.com/owne...0_08a.htm#pg94

 

Wow - just watched that video - should I be worried about my V50's AWD performance? The Volvo in the video did horribly.