Volvo attempt to regain the estate crown

[RogerL]

Autocar today carried brief details of the new V70 / XC70, due for 2007. It'll be built on a Ford Group platform, not the Mondeo, and will attempt to regain the title of best large load carrier and will therefore be considerably larger than the current V70.

Interestingly, the Volvo straight 6 petrol engine is being put into large scale production by Ford for use in their products. Can't imagine why they want both a V6 and a straight 6.

 

[sparkes]

Roger

The straight 6 is a very smooth engine and is used more in the exec market for top end cars, the v6 is normally more powerful.

Also, the v6 is a lot shorter than the straight 6

Steve

 

[RogerL]

I think Fords version of the ex-Volvo straight 6 will include a supercharged version, so it's likely to be more powerful than any of the V6 derivatives. It's unclear at this stage whether the Jaguar X-type will continue to use the V6, which was derived from the Ford Duratec V6, or whether they'll use the new straight 6.

The Volvo/Ford straight 6 is short enough to be fitted transversely so maybe the Duratec V6 is due to be dropped.