I'm considering getting a new V70 XC especially for winter excursions
into the Catskills and Berkshires.
Would any owners please comment on their experiences with the car on
snowy, hilly roads? Does it handle hills well?
All I can say is that mine handles superbly on gravel roads, which is a
lot like snow, only less so. I did learn on snow, so I know the
difference.
We don't get real snow where I live now ... but if I was driving on
thick snow I'd look at getting tyres with spikes, and on steep hills
with thick snow I'd put on chains.
Gods know what that would do to the abs and traction control computers -
I certainly don't. Considering Sweden, though ...
One of the best snow-mobiles I've been in was my father's VW1200 beetle,
with a bag of sand or cement in the front luggage compartment and snow
chains on the tyres: we left everybody else at the bottom of some very
steep hills in the Harz mountains in Germany. Only the heater was
useless in those, utterly useless.
-P.