V70: Series 2 v Series 3

[100K+]

I'm looking for comment from members who have migrated from the P2 V70/XC70 to the newer P3 series of car.
If I move from my current T5/AWD R to a P3 it must be a manual, but the thing that puts me off the most is the lack of a proper handbrake- the electronic version fills me with dread. How do others find the change, do you regret it or should you have done it sooner??
Over to you...

Cheers

Bob

[TimS]

I had a P2 V70 manual from new for 11 years, & recently bought a new P3 V70 D4 Geartronic. Handbrake isn't a problem, although obviously a manual box had different requirements with the HB than a manual does. The placement of the hb leaver in the P2 was excellent, & I used it a lot. Interestingly, I've had more than one European colleague remark on how Brits use the handbrake all the time in traffic: Germans at least seem to find it odd.

Mostly it looks after itself: put it on, & either let it off manually, or it'll do it when you press the throttle. It won't auto-release if you don't have your seatbelt on, which still catches me out moving the car on the drive. Unless there's a hill-start system, I would imagine it's more of a pain in a manual.

I use it less than the old one, since with the stop-start system, the engine restarts as soon as you take your foot off the brake, regardless of whether the handbrake's applied.

In summary, it works fine & I don't dislike it (unlike the one on a Vauxhall I had as a hire car), but if it was a straight choice, particularly with a manual, I'd prefer a proper one. Having said that, the manual handbrake lever is on the wrong side in the V40.

Tim.