I wanted to tow the DWR Bambi Airstream with our Volvo XC70 station wagon, but since we couldn’t get a class 3 hitch mounted, we needed to upgrade our tow-vehicle and we hit it right with the Volvo XC90 Sport.

Volvo XC90 pulling a 2008 DWR Airstream trailer up the Oregon coast

The whole point of a travel trailer is that when you disconnect you have a great vehicle to explore the region you are camping in and you have a great vehicle to sit in for 27 hours while driving to Florida or California during the winter for a break from the cold.  I would not have been able to sit in most other tow-vehicles for 17 hours nearly non-stop and still be able to walk.

Auto-Leveling Rear Suspension

Since the Volvo XC90 Sport can carry 7 people it has the NIVOMAT LEVEL CONTROL SYSTEM (fully automatic) already installed that is an automatic shock absorber adjustment, depending on the load the car is carrying. The car returns to its unloaded height level automatically once the Airstream is disconnected from the Volvo.  This also meant we didn’t need to get a clumsy load-balancing hitch.

Mirrors

Volvo XC90 Caravan Mirrors

You can also see on the pictures that we use Volvo’s caravan mirrors that give me a great view all around the DWR Airstream. Another benefit is that since the mirrors stick out, it is a great aid while driving through tight spaces, since the mirrors jut out a little past the trailer’s width.

Mirrors are cheap, Airstreams are not.  The mirrors also pop off easily once we unhitch the Airstream trailer by opening the hood on the Volvo XC90. Tristan Grobel from Borton Volvo in Minneapolis found them for me.

Split Tailgate

Volvo XC90 tailgate split

Another great feature of the Volvo XC90 is that the Tailgate is split into two parts.  This means that we can access the trunk space while being connected to the Airstream trailer.

If Volvo would have made the rear hatch in one section, the trailer lift jack would be in the way and you would have to disconnect the trailer to get to the items in your trunk.

Also, you can sit on the bottom hatch section and put your hiking boots on. And, it certainly makes it easy to rest heavy items on there while you make space for the item in your trunk.

Shifting with Geartronic

The amazing thing is that even with the extra weight of the trailer the Volvo XC90 Sport handles with such ease and pulls uphill at 70MPH without showing much strain.  When I’m driving on the freeway, I use the cruise control and when I hit a hill the Volvo will usually shift down from 6th to 5th, on steeper hills it will shift to 4th.  If it really gets steep, it will shift to 3rd – but then why scream up a hill? So, I use the geartronic shifter and switch it back to 4th; this will make the rig slow dow a bit, but I think it is much more pleasant that way.

DWR Airstream easily pulled up over the Rocky Mountains by a Volvo XC90 Sport

I use the greatronic shifter all the time.  I can anticipate a downshift and force the Volvo XC90 Sport to stay in a certain gear, making for a much smoother, less revved-up ride.  On descents I will downshift and let the engine do most of the breaking. Even when rolling to a stop sign or stop light, I will downshift taking the load off the brakes.  I drive this way with or without the Airstream trailer.

Brake-Tax

In fact I would propose a “brake-tax.” If you have to use the brakes, you didn’t anticipate and look far enough ahead.  The “brake-tax” would be a meter in your car counting the number of times you depress the brake pedal when driving and you would pay the state to improve the roads.

I see brake lights going off like firecrackers, for no good reason except that everybody is tailgating and therefore can’t anticipate speed changes of the traffic ahead.  When you leave enough distance, you will hardly need to brake.  Of course, the person behind you is freaking out because they might not get to their destination 30-seconds earlier with burned-out brake-pads, stressed out body and maybe feeling unconsciously bad about having pushed other people around.

So, I really like space in front of me and I’m certain the persons in front of me likes space behind them.  I’m not pushing and if they are slow, I pass, yes even with the Airstream.  It is amazing what torque the V8 Yamaha engine in the Volvo XC90 Sport can crank out, if necessary.

My list of good driving includes:

• Keep a distance and give space to other vehicles – especially bikes and motorcycles
• Merge at same speed as freeway traffic, get it up to speed, don’t dwaddle
• Signal all your turns
• Try to drive using your breaks as little as possible, this will solve most bad driving behavior from the start. It is amazing how coasting will slow you down when you have the space to do it in.
• Don’t push!  Only push if you like to be pushed.
• Enjoy the process of driving; don’t focus on getting to the destination – there are many beautiful people and places between start and finish.

So that is how I drive and why I love a wonderfully-designed and well-powered tow-vehicle to pull our beautiful DWR Airstream trailer.

This is why we camp. To be in nature and to live a life of luxury while being there.

Polk Audio MM651um in silver

The four stock speakers in the DWR Airstream were $16 coaxial pieces of OEM crap, unfortunately.  For the kind of money a DWR Airstream costs, I would have liked to see a more premium speaker system be standard.  But, that’s not the case. So, I went out and searched for a suitable speaker replacement that would fit the existing holes.

I found some great choices and ended up with the 6-1/2″ diameter Polk Audio MM651UM. This silver colored model is the Ultra Marine model for extra protection from sun, water and salt – for when we park this Airstream semi-permanently on a beach in Hawaii.

Given the mod white interior of the DWR Airstream, I didn’t want all black speakers. Silver works. White speakers of the quality I wanted were not to be found. I got four speakers for under $500.

Polk Audio Speakers next to the Nelson Ball Clock

I installed them in under 2 hours.  I did have to drill a few new holes since they didn’t line up with the old speaker screw holes, but they look great and the sound is way better.  My ears don’t get fatigued anymore and we can enjoy a more high fidelity sound while we are cooking and watching movies in the trailer.

Volvo XC90 with Dynaudio

Our Volvo XC90 V8 Sport on the other hand has a Dynaudio speaker system that still blows me away. WOW! When I used to be a audio mastering engineer, I edited on Dynaudio Acoustic C3  speakers and it was a pleasure.

So I say to Airstream:  Please check out Dynaudio and see if you can have them customize a system for your trailer line. I would have certainly paid for the upgrade.

DWR Airstream + Volvo XC90 V8 Sport in the Badlands, SD (photo: Martin Thomas)

I love Volvos, for many reasons, so I had to find one that could pull our new DWR Airstream. We went to our dealership and drove a used 2004  XC90 and it was uninspired. I talked to my wonderful sales person, Tristan Grobel at Borton Volvo in Minneapolis, MN and asked, “What about the new Sport Edition?” and he said, “I’ll let you drive it. You’re going to love it.”  He was right.  The moment I opened the door, Kate screamed, “This is it.” And, once I started the V8 and took the first corner, I was hooked.  What a great car.  What a fantastic ride.  Tight, quick and a nice V8 roar when you kick it.

We bought it and Borton Volvo installed my brake controller for pulling the “Streaming Daemon.” That was so much fun for them that we brought the mechanic two 24-packs of Budweiser (that is what the guy liked) when we picked up the Volvo XC90 Sport as a bonus for his effort.  They had to remove the seats and run new cables to the back. Fun!

Then we drove out to Eugene, Oregon to pick up one of the last remaining DWR Airstreams. Tom Hanks bought the other DWR model at our dealership.

Zipping over the Rockies with this V8 beast was more than fun.

Pulling the Airstream is even better.

It is so smooth, quiet and powerful. A combo one seldom sees. I even have a feeling we might be the only people in the US pulling an Airsteam with a Swedish car named WOTAN. It is a great combo. Great design and performance front and back.

DWR Airstream Bambi with Volvo XC 90 Sport in Wyoming