The Volvo S70, like its brother with the V70 station wagon, was developed as an evolution of the hugely successful Volvo 850. It does not take a close look to see the Volvo 850 lines, only they are slightly rounded and softer in the new model. It was one of Volvo's first steps in getting rid of angular and rough designs, and they succeeded, even though the first attempts were extremely timid. The main engine was a five-cylinder in-line petrol 2.4-liter engine with 168 hp (125 kW), and the turbo version of this engine had 190 hp (142 kW). The most powerful version of the S70-R squeezed out a solid 250 hp (186 kW) and 350 Nm of torque from a relatively small 2.3-liter engine.