There are a lot of differing opinions on side hop, as does my definition of side hop. I did some quick googling to find an explanation of what it means for me and found this one:
http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?192872I only experience it when one of the rear wheels impacts a sharp bump that unsettles the car. It feels like the impact toes out the rear wheel and the back end changes direction for a split second which gives a very disconcerting feeling. When I read about it I assumed it was any bumps, but ring road here in Regina is TERRIBLE, and my 00' R is actually pretty damn rough as the impacts really feel quite hard. In the 06' R they are handled MUCH better, and the rear end stays planted. There were no signs of side hop at all when the impact was simultaneously hit with both rear wheels (IE expansion joints / frost heaves). Where the car noticeably is affected is where there is missing pavement chunks or pot holes on the road that impact one side of the car.
The toe change makes sense to me, as does running 0 toe, but I only if 0 toe settings result in less toe when the suspension is loaded on impact. When I get the wheel alignment done I want to get them to anchor the car and see what kind of deflection is attained in the rear of the car when the suspension has a "thrust" force applied to the suspension which basically sees how much bushing deflection is possible with a moderate amount of force applied. Taking out the compliance, then 0 toe align it with the force applied - then release the suspension and see if it stays in spec. My feeling is that the wheels are toeing out on impact and that's why it feels like the rear end is stepping out. Not sure I want to replace any bushings at this point if they're not needed, but new updated OEM ones might be a good option after the alignment, but I'll make that call when I check the car out myself.
I should probably give a bit more info on why I chose the V70R: I'm a winter traction freak, and I'm HUGELY protective of my family in winter. All my cars run studded winter tires, and if the 06' didn't come with nice Dunlop Graspic DS2 winter tires I would have installed studded winter tires on it as well. (Still might if the Dunlops don't cut it). I hate mini vans (they steal your soul!), can't stand SUV/CUV handling, I like cool cars - and always LOVED wagons since I was kid. I'm not a dyed in the wool Volvo guy, they are simply the best cars that have all the features I wanted in a family car. My preference is actually Peugeot cars, but developed an AWD addiction owning Subaru's which is why AWD is so critical when we found out we had bambino #1 on the way. Tried out all the AWD cars I could find in our budget and found the newer Subie's sorely lacking. Searched ebay with only "AWD + Wagon" and that's how I found the V70 series Volvos. A bit of research and I chose the 00' R as the best one, and then found a really nice one in Edmonton after driving an XC locally and really liking it. Drove the R and was sold - it buried the Subie in refinement. (Interior space beat out MB, BMW and Audi - 260HP I5 didn't hurt either). That's the only reason I'm driving Volvo's - and it's the only reason I've added the 06' R as it's even better than our 00' R in some areas.
So while the G8 is a stunning car in it's own right - it's not even a consideration. Given all my criteria - the R really is the best suited car for us at the moment.
Rabin