I know the T5 is FWD & R is AWD, other than that, do they have the same turbo, ECU, ETC... Also, is it a regular frinedly car? Thanks.

Neither the T5 or the R like to run on regular gas. 87 minimum, 92 octane prefered. At 10 to 20 cents more a gallon, no big deal.

The R has Nivomats on the rear, self leveling. It has sport springs all around, so the ride is a little rougher but cornering is flat. It rides 2 inches lower than the T5 and has a nasty habit of scratching the R air dam under the front bumper when you park nose in to a curb or cement bump stops. The door panels are leather, not vinyl that pulls away and looks like it came from a Yugo. The exhaust manifold is different, giving more BHP at top end.
The R also has AWD, which can be a nightmare if you do a lot of heavy right foot driving in slippery conditions. No torque steer!

The T5 is a plain jane V70 with all of the normal options and a powerful engine. Slightly better mpg than the R.

Klaus
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Praying for Cynthia Amendt, heaven bound

Same turbo, same engine as the T5, different ECU, 4 more HP than the T5 (more in a 99 and 2000 model), and the ECU will "overboost" for a period of up to 30 seconds.

The interior (seats) is a little different, there are different wheels than the T5, and a different front spoiler.

Basically, though, it's a fast XC70. Go for the T5 if you don't need AWD and don't care about the novelty of the 'R' model. My S70 T5 feels loads faster than the 98 R I've driven (maybe because it weighs about 300 lbs less).