Volvo XC60 | Video Review | CarsIreland.ie

Published on 20 October, 2017

The new Volvo XC60 is a safe, comfortable, and luxurious way to get around, with an interior that's going to be hard to beat

Overview

Overview

Volvo may be best known for their estate models, but they have been making some serious waves on the SUV market recently. First they gave us the much applauded new XC90, and now, for those who don't quite need all that space, we have this - the new XC60. It's got the same, muscular stance and elegant presence as it's older brother, but with neater dimensions that are going to make it much easier to live with for city-dwellers. Not to mention save them quite a bit of money.

Interior Gallery

The XC60 cabin is not just practical, it is stunning. Simple, elegant, modern, and wonderfully understated - it’s a very nice place to be.

Also impressive is the abundance of tidy, useful storage compartments, which will leave you amazed at how much stuff you can squeeze into the cabin without it ever looking messy or crowded.

The back seats offer just as much luxury as German rivals, with plenty of space, a pull down centre armrest, and rear ventilation.

Surprisingly for a Volvo, at 505 litres, the boot is not the largest in the class, beaten quite considerably by the Audi Q5 and BMW X3 (both 550l). But no load lip and seats that fold flush to the floor do make it nice and handy for loading things in and out, and again, the finish is impeccable.

Our test car was the Momentum model, which is technically the entry-level version, although the amount of kit on board is still incredibly generous.

Standard features include Dual Zone Climate control with an air quality filter, heated leather seats with lumbar support, rain sensing window wipers, park assist, cruise control and a 10 inch touchscreen display.

There are upgrades available to either the sportier R-design model which adds sportier styling and suspension, or the Inscription model which also gets upgraded styling both inside and out.

Infotainment is taken care of by Sensus Connect, which is a fully touch screen system, except for the air-con and volume controls. It's a great system to use, SatNav is standard, and as far as functionality and phone connectivity goes, it's about as good as they get. It can however be just a little bit fiddly to use when on the move, though there is a competent voice control system to combat this.

Safety is another Volvo strong point, and although it hasn’t been NCAP crash tested yet, it is expected to get full marks like the XC90 did. There is also a host of very impressive driver assisting features available as part of the Intellisafe pack. This includes Adaptive cruise control, and a steering assistance system which will help you swerve to avoid any unexpected obstacles that may end up in your path.

There’s a choice of three engines – two 2.0 litre diesels, and a twin engine plug-in Hybrid. Ours was the lower-powered 190hp D4 diesel model which offers all-wheel drive power and a claimed fuel economy of 5.2 litres per 100km.

How popular it will in light of recent statements from Volvo on their future plans to scrap diesel in 2020 remains to be seen, but if this is to be one of the last of the Volvo diesels, it’s a very refined one. It’s incredibly quiet in the cabin, and the automatic gearbox offers a seamless power uptake with very little lag.

The best thing Volvo have done here is not try to make the XC60 sporty at all. It’s all about comfort and refinement and it offers both by the bucketload, from the cosseting seats, to the quiet and relaxing cabin. The steering is nice and light which adds to that effortless feel, although it does have adjustable force if you prefer to weight it up a bit. The suspension then does a great job of ironing out any harsher road surfaces.

All Volvos come with a three-year/150,000km warranty. The brand has a good reputation for reliability and they seem to hold their value well on the used market as a result.

All in all, the XC60 is a very impressive package, and a worthy consideration for those who want a premium SUV that isn't German.

Facts & Figures

Sinead McCann

Sinéad is our resident car tester who has the unenviable (-ok, slightly enviable) task of reviewing all the latest new cars to hit the market. You can follow her on Twitter @smcani and on Instagram @whatshedrives