VOLVO

SAFE CRACKER Volvo’s XC60 is safe, versatile and, with D5 diesel power, it can be respectably economical too. Steve Walker reports

Volvo’s XC60 isn’t just another compact 4x4. The Swedish marque has pushed the sector’s boundaries in terms of safety and interior versatility. The D5 diesel engine isn’t the smoothest or the most economical unit of its kind but it copes with the XC60’s substantial bulk effectively and makes the most of the car’s impressive chassis. The automatic option is preferable from a driver’s perspective but comes with a fuel economy penalty.

In an area of the car market as congested as the compact 4x4 sector, a manufacturer’s mere presence may not be enough. Even attendance with a reasonably adept product in tow is no guarantee of sales success. The key is differentiation, having a car that stands out from the thronging crowd of rival options that vie for the public’s attention. This can be achieved by means of astute marketing, advanced technology or inherent style and with its XC60, Volvo is pedalling its own special blend of all three. Here we check out the D5 diesel models that are destined to be strong sellers. It’s no exaggeration to say that almost every self-respecting mainstream car manufacturer now has a compact 4x4 product of some description on sale in the UK. Some have two. The sector has been a major growth area over recent years bringing the big names flocking to get in on the act. Volvo has a decent history of 4x4 products with the XC90 and XC70 having been well received, so the only surprise where the XC60 is concerned is that it took the Swedish firm so long to get it to market. The delay looked all the more unusual given that Volvo seemed ideally placed to come at the potentially lucrative compact 4x4 segment from its own unique angle. The traditional Volvo attributes of safety and cool Scandinavian design with a family-friendly bent seem ideally matched to the typical compact 4x4 buyer profile. All this meant that the XC60 always appeared a great idea in theory and with Volvo’s accomplished D5 diesel thrown in, the prospect was more desirable still. The question is, how does the car shape up in the metal?

"This is one of the safest cars you can buy full stop…."

The D5 is the more powerful of the two diesels that will account for over 95% of all-wheel-drive XC60 sales - the T6 petrol being a little on the thirsty side for UK tastes. The entry-level 2.4-litre unit has 163bhp but the D5, a derivative of the same 2.4-litre 5-cylinder powerplant, chips in with a full fat 185bhp. The 0-60mph sprint can be dispatched in 9.5s if you’re using the manual gearbox but the shift lever is positioned a little too far back, perhaps as a result of the steeply raked centre console, and isn’t the most comfortable or rewarding thing to use. The Geartronic automatic suits the engine’s prodigious 400Nm maximum torque and produces a more relaxing driving experience, although the 0-60mph time is slowed to a shade under 10s. Engine noise in the XC60 is very well suppressed, a factor that’s particularly noteworthy as the D5 unit can be slightly raucous in other models. Accelerate hard and the distinctive offbeat roar of the 5-cylinder engine is audible but not unpleasant. ‘Compact’ isn’t a word that immediately springs to mind when driving this compact 4x4. It feels (and is) on the large side. The D5 copes very adeptly with its bulk however and the big Volvo also corners with a surprising degree of composure. Body roll, the dynamic nemesis of high-riding 4x4 vehicles, is very well controlled and although the suspension does shudder a little over poor road surfaces, the ride is generally smooth. Volvo’s past 4x4 efforts haven’t been at home in an off-road environment but the XC60 promises to be the best of the lot. Its 230mm ground clearance is superior to the larger XC90, there’s a 22 degree approach angle and the wading depth is 350mm. This still isn’t a vehicle you’d want to tackle serious obstacles in but with torque automatically distributed between all four wheels by the Intelligent Traction 4x4 system, it should trundle down muddy tracks and take pesky gravel driveways in its stride. Can we really class a 1,825kg car measuring 4,628mm in length and 1,891mm in width as a ‘compact’ 4x4? Volvo’s marketing department says we can, so we’ll go with them on that one. The suspension of disbelief is made easier by the way the XC60’s exterior styling disguises its bulk. This isn’t a 4x4 from the super-aggressive chrome-spangled school and that will please buyers wanting to maintain a low profile about town. That’s not to say that the XC60 isn’t a handsome car. There’s some attractive detailing around the bodywork and Volvo’s latest styling cues are put to good use but the look from some angles is more that of a jacked-up estate than a 4x4. Volvo’s XC90 built its success on its superbly versatile interior and the XC60 has pinched a few of that car’s ideas. The rear seats, which offer generous quantities of legroom by the way, are split 40/20/40 and each can be folded down at the release of a catch. Parents will go all gooey over the integrated child booster cushions that are available as an option. These simply fold out of the seat base and can be set at one of two heights. Under the boot floor, there’s a secure storage area that can’t be opened without the tailgate being lifted, making it a great place to keep valuable items safe when the car’s parked. The general quality of the interior is also well up to snuff. The windscreen wipers on our test vehicle made an interminable racket sounding like Donald Duck on helium and the satellite navigation system controls mounted on the reverse of the steering wheel aren’t the most intuitive to use. Build and materials quality is tough to fault, however, and the ‘Scandinavian Design’ on which the manufacturer prides itself sets the XC60 apart from rivals that slavishly ape cold Germanic themes. And so we come to the XC60’s secret weapon; safety. Just when rivals thought they’d reigned Volvo back in by matching its airbag and seatbelt pre-tensioner quotas, the Swedes have leaped ahead again with ‘City Safety’. This technology uses an array of lasers mounted ahead of the rear view mirror to scan the road 6 meters ahead of the car. If it detects another vehicle and calculates from the closing speed that a collision is imminent, it applies the brakes and can bring the XC60 to a complete stop from speeds below 18mph. In urban traffic, it’s incredibly effective and has the potential to illuminate the low speed collisions that account for more than 75% of all accidents. Most impressive of all is that along with DSTC stability control, RSC Roll Stability Control, a hugely advanced braking system and a vast array of airbags, ‘City Safety’ is standard on all XC60 models. The XC60 trim levels run from S to SE Lux with the SE models making up the numbers in-between. Standard equipment includes 17" alloy wheels, powered heated mirrors, electronic climate control, split folding seats and the Performance audio system. There’s also an impressive range of hi-tec options including adaptive headlights, park assist, adaptive cruise control, a lane departure warning system, the Blind Spot Information System and hill descent control. Insurers have been so impressed by Volvo’s City Safety system that they’re offering discounts of up to 10% on premiums for XC60 drivers and residual values for the car are predicted to out-strip rivals at the premium end of the compact 4x4 sector. The XC60 D5 should also prove reasonably cost-effective to run despite its size and weight. The D5 engine delivers 37.7mpg on the combined cycle but that drops to 34mpg with the automatic gearbox installed. Emissions are 199g/km and 219g/km for the manual and auto respectively. Volvo’s XC60 arrived late to the compact 4x4 party to find its rivals already living it up on the dance floor. It needed to do something special to wrestle buyers’ attention away from the usual suspects and against the odds, it looks to have delivered. This is one of the safest cars you can buy full stop. The interior displays a high level of in-built versatility and with the D5 diesel engine installed, it’s also a polished proposition on the road. While other manufacturers have battled over whose compact 4x4 was the trendiest, the sportiest to drive or the most striking to look at, Volvo has stuck with what it knows. The XC60’s combination of understated style, family-orientated design and safety credentials that are a match for any car on the market ensure it’s different. Different and, for family buyers at least, better.

FACTS AT A GLANCE CAR: Volvo XC60 D5 PRICES: £25,750 - £29,550 – on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 14E CO2 EMISSIONS: 199-219g/km PERFORMANCE: Top Speed 127mph / 0-60mph 9.5s FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 28.8mpg / (extra urban) 45.6mpg / (combined) 37.7mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Front, side and curtain airbags, seat-belt pre-tensioners, DSTC, ABS, FBS, HBA, RAB, EBA, RSC, ROPS, City Safety. WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/height 4628/1891/2142mm

INTELLIGENT DESIGN It took Volvo quite some time to start building 4x4s. Not content with a ‘me-too’ product, the Swedish company is looking to lead the compact sector with its pretty XC60 model. Andy Enright reports

Built on the same chassis as the Ford Kuga, the Volvo XC60 compact 4x4 offers a rather more measured and mature proposition than the streetwise and sassy Ford. It’s nevertheless one of the latest generation of Volvo products that feature both genuinely smart design and an industrial measure of inbuilt desirability as standard.

Maybe I’m getting old, but 2002 really doesn’t seem that long ago. It was during this year that Volvo finally committed to building a 4x4 with its multi award-winning XC90. Let’s pause for a moment and consider quite how odd that is. Sweden is a country bigger than the UK, Greece and Ireland combined yet has less people than Belgium, it’s frequently covered in snow, its people enjoy outdoor leisure activities such as logging and driving into moose. It seems tailor-made for 4x4 ownership, yet neither Volvo or fellow Swedes, Saab, ever offered us a beefy SUV before 2002. All of which might go some way to explaining why Volvo seem keen to catch up on lost time, revising the XC90 and then launching a smaller model, the XC60, a car safe enough to make short work of an errant alces alces and yet still cut a dash on your local high street. Equipped as standard with all-wheel drive, the XC60 features InstantTraction to shift power from the front to the rear wheels if the system detects slippage, and is backed up by electronic stability control to avoid skids. Couple that with Trailer Stability Assist, Roll Stability Control and Hill Descent Control and it would appear to take some genuinely jaw-dropping ineptitude to get an XC60 out of shape. The chassis has been developed to give the XC60 a nimble, sporting feel and the engines comprise a 285bhp T6 3.0-litre petrol range-topper, augmented by a 185bhp D5 diesel and a 163bhp 2.4D entry-level diesel model. Needless to say, the XC60 doesn’t want for go, and all engines are mated to a six-speed gearbox. Buyers get to choose either manual or Geartronic auto, also a choice of S, SE and SE Lux trim levels. Sixth gear on all models is a pure overdrive ratio that makes motorway cruising more refined and economical. The body has been designed with the enthusiast driver in mind, with a huge degree of torsional rigidity and excellent sightlines out of the vehicle. Weight is distributed optimally between the front and rear axles and with 230mm of ground clearance, the XC60 won’t dishonour itself on a country track.

"In the XC60, Volvo has a compact 4x4 that is good enough to face down the very best in the market…"

Imagine an XC90 that’s been on a hot wash cycle for a couple of hours and that’s what the XC60 resembles; shrunken slightly, a little chamfered in its edging but recognisably a Volvo product and one that the company claim has turned up the visual volume. The grille is a little bolder, the car’s ‘shoulders’ more distinctive, especially when viewed from the rear. If you thought the C30 hatch was a neat piece of design, wait until you take a good look around the XC60. In fact, Volvo cite this compact 4x4 as the car that C30 owners are likely to migrate to after they start a family. The rear seats are higher than the front pair to give better visibility for children and the two outer seats in the back can be specified with two-stage booster cushions. The interior feels very airy courtesy of some serious glazing overhead, the laminated glass panorama roof being one of the biggest in the sector. The load opening at the back is also the widest amongst the XC60’s direct competition, opening to reveal a 480 litre capacity. As in the XC70, the rear seat is a three-piece affair that folds 40-20-40, with each section capable of folding down completely flat. Perhaps the most revolutionary piece of equipment in the XC60’s arsenal is its amazing City Safety function. This is Volvo’s technology for avoiding low-speed collisions in city traffic and tailbacks. If the car is about to drive into the vehicle in front and the driver does not react, the car brakes itself. Volvo claims that it’s the first manufacturer in the world to offer this type of feature as standard. Other technological highlights of the XC60 include ‘Clean Zone Interior’ system which will vent the interior at higher temperatures to ensure that allergy and asthma sufferers aren’t left wheezing. Plus there’s one of the best optional stereo installations available on a car at this level. The Premium Sound system features 12 Dynaudio speakers and a Dolby Pro Logic II Surround amplifier delivering 5x130 watts. An optional digital subwoofer under the floor bolsters that with an additional 260 watts. A USB port, an auxiliary input and a CD stereo that can play MP3 files means you shouldn’t experience difficulty deafening the neighbours with your digital music library. A combined cycle economy figure at close to 40mpg for the D5 diesel is an impressive showing for a 4x4 of this type, although the 2.4D probably makes a stronger all-round argument for itself in terms both of economy and emissions. Few will opt for the 3.0-litre petrol model. Residual values, for the diesels at least, should be buoyant. A maintenance-free particle filter that traps about 95 percent of soot particles is fitted as standard in both diesel engines, making them very environmentally suitable. Economists define ‘opportunity cost’ as the cost incurred by choosing one option over the next best alternative. Thus, opportunity cost is the cost of pursuing one choice instead of another. When Volvo launched the XC90 in 2002, the demand was such that the opportunity cost of using the Torslander factory to build less desirable models was plain to see. The Swedes aren’t going to repeat that mistake and in the XC60 they have a compact 4x4 that is good enough to face down the very best in the market. With some fascinating technological detailing, sleek yet muscular styling, state of the art safety features and some brawny powerplants, the XC60 is right on the class pace in a way that utterly eluded the likes of Land Rover, Volkswagen and BMW. Sharing development costs with Ford has clearly helped but the XC60 is a world away from a Ford Kuga with a different grille. It’s an extremely impressive debut.

FACTS AT A GLANCE CAR: Volvo XC60 range PRICES: £24,750- £34,495 – on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 13-15 CO2 EMISSIONS: 199-284g/km PERFORMANCE: [3.0T6] 0-60 7.1s / Max Speed 130mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: [D5] (urban) 28.8mpg / (extra urban) 45.6mpg / (combined) 37.7mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ESP / Trailer Stability Assist / City Safety / Roll Stability Control/ Hill Descent Control WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length 453cm