Volvo has updated its XC60 range with improved engines, but is it enough to keep the crossover in touch with increasingly capable rivals?
Talk about a tough sell. Volvo, the perennial alternative choice when it comes to automotive purchases, chose to launch its revamped 2012 model line-up in the same week that Land Rover was dishing out its new Evoque for test drives.
So while we heard about slight tweaks to trim and specification levels and wondered if the styling of Volvo’s XC60 crossover had changed even slightly from last year’s model, our colleagues were tearing around the countryside in what was rapidly becoming clear was a game-changing car.
Not only that, but there are other new and rather excellent rivals on the scene in the shape of the latest BMW X3 and Audi Q5, plus cheaper alternatives from Kia and Hyundai with just as much space and style.
Fortunately, Steve Mattin’s 2008 design still carries some visual clout, the XC60’s sleek headlights and sharp creases blending well with more traditional Volvo aesthetics. The interior is well screwed together and features good quality leather for the seats, but the rear is a touch cramped for six-footers and feels claustrophobic due to the rising window line.
Up front the “floating console” is still a novel concept and the switchgear is suitably tactile, but the tiny satnav screen looks incongruous in what is an expensive car. How expensive? Well, thanks to extras such as heated seats, load compensating suspension and screens in the back of the front headrests, the D5 SE automatic we tested came in at £43,000. Yikes.
The hardware is somewhat more promising thanks to an updated version of Volvo’s proven twin-turbocharged, 2.4-litre, five-cylinder diesel. For the latest cars power has been increased to 215bhp (up 10bhp) and torque to 324lb ft (up 14lb ft), while fuel economy is said to be 41.5mpg (previously 40.4mpg) on the EU Combined cycle. Although the automatic D5 now emits less CO2 (179g/km versus 184g/km) it remains in band I, so will cost you £310 for the first year and £210 annually thereafter.
The diesel is, as ever, a pleasant engine, with a good spread of power across the rev range and an intriguing growl thanks to its five-cylinder configuration. The gearbox swaps ratios extremely smoothly too, adding to the feeling of this being a well engineered drivetrain, not to mention one that makes for a relaxed and refined motorway companion.
Unfortunately the ride is more of a mixed bag, dealing supremely well with potholes, which the XC60 cushions like a big SUV should, but somehow sending an endless stream of smaller bumps into the cabin. This means you’ll spend much of any given journey bouncing up and down in your seat, which you just know is the sort of thing that will make children feel sick.
There’s nothing in the way of payoff in the form of an exciting drive either. Rather, the Volvo XC60 majors on being competent but dull, lacking even the minimal sense of involvement you get from Volvo’s newer S60 and V60 models.
With the big mill working away up front gaining momentum is easy enough, but when you need to lose it again you’ll find that the brakes require an awfully big shove, which seems strange for something with so much safety kit on board. Like all XC60s, our car featured Volvo’s City Safety system, which is capable of bringing the car to a standstill from speeds below 19mph if it detects you are going to hit something, while optional extras included lane assist, blind spot assist and some alarm that kept beeping when a car went past in the opposite direction.
In the grand scheme of things the XC60 is not a bad car, but newer rivals do the whole compact SUV/crossover thing so much better that it becomes extremely difficult to recommend. It might well have a fine engine, but so too do the X3, Q5 and Evoque, all of which boast more chassis sophistication and interiors that better reflect what is after all a premium price tag.
THE FACTS Volvo XC60 D5 (2012 Model Year)
Tested: 2,400cc, five-cylinder twin-turbocharged diesel, six-speed automatic transmission, four-wheel drive
Price/on sale: from £34,320 (£43,000 as tested)/now
Power/torque: 215bhp @ 4,000rpm/309lb ft @ 1,500-3,250rpm
Top speed: 127mph
Acceleration: 0-60mph 8.3sec
Fuel economy: 31.7mpg (EU Urban)
CO2 emissions: 179g/km
VED band: I (£310 first year, £210 thereafter)
Verdict: Still looks the part and the engine is good, but it’s all starting to feel a bit old. Expensive, too
Telegraph rating: Three out of five stars
