Test Drive: Volvo V60 Cross Country D4 Geartronic Lux Nav

Regular readers of Sussex Business Times will be aware of how impressed we’ve been of late with the current offering from Volvo. Both the new XC90 and the excellent V40 D4 made it in to our ‘top 5’ from 2015. Praise indeed – and not underserved.

This is a brand that seems to have leap-frogged forward in terms of style and desirability in recent years. Trends which show no signs of slowing as we motor, (pardon the pun) into 2016.

This week, I was treated to the delights of the V40’s bigger brother, the V60. My version is an all-white Cross Country version, which gives a little more ground clearance than the rest of the range. A larger car than the V40, it doesn’t have the performance, speed, cornering or general agility of the V40, but it does make up for this in space.

Don’t get me wrong, this car isn’t slow; the automatic gearing has been touched by the hand of God and it pulses through the transmission without so much as a dip in performance. It’s good inside too, with leather trim and seats, smooth gadgets and plenty of style throughout, it’s a good place to be.

With Volvo having broadened its range so vastly in recent years though, I’m struggling to find the real point of this model. My question is, that with other bona fide SUV type cars in the Volvo range, why do we need this version of the V60? Surely, with the improved viewing capacity coming from the raised seating position in a ‘regular’ SUV, say, the XC60 or 90, you gain more than just extra ground clearance. Who is this car for?

It may well be that there’s a certain clientele out there, that wants to feel like they’ve bought into the SUV market, without (actually) buying an SUV, or are there more people worrying about the ever-increasing amount of potholes appearing on our roads in the UK?

Whoever they are and whatever their reasons, it’s still a great car and with it being the big brother of the V40, you know you’re getting a great motor, but with added room.

As with every Volvo on the road, their endeavor to make all drivers as safe as possible is apparent. Aside from the reassuring weight of the car’s elements, it’s packed with all manner of features to keep you on the straight and narrow. With auto-lane assist, distance gauges, parking remote and screens everywhere, you really do feel like you have a great big Scandinavian hand, helping you along, stopping you from being such a crap driver and possibly saving you if you are. It strikes me that the lane-assist mode has been almost without question, designed for the illegal mobile phone user/driver. Nudging you back into your lane if you ‘accidentally’ drift over the line, it’s a feeling of quite unusual force that, actually, I found more of a danger when I grabbed the wheel and tried to correct the action. The rest though, is a blessing.

Price-wise, the model that I had came in at a not insignificant £42,120 including all of the additional frills that you tend to see with a review car, but that is a huge 36 per cent more expensive than the £30,195 list price of the entry-level model.

To be honest though, the frills make quite a difference in both comfort and performance, so as ever with cars in my opinion, if you can, you should.

All in all, and aside from my model-for-the-sake-of-it confusion, this is another great strike from Volvo. I will be getting into the XC60 in a few weeks time and I’m keen to draw some comparisons between these two, (beyond the ground clearance).

In short, this is a V60 that’s as good for the school run as it is for the country lanes. A spacious beast, with performance to outrun many a sporty hatch-back and just as likely to make it through our newly and affectionately named UK storms. It’s a winner.

Fuel Consumption: 49.6 mpg

0-62 mph: 8.9 seconds

Price: (as tested, including options/extras) £42,120.00