Volvo takes on the small SUV market
23/10/09 17:28 Filed in: Road tests
Motor manufacturers constantly have to scan the far horizon looking for signs as to what type of car the buyers of the future will want. It takes time to develop a new model, so you have to have a pretty good idea of what will be the expanding markets in the future.
Volvo identified future growth in the market for small up-market SUVs and set about producing the XC60 as their contender to capture a slice of this growing market. At the time of the XC60’s launch last year, Volvo were predicting that this segment of the market would grow by phenomenal 75%.
But, while looking to the future, Volvo have also been conscious of their heritage and in particular their reputation for safety. Their proud boast is that the XC60 is the safest Volvo ever.
The new features in this department include Volvo’s City Safety system that stops the car if it detects it is about to hit a stationary car in front. Systems that warn you of an impending collision are not new (as you can see from the road tests in DriveBlog.co.uk). What is headline grabbing is the way the Volvo system works and its inclusion as standard in a car in this market sector.
Looking at the XC60 it is doesn’t look particularly compact. In reality it is 20cm shorter than the XC70. Yet, there is good space inside, particularly in the front. I found that sitting in the back seat, my knee space was just adequate – but that was with the driver’s seat set pretty near the back of its adjustment.
The load floor is big and flat, taking 495 litres with the back seat in place, or 1455 with the rear seat folded. the power tailgate on the test car is nice, especially when it avoids soiling your fingers on a tailgate coated in winter road muck.
As you may assume from the XC (cross country) tag, the XC60 is designed to be capable of taking to green stuff and also to keep going through the white stuff of winter. Among its off-road credentials is the Hill Descent Control that moderates the speed on a steep off-road descent (without the danger of losing control that can result from conventional braking).
However, mindful that some people don’t need four-wheel-drive and that only two driven wheels will be more economical, Volvo have said that they plan a front-wheel-drive 2.4-litre version. The four-wheel-drive D5 test car is quoted as 37.7 mpg on the combined cycle. In everyday town and country use, I found that translated to just a whisker over 30 mpg on the Volvo’s trip computer. Carbon dioxide emissions are 199g/km.
Now to one of the only negatives. I am not a fan of electric handbrakes on manual gearbox cars and I found the one of the XC60 particularly annoying. The set and release switch is on the bottom of the dashboard, which is fine on an automatic where you don’t use the parking brake as much. But on a manual it really is a bit of a stretch.
I also found that the logic built into the system that dictates whether the brake will release automatically, or whether you have to release it manually defied the logic built into my brain. Sometimes it released willingly by just pressing the accelerator and lifting the clutch.
But (usually when I was at the head of a traffic queue or as traffic lights change to green) it would exasperate me by flashing up messages about needing to release the switch, or press the footbrake, before being permitted to progress. Please can I have a traditional, old-tech handbrake lever?
My other minor gripe was the interior door handles. When I pull the handle it is because I want to open the door. On the Volvo XC60 the first pull must be to warn the door that you might want to open it. Yes, it takes two pulls to open the door. Why? I know not.
The rest is all pretty good news. The XC60 drives well, apart from a little stuttery progress when feeding in the power initially at low throttle settings. That’s something that seems to be increasingly prevalent and I always suspect it is because of very keen fuel cut-offs trying to get the best possible mpg.
On the open road performance is reasonably rapid, but, while it is quick, it doesn’t feel ‘sparkling’. Acceleration 0-60 is a very creditable 7.9 seconds, but the 2.4-litre diesel in the D5 doesn’t exactly give the impression that it loves to rev.
That performance, combined with remarkably flat cornering and nicely weighted steering, makes the Volvo XC60 an enjoyable companion on most roads – including the more twisty back roads. All that you could wish for would be a tad more feel from the steering.
I’m sure I would understand the logic of the parking brake given time, so were I in the market for a small SUV this would be one on my list.
Prices for the Volvo XC60 start at £28,844 for the D5 SE, with the Premium, which includes luxuries such as sat-nav, costing £31,105.
Volvo identified future growth in the market for small up-market SUVs and set about producing the XC60 as their contender to capture a slice of this growing market. At the time of the XC60’s launch last year, Volvo were predicting that this segment of the market would grow by phenomenal 75%.
But, while looking to the future, Volvo have also been conscious of their heritage and in particular their reputation for safety. Their proud boast is that the XC60 is the safest Volvo ever.
The new features in this department include Volvo’s City Safety system that stops the car if it detects it is about to hit a stationary car in front. Systems that warn you of an impending collision are not new (as you can see from the road tests in DriveBlog.co.uk). What is headline grabbing is the way the Volvo system works and its inclusion as standard in a car in this market sector.
Looking at the XC60 it is doesn’t look particularly compact. In reality it is 20cm shorter than the XC70. Yet, there is good space inside, particularly in the front. I found that sitting in the back seat, my knee space was just adequate – but that was with the driver’s seat set pretty near the back of its adjustment.
The load floor is big and flat, taking 495 litres with the back seat in place, or 1455 with the rear seat folded. the power tailgate on the test car is nice, especially when it avoids soiling your fingers on a tailgate coated in winter road muck.
As you may assume from the XC (cross country) tag, the XC60 is designed to be capable of taking to green stuff and also to keep going through the white stuff of winter. Among its off-road credentials is the Hill Descent Control that moderates the speed on a steep off-road descent (without the danger of losing control that can result from conventional braking).
However, mindful that some people don’t need four-wheel-drive and that only two driven wheels will be more economical, Volvo have said that they plan a front-wheel-drive 2.4-litre version. The four-wheel-drive D5 test car is quoted as 37.7 mpg on the combined cycle. In everyday town and country use, I found that translated to just a whisker over 30 mpg on the Volvo’s trip computer. Carbon dioxide emissions are 199g/km.
Now to one of the only negatives. I am not a fan of electric handbrakes on manual gearbox cars and I found the one of the XC60 particularly annoying. The set and release switch is on the bottom of the dashboard, which is fine on an automatic where you don’t use the parking brake as much. But on a manual it really is a bit of a stretch.
I also found that the logic built into the system that dictates whether the brake will release automatically, or whether you have to release it manually defied the logic built into my brain. Sometimes it released willingly by just pressing the accelerator and lifting the clutch.
But (usually when I was at the head of a traffic queue or as traffic lights change to green) it would exasperate me by flashing up messages about needing to release the switch, or press the footbrake, before being permitted to progress. Please can I have a traditional, old-tech handbrake lever?
My other minor gripe was the interior door handles. When I pull the handle it is because I want to open the door. On the Volvo XC60 the first pull must be to warn the door that you might want to open it. Yes, it takes two pulls to open the door. Why? I know not.
The rest is all pretty good news. The XC60 drives well, apart from a little stuttery progress when feeding in the power initially at low throttle settings. That’s something that seems to be increasingly prevalent and I always suspect it is because of very keen fuel cut-offs trying to get the best possible mpg.
On the open road performance is reasonably rapid, but, while it is quick, it doesn’t feel ‘sparkling’. Acceleration 0-60 is a very creditable 7.9 seconds, but the 2.4-litre diesel in the D5 doesn’t exactly give the impression that it loves to rev.
That performance, combined with remarkably flat cornering and nicely weighted steering, makes the Volvo XC60 an enjoyable companion on most roads – including the more twisty back roads. All that you could wish for would be a tad more feel from the steering.
I’m sure I would understand the logic of the parking brake given time, so were I in the market for a small SUV this would be one on my list.
Prices for the Volvo XC60 start at £28,844 for the D5 SE, with the Premium, which includes luxuries such as sat-nav, costing £31,105.
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