We go for a ride in Volvo’s stylish XC60
We ride in new SUV at test track Car goes on sale later this year
UNLIKE most car models, which tend to tail off towards the end of their life, the outgoing Volvo XC60 sold more units during its final year of production than in any 12-month period that preceded it.
This new version of the XC60 is an extremely important car for the brand, then. Based on the same scalable SPA platform that underpins the XC90 SUV, the smaller XC60 will arrive in UK dealers later this summer. To find out what’s in store, we’ve been to Volvo’s Hällered test track near Gothenburg in Sweden for a passenger ride in the upcoming Audi Q5 rival.
Sitting in the driver’s seat is vehicle dynamics leader Stefan Karlsson, a man who has headed up the XC60 project since its inception more than four years ago. Our car is a pre-production, all-wheel-drive D5 diesel in top-spec Inscription trim.
The car feels every bit as grown up as the larger XC90 on which it is based. The interior is just as beautifully finished, with an identical portrait touchscreen and digital dials that add a sense of occasion.
But our visit is more about how the car performs on the move. The varied surfaces of Volvo’s extensive test centre immediately highlight the brand’s philosophy that each of its cars should offer controllable, predictable and comfortable handling. At 60mph, even broken tarmac refuses to upset the SUV, although Karlsson insists it’s the low-speed ride that is harder to perfect.
“People come here and go as fast as they can,” he says. “‘Excellent ride comfort!’ they say. But you have to alter your speed. The slower you go, the worse it gets. That’s what we have to work on.”
And as he slows the car, he proves to us that all that work has been worth it. There are no thumps or crashes, and the ride feels adequately cushioned over even the worst ruts and ridges. It’s
“The SUV feels every bit as grown up as the larger XC90 on which it is based”
worth noting, however, that this car featured optional air suspension.
Next up is the handling course. Through a series of tight and twisty curves, long sweeping bends and countless undulations, the solid XC60 feels secure and stable throughout. Karlsson drives hard, and despite his best efforts, the SUV cannot be provoked, staying grippy and stable through even the harshest changes of direction.
Volvo’s dynamics chief tells us that agility is far more important on the XC60 than it has been on any of the larger 90-cluster cars. Torsional rigidity has been improved, and body roll is kept nicely in check. It doesn’t feel quite as responsive as a Jaguar F-pace, but it’s likely to sit on par with more comfortbiased rivals such as the Mercedes GLC.
In this specification the Volvo XC60 will cost £44,705, although prices start from a more competitive £37,205. Our car will return 51.4mpg and emit 144g/km of CO2, sitting in the 30 per cent Benefit in Kind (BIK) tax bracket for company car drivers. It’s also spacious up front and there’s loads of room for two or three tall adults in the rear.