Old school charm in new Cross Country
Sticking with an old-school five-cylinder engine is no bad thing for Volvo’s latest Cross Country, writes David Linklater.
You make a good point. To state the obvious, this is a crossover version of the V60 wagon that we know so well: it has increased ride height and some extra plastic bits on the outside to create an offroad-type outward appearance. Although it is all-wheel drive (AWD), so soft-roading isn’t completely out of the question.
The V60 and smaller V40 crossovers are called Cross Country because they’re jacked-up versions of standard passenger cars.
The XC60 and XC90 have that ‘‘XC’’ abbreviation because they’re bespoke SUV models. At least that’s the theory, although the waters are muddied a bit by the XC70, which isa crossover version of the V70 wagon.
That’s simply a bit of historical confusion: the original version of that model (and indeed one of the original crossovers, along with the Subaru Outback) was the 850 Cross Country of 1996, which became the V70 XC.
By the time Volvo had realised it needed a naming system for these things it was too hard to change it back. Great ergonomics in V60 interior, but the layout looks old-fashioned compared with new-generation Volvo models.
Got it. But essentially, this is part of the same family as that cool new XC90, correct?
Yes and no. It’s part of Volvo’s Volvo is indeed totally committed to four-cylinder engines going forward: they’re part of a family called DriveE. But this car doesn’t have one. Instead, it’s got an oldschool 2.5-litre fivecylinder turbo powerplant that sounds superbly growly and adds quite a lot of oldschool charm to the V60 Cross Country.
There is in fact a V60 T5 Cross Country in Europe with a Drive-E engine, but we don’t get that because Volvo hasn’t yet combined it with AWD. And speaking frankly, when Volvo New Zealand has tried to sell crossover/SUV models with twowheel drive here people just don’t buy them, hi-tech new engine or not. That’s not the case with other brands, but Volvo buyers like their high-riding wagons to actually have AWD. Bit like Subaru buyers, then. So Volvo’s Kiwi distributor is sticking with the T5 five-pot until a Drive-E AWD solution comes along. Which there are no immediate plans for apparently, because Europeans have no issues with front-drive Cross Country models.
We’re okay with that: the muted growl of a turbo-five gives the V60 character that probably won’t be present when it switches to Drive-E. For the record, the T5-five is slightly more powerful and slightly quicker than the T5-four they have in Europe. The older engine does drink 1.9 litres more per 100km than the Drive-E unit, though. Crikey. Still, we’ll Price: $72,990. Powertrain: 2.5-litre turbo-petrol five-cylinder, 187kW/360Nm, 6-speed automatic, AWD. Performance: 0-100km/h 7.1sec, Combined economy 8.5 l/100km. Vital statistics: 4638mm long, 1899mm wide, 1545mm high, 430 litres luggage. Hot: Growly five-pot engine, impossibly stylish with crossover body addenda. Not: Interior looks old-hat compared with newer XC90, not terribly practical for a Volvo wagon. Out of 10: 7. miss the old five when it goes, so enjoy it while you can.
It’s a Volvo wagon so it’s got to be super-practical, right?
Where have you been for the last decade? Volvo still makes roomy, functional wagons, but it also makes plenty of super-stylish ones as well. The V60 is one of the latter: it has a sleek roofline and puts cool looks way ahead of family practicality, which is why headroom’s a bit tight in the back seat and luggage capacity is a hatchback-like 430 litres. You do get Volvo’s brilliant built-in child booster seats on the back bench, though.
By most other standards the V60’s interior is superb: high quality and full of ergonomic good sense. But if you happen to trip over an XC90 going through the showroom, it makes this car seem desperately old-fashioned. The XC90 represents the future of Volvo cabin design, with its minimalist architecture and massive iPad-like control screen. The V60 is now part of the brand’s past, with a button-heavy centre console and tiny sat-nav display.
Is it fair to compare them? Of course not. But you can’t help it when Volvo has made such a massive leap towards the future with the XC90. You just just want the V60 Cross Country to catch up. Like, now.