Everything is different but this Volvo has a familiar feel
BLINDFOLD the happy owner of an “old” Volvo XC60, seat them in the new one, and they will tell you nothing has changed. The driving position is as perfectly judged as before, controls still fall neatly to hand and everything feels good, solid and familiar.
It is a neat trick for what is actually a totally new car from the wheels up, and it’s easy to see why. The old XC60 is a tour de force: comfy, long-legged and pioneering a host of high-tech anticrash gear.
Hence Volvo’s unwillingness to frighten loyal customers. But the new XC60 is a very different beast indeed, as I discovered on a 1,000-mile tour through the Eurotunnel — two teens, wife and tons of luggage on board — to the Loire, back through Paris and home again.
Last year marked the old XC60’s ninth year on sale and, in those final 12 months, it sold more of them than ever. All good things come to an end, however, and now — just as it began to look a little long in the tooth compared with Audi’s Q5, Land Rover’s Discovery Sport and BMW’s X3 — the firm has launched its replacement, costing from £32,935, based on its SPA (scalable product architecture) platform.
Remove that blindfold and the differ- ences are, of course, obvious; dart-like lines replaced by a premium, contemporary look resembling those of the bigger XC90, incorporating a powerful nose and dynamic, sculpted flanks.
Inside — despite that familiar feel — it looks much smarter, with neatly blended lines, fewer buttons, a toggle switch replacing the starter button, a great nine-inch infotainment screen, smart new fabrics, more space and a fantastic (optional) panoramic sunroof.
It is also much lighter and more airy than before. You feel like you’re travelling first class.
It is about 62mm longer, 12mm wider and has lost 14mm in height. It is almost as wide as the XC90, but shorter, and “just” a five-seater. The cabin is now more spacious, the boot 10 litres larger and, although slightly down on the class norm, well-shaped and roomy. The retractable boot cover is improved, rising on grooves and locking in place efficiently.
The first big, noticeable difference when you drive off is the steering — lighter, more direct and car-like than before, with a tighter turning circle. Then you notice the ride, which is more poised and — clever, this — consistent, no matter the load.
Vision out is better, especially at junctions — they’ve moved the B pillar further back and the “bird’s-eye” view in the monitor makes reversing a cinematic cinch.
Including the swish Eurotunnel trip from Folkestone — a fast, convenient way to enter France, taking you directly from UK motorways to the French autoroutes in 35 minutes — we drove for about 10 hours on day one, arriving at a rented gite in jaw-droppingly pretty Loches in the Loire, relaxed and fresh. It gave us time to appreciate the quieter cabin and impressive new Sensus screen accessing myriad of functions, including switching the speedo from mph to kph, Spotify, a fine-sounding music system and improved sat-nav.
The seating is less squashy, but more supportive. Door pockets are bigger and there is better storage under the armrest and in the glove box, but the useful pouches in front of the seats have gone. Internal venting is stronger — useful in the 34-degree humidity of Paris. The (optional) driver’s seat memory buttons are now on the door — not the seat — so you don’t have to bend in to adjust the seat before climbing in.
Safety bonuses? Adaptive cruise control now responds faster to conditions ahead, making long motorway slogs less stressful, and steer assist helps nudge you back online if you lose concentration on motorways. I liked the correction it offered on autoroutes; my wife didn’t and turned it off.
Under the £1,500 “Intellisafe Pro” package, the XC60 had blind spot warning, rear collision mitigation and cross traffic alert for added safety at junctions. Safety doesn’t get much better.
The T5 AWD R-Design is powered by a refined 1,969cc, 164g/km, 254hp petrol engine working through a seamless, relaxed eight-speed auto that felt busier only during high-speed, accelerative bursts. The bird’s-eye camera and the car’s easy manoeuvrability came into play as we squeezed the XC60 into an impossibly tight garage at the gite, using it for visits to chateaux and lakes along superbly surfaced, winding, traffic-free pretty Loire roads. If only driving in Britain was similar.
Then the run back — via a maze of streets to an Airbnb in Paris (watch out: French drivers still haven’t got the hang of roundabouts, seldom indicating, seldom in the right lane), followed by another quick Eurotunnel crossing.
Verdict? A highly accomplished recreation of a much-loved favourite, at once more refined, easier to drive, better looking, comfier and more upmarket. I always wondered how they would top the splendid old one. Now I know.
@djrwilliams