Priced possession
£55,550
FOR Stupendous acceleration, zen interior, smart looks
AGAINST Dull handling, forking out more £££ for less practicality
Coupefied crossovers are very much in vogue right now so it should come as no surprise that Volvo has taken a vice to the profile of its XC and squished that roofline down for added sportiness Or lessened boxiness Take your pick The result is bootspace falling from to litres drops to with the rear seats felled reduced rear visibility and less headroom in the back for the vertically endowed All for a premium of about k depending on trim Go figure
You’re paying purely for style the setup is identical Two powertrains are offered you can have the single motor front driven C Recharge with bhp capable of mph in seconds and miles of range from a kWh battery Or you can have this Recharge Twin the dual motor AWD alternative with bhp and kWh’s worth of cells for miles between charges And it’ll hit mph from a standstill in secs
Yup the Twin is bonkers fast Hilariously so Burying the throttle is addictive with symptoms including a raised heart rate and a big cheesy grin stretching beyond each ear lobe Luckily these only persist until you reach a corner the C is completely disinterested in changing direction Neat and tidy sure but underwhelming Which makes the monstrous acceleration more than a little OTT Shame
Dynamic Driving hat removed and Family Wagon hat donned the C remains a mixed bag Refinement is strong but wind and tyre noise ramp up at motorway speeds Legroom is decent but the ride is more unsettled than we’d like Good thing that Volvo’s nailed the zen interior the seats are superb the touchscreen’s clear the material finish is excellent no leather would you believe? But recycled bottles find their way in And no starter button Instead a sensor in the seat leaves powertrain activation to your bum You’ll have some gripes but they’re the same as you’d have in any other slantroofed SUV The main one is that hefty price tag Yes the arrival of more affordable specs has helped soften the launch car’s high price but you’re still paying a lot of money for a car littered with interior bits found in the cheaper XC Stick to the sensible single motor Or do the clever thing and get a Polestar