Unlike most 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 scalable SPA platform underpinning the XC90 SUV, the smaller XC60 will arrive in UK dealers later this summer. To find out what’s in store, we took a trip to Volvo’s Hällered Test track near Gothenburg for a passenger ride in the upcoming Audi Q5 rival.
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Sitting in the driver’s seat was vehicle dynamics leader Stefan Karlsson, a man who has headed up the project since its conception over four years ago. Our car was an all-wheel-drive D5 diesel in top-spec Inscription trim – though we were warned on numerous occasions that the XC60 we’re trying today is still very much in the pre-production phase.
Despite this, the car you see here felt 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. Its ‘Driftwood’ dashboard trim echoes that in a BMW i3, but is angled in the direction of travel and adds an air of class otherwise missing in this class.
But today is more about how the car rides and handles, and Volvo’s extensive test centre has a perfectly crafted route to help us understand the work that has gone in to making this XC60 more responsive and more engaging than its bigger brother.
The varied surfaces immediately highlight Volvo’s philosophy that each of its cars should offer controllable, predictable and comfortable handling. At 60mph, even broken tarmac refuses to upset the new SUV, though Karlsson insists it’s the low speed ride that is harder to perfect.
“People come here and go as fast as they can,” he told us. “‘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. Karlsson shows us a special area of the track that hasn’t been repaired in years – and the despite sitting on 20-inch wheels and tyres, our XC60 manages it with aplomb. It’s worth noting, however, that this specific car featured the pricey optional air suspension, so we’ll reserve recommendation until we’ve driven a car on standard springs.
The familiar D5 diesel is quiet and refined, though. A trip around Hällered’s high-speed bowl sees us nudge 200kmh (120mph), and the only noticeable noise comes from the just around the door mirrors. Given that most of these cars will spend their life to and froing around town, or cruising more sedately, this isn’t likely to bother prospective buyers.
Next up is the handling course – a stretch of tarmac specifically modelled on one of the UK’s most challenging Welsh B-roads. Through a series of tight and twisty curves, long sweeping bends and countless undulations, the front-biased XC60 felt secure and stable throughout. Karlsson drives hard, and despite his best intentions the SUV cannot be provoked – sitting straight and true through even the harshest changes of direction. Volvo claims a 53:47 front-rear weight distribution for standard cars, though that figure varies slightly for the heavier T8 Twin-Engine hybrid. All Brit-bound cars will come as standard with Volvo’s Haldex-based all-wheel drive.
While it’s impossible to add any truly worthwhile opinion from the passenger seat, Volvo’s dynamics chief told us that agility was far more important on the XC60 than it had been on any of the larger 90-cluster cars. Torsional rigidity has been improved considerably, 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 a par with more comfort-biased rivals like the Mercedes GLC.
“We want the car to feel as connected as possible,” Karlsson told us. “We want to offer drivers a connection to the car through the steering wheel.”
He admits that much of what they do is tested on rigs and simulators, but that a lot of it is done subjectively, too. Is this XC60 the most responsive Volvo ever? “Yes and no,” he tells us.
“The [current] V40 is incredibly responsive,” Karlsson says. “But we want this XC60 to be much more responsive and engaging than the car it replaces.”
With four drive modes, you can channel your XC60 to suit your mood. Those with air suspension can hunker down by 20mm for improved handling, or raise by 40mm for greater ground clearance. Dynamic mode adjusts the throttle and gearbox mapping, just like it does in the XC90, though only R-Design cars get steering wheel-mounted paddles.
In this specification, the Volvo XC60 will cost £44,705, though 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 tax bracket for company car drivers. It’s spacious up front and there’s loads of room for two or three tall adults in the rear. There’s loads of kit, too, which should see it challenge premium rivals like the Land Rover Discovery Sport and soon-to-be-replaced BMW X3.
- Model: Volvo XC60
- Price: £44,705
- Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl diesel
- Power/Torque: 232bhp/480Nm
- Transmission: Eight-speed auto, all-wheel drive
- 0-62mph/Top speed: 7.2s/137mph
- Economy/CO2: 51.4mpg/144g/km
- On sale : Now