SUV’s are big money; everyone wants a huge, chunky, high up car to clog up our roads with. But there’s another choice, an educated, intelligent one, one that can even go off-road if you so desire.
It comes in the form of the Volvo V60 Cross Country.
Unusually the T5 is the cheapest engine you can get in a V60 Cross Country, with prices starting at £39,935. Decent value for money considering the 247 BHP under your right foot.
Looks
As far as handsome estates go, Volvo has all the boxes ticked. The V60 was already incredibly good looking, but add some plastic body protection all round, lift the ride height by 60mm, and it beefs up the V60 no end.
Drive
Powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine there’s 247 BHP at your disposal, yes it’s a big car, and the MPG will suffer, but with a 0-62 time of 6.7 seconds, it’s pretty quick off the mark on paper. But even though it has 350 Nm of torque being pushed through that all-wheel-drive system, it doesn’t feel all that nippy.
If you’re after performance a T8 twin-engine Cross Country is what you want; sadly it’s not available in the UK though.
Ride is incredibly well composed considering its 60mm jacked-up height, proving to be very comfortable over a long cruise across B roads and motorways. Cornering is well balanced, and the grip levels feel unending even in the wet thanks to the all-wheel-drive setup.
You do get the occasional wobble when hitting things like expansion gaps, but you have to remember this is sitting on fairly huge 19” alloys, some chunkier sidewalls would probably help filter out some of the abruptness that creeps in on occasion.
While the auto gearbox may be silky smooth, it does tend to have a sluggishness at lower speeds, making junctions particularly hairy if you aren’t used to it. Once you’ve got to grips with its slower pace of life, you learn to build it into your habits, and it’s not an issue.
MPG over 375 miles of motorway driving was just 24 MPG, so if you want something economical, look at the D4; granted it has a less power from its 2.0 litre engine, but MPG will be high 30’s with ease.
Inside
Inside, once again, Volvo shows how it should be done. Easily placing themselves on par with the (wrongly) lauded quality of the likes of Mercedes and BMW. This really is svelt.
Everything is pleasant to touch; the cold metal bits are all cold and metally while the buttons give a solid resounding click, like the tactile feel of a premium stereo.
Even though this isn’t the largest of estates when it comes to the Volvo range, there’s still plenty of legroom in the back—making it perfectly comfortable for four adults to travel in comfort on a long jaunt.
At the back there’s also a mammoth boot, measuring in at 529 litres, put the seats down and that grows to 1441. The retractable tonneau cover also makes it easy to stow larger items, and the fold-up boot floor enables you to hook shopping bags to stop things rolling around.
Volvo V60 Cross Country Conclusion
Enough room to cart the kids, life, the dog, whatever it may be in luxury through mud and snow, without being in a huge SUV – on those grounds alone the V60 Cross Country wins.
Get the T5 while you can as it’s rumoured it won’t last long on these shores with Volvo looking to take their whole range as hybrid as they can.
