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From Swedespeed.com Reviews and Road Tests To say it’s an inopportune time to launch a new crossover into the market is an understatement. The number of consumers buying vehicles of this type is growing, to be sure – one of the few growth areas in a seriously dire market. - but at the same time, the range of new and competent offerings in the luxury crossover segment vying for that same customer is expanding at a much more rapid clip. The Lexus RX350, Infiniti EX35, Lincoln MKX, Land Rover LR2, Acura RDX and BMW X3 are already here and entrenched. The Mercedes-Benz GLK has just arrived, with the Audi Q5 expected in March and followed later this year by the Cadillac SRX and maybe even the Saab 9-4x, if the ‘other’ Swedish brand can avoid pulling out of the ailing market altogether. These are tough and competitive times, so it’s with a fair degree of concern that we traveled to San Francisco to test drive the new Volvo XC60 – Gothenburg’s take on the five-passenger luxury crossover that will, as advertised, stop itself.
Safety Let’s dispense with the safety aspect first. No small boast, Volvo claims the XC60 is the ‘safest car they’ve ever built’. Considering the brand’s reputation, those are big shoes to fill. So how does the company back up such a claim? The cornerstone for the boast is Volvo’s new ‘City Safety’ technology that's standard equipment on all XC60s. In short, the system is used to prevent or minimize collisions at speeds under 19 mph through the use of a lidar laser system mounted behind the windshield, inside the rearview mirror housing. When the system detects an imminent collision with something car-sized, it can either pre-pressurize the brake system or even automatically and abruptly brake the XC60 to full stop, or at least lessen impact, depending on speed. Volvo encouraged us, just as they’ve been encouraging consumers on test drives around the country, to try out City Safety first hand. To experience it, you’ll have to let your mind block out the fact that you’re slowly rolling toward an obstruction in a perfectly undamaged vehicle and then fight the urge to hit the brakes. What you’ll encounter is an abrupt stop indeed - more abrupt than necessary, and that’s by design. It is not Volvo’s intent to psychologically condition drivers to rely on City Safety to stop; a jerking halt is far from comfortable and is, as such, unlikely to appeal to a lazy driver. So how valuable is tech like City Safety? Volvo’s own research says that 75 percent of all collisions happen within the technology's active speed range. Half of those are caused when distracted drivers failed to brake at all. If that’s the case, potentially 35 percent of collisions or more will be avoided if you own an XC60 as a result of City Safety alone. That’s a significant number and Volvo is currently lobbying American insurance companies to offer a discount on premiums as a result of having City Safety in a car. The active safety systems in the XC60 don’t end at City Safety. This latest Volvo has Pre-Prepared Restraints (PRS) which, paired with City Safety, anticipate the severity of an impending collision and adjust protective safety devices such as airbags and adaptive seatbelt tensioners to the proper levels. Keeping things under control on the road are Dynamic Stability Traction Control (DSTC) and Roll-over Stability Control (RSC). Each American XC60 also gets the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) as standard fare.
Optional safety systems include Volvo’s Collision Warning with Auto Brake to help warn or prep for an impending collision at higher speeds, Distance Alert (DA), Driver Alert Control (DAC) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW). Combined with Adaptive Cruise Control, all of this is bundled into what Volvo calls the Collision Avoidance Package for $1,695. Other safety tech such as Volvo’s Blind Spot Information System (BLIS), dual outboard booster seats with adaptive seatbelts and Volvo’s Personal Car Communicator (PCC) with heartbeat monitor are also available as stand-alone options. Off-road, you can expect the Volvo safety theme to continue and maybe improve the car’s flexibility. The XC60’s best-in-class nine inches of ground clearance is paired with Hill Descent Control. This isn’t the full-on terrain tackler system found in Land Rovers, but you can bet it’s the association with the former Safari-friendly brand sibling that spawned its presence here as it did in the XC70. Even the multi-panel sunroof, a popular attraction in this segment, gets its own safety spin. Both glass panes are laminated, a quality unique to the Volvo.
Design Crossovers are a great opportunity to express some style because they're able to borrow elements from both sedans and sport-utes. That's led to a great deal of diversity in this image-driven niche. Whether it’s the baby GL-Class looks of the Mercedes GLK, the Art-and-Science sharpness of the Cadillac SRX, or the subtle rally-inspired box fender lines of the Audi Q5, bold and identifiable design is a serious differentiator when just about every competitor is highly-styled in its own brand look Volvo tapped California-based Doug Fraser as lead designer for the XC60. Doug deserves some credit as the Volvo designer who broke free from the box, penning the original ECC concept car and the first-generation production S80. He was also responsible for the XC90, so when he says he thinks of the XC60 as a coupe-like interpretation of the XC90, the consistency in the evolution is apparent. The roofline might be the best piece of evidence. Fraser points to the aggressively raked windshield and the thin A-pillars as some of the hardest parts of design – making them aggressive yet unobtrusive, while not giving up anything in crash performance.
Fraser also points to the bulging haunch at the rear of the now-distinctively Volvo shoulders. We first saw this kick-of-the-hip emphasis on the C70 and now he's carried the theme into the XC60 as well. Other elements fall purely under Steve Mattin’s new design directive. There’s the bold, animated new iron mark logo on the grille and the strong character line lighting within the rear C-pillar taillight assemblies and also daytime running lights in the vertical uprights on either side of the grille. No doubt the XC60 is one of the most coupe-like offerings in the luxury crossover field, and this may play well with customers who are looking for something elegant and are progressive enough to associate the often-conservative Volvo brand with a bold new sexiness.
Performance From a performance standpoint, the XC60 holds its own quite well. The corporate 3.0-liter turbocharged T6 engine is standard in the XC60 while it’s optional in more expensive Volvo models such as the XC70 and S80. Foregoing the normally-aspirated and quite vanilla 3.2-liter base engine of the others was a bold move and one made with an awareness that good power on tap will attract the XC60’s target buyer. And there’s plenty on tap – try 281 hp and 295 lb.-ft of torque at only 1,500 rpm. Both power and torque figures are best-in-class for Volvo. Unlike the latest EcoBoost engines coming out of Ford, the T6 does not yet implement direct injection to augment power and fuel efficiency. As such, economy is “about average for the segment” according to Volvo reps – an estimated 16 city / 22 highway with a combined estimated fuel economy of 18. That's not exactly frugal, but it isn't far below best-in-class, either – the BMW X3, for the record, at 17 city / 24 highway. Crossover customers so far have been less concerned with fuel economy than sedan or wagon shoppers, and so long as the figures aren't ghastly, it's enough. And, without direct injection you can fill it up with regular gasoline and probably pay less per mile than efficiency leaders. That the XC60 will knock out 0-60 mph in 7.1 seconds is likely a higher priority and Volvo is banking on that.
Infotainment The subject of infotainment wasn’t exactly listed as a pillar of the XC60's selling points, but a long list of tech features is more or less expected nowadays. When you’re squaring off against the Germans and the Japanese, you'd better bring your electronic A-game. Sadly, FoMoCo didn’t share its brilliant Microsoft Sync and Sirius Travel Link systems that set the Lincoln MKX and Ford Flex ahead of the curve, but this is one of the very few complaints we have in regards to the XC60’s ability to entertain our eardrums. The XC60’s audio system comes well equipped from the factory – HD radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, Bluetooth phone integration and USB/iPod integration are all standard. We suspect any audiophiles will also opt for the $2,700 Technology Package that includes a DynAudio premium sound system with Dolby Pro Logic II and Surround Sound, a navigation system with real-time traffic data, and rear park assist. This is the setup our test car had and its ability to cope with extreme sound was most impressive. We jumped from cuts like Kanye West’s Stronger to Pink Floyd’s Money and were not disappointed by the car’s considerable range and clear delivery. It’s a shame the iPod playlist control is not handled via the larger navigation screen, but we suspect that’s because navigation isn’t standard kit (you get a big cubby for change and such if you decide to live by your AAA road maps alone.) As such, scrolling through music on an iPod is done via a narrow LCD screen higher on the dash. Okay, that’s another complaint and we said there were few, so it’s an opportune time to mention that the XC60’s auxiliary system uses the same USB cable that comes with your iPod or handheld device and not a special proprietary cable that's expensive to replace if it gets lost.
First Impression On winding roads, the sporting theme of the XC60 is most defined. Our drive consisted of one part winding Pacific Coast Highway north of San Francisco, one part awesome mountain passes and one part highway traffic on the 101 in order to show off the new XC’s range. Most of these roads would have been a challenge and a hoot in a sports car, but we weren’t unimpressed with the taught nature of the XC60 here, either. The Volvo gets the brand’s 18-inch “Mantus” alloys as standard, shod with 235/60R18 all-season tires. Our car was an early-build European-spec XC60, and the U.S.-spec model will feel slightly softer - Europe gets a slightly stiffer spring rate than America. This is good and bad news as the XC60 did feel a little harsh on rough roads with the Euro springs, but its ability to hold a line in a corner was surprising for a 4100-lb crossover. As we sliced up the mountain passes on the second segment of our drive, we found ourselves cutting apexes enough that the car’s lane departure warning was constantly going off. We suppose this must be one of the nuisances of having so many safety nets to aid drivers, but at least Volvo made it simple to deactivate with the press of a button – without having to hold it down for five seconds or enter B-I-T-E-M-E in Morse code, it turned off immediately, allowing us to navigate a narrow California canyon road without the annoying gong sound. Situations like these, where the driver is fully attentive, is why there's a kill switch on the system. Steering has a good progressive weight to it – improved over past Volvo models and even earlier cars sharing the EUCD componentry. The transmission now has a sport mode – a welcome change you might miss if you don't read the manual. It's engaged by bumping the shift knob over into the manual gate, but not tapping the lever up or down - leave it alone and it shifts itself, albeit at higher rpms. That’s so subtle we almost missed it, and we’d still appreciate shift paddles on the steering wheel. Flexibility is also impressive. It’s unfortunate that the XC60 doesn’t get the same handy clamshell gate as the XC90, but this may have proven difficult with the optional automatic gate. That said, the XC60 is beneficiary of the XC90’s three-segment adjustable rear bench seat, and it adds outboard child booster seats to boot. The rest of the interior also has a leg up on most previous Volvos – an excellent side effect of using the higher dollar EUCD component set. Plastics are of good quality and the optional real wood center stack offers an earthy feel (aluminum is standard). Buyers searching for something a little more wild can opt at no cost for contrasting leather on the X-themed leather seats as well.
Final Take Turning the key over to the Volvo staffer back in Sausalito, we felt bullish for Volvo. The XC60 drives a fine line between a safe car parent would want his kid driving, a versatile all-arounder that might be the only car for a moderate driving enthusiast who needs something flexible and stylish, and a fantastic backup car for times like when the Golden Retriever won’t fit in the Cayman. Volvo says it plans on building 50,000 XC60s annually and 12,000 of those are earmarked for the USA. The first of these will start showing up in dealers in mid-March, along with demo kits so you too can test out City Safety with a car-sized and car-shaped balloon – it sounds goofy, but it will likely sell you on the feature. At $37,200 base, the XC60 is on par with most of its European competitors – undercut most by the Mercedes GLK at $1,500 less. We’re guessing this won’t be much of a snag, though. Comparing similarly-equipped cars puts the advantage back in Volvo’s court and we’re guessing the low-content GLKs are a nod towards customers who buy beyond their means to get themselves a three-pointed star - customers who wouldn’t likely consider an XC60 anyway. For the XC60, this is just the beginning. The new Volvo crossover starts simple – one engine, one transmission and a well-organized list of options and packages. We hear that over its life cycle the XC60 will get R-design packages and a hybrid variant. Other sources tell us Volvo is also now considering diesel for the USA as well, so this could also be in the cards. For now, the XC60 will arrive as one of the most sporting of the small luxury crossovers. In many ways, its raked windshield and pronounced haunches do make it the coupe counterpart to the XC90 and also give it one of the best silhouettes in its class. The question remains though, will subtle wheel design and earthy tones like those on our test car counterbalance the XC60’s aggressive shape in a crowded market where luxo brands will be throwing shoulders in order to get noticed? Time will tell. Providing it gets noticed, we suspect the XC60 will grab a solid chunk of the segment in which it will soon be battling.
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