Volvo XC60 (08 on) - Review

The XC60 offers a good blend of ride and handling, making it an incredibly comfortable cross-country cruiser. The suspension does a great job in absorbing potholes and bumps in the road surface, even at higher speeds, which makes for a refined ride. There's minimal wind or road noise and the seats are wonderfully comfortable - a Volvo tradition. Passengers in the back get good head and legroom and all cars come with electronic climate control as standard. Unlike many larger off roaders the XC60 doesn't wallow in corners - or pitch and dive under hard acceleration or braking.

It may be stylish but the XC60 isn't a case of form over function. It's got a generous boot with 495 litres of space available (under the parcel shelf) with the seats up. The rear seats split 40/20/40 and fold down flat so it's easy to carry large objects while the boot itself is very wide and has no load lip so loading and unloading are straightforward. An electrically operated tailgate is available as an option but it's quite slow and as the tailgate is light enough to close easy there seems little point paying extra for it. Up front there's plenty of storage thanks to a good-sized glovebox and central cubby, plus there's stowage behind the central console. The door pockets aren't especially large though.

The XC60 is unmistakably a Volvo and the same can be said of the interior. There’s a genuine sense of style thanks to the neat design, which is dominated by the trademark floating centre console that flows seamlessly into the central cubby. This is angled towards the driver and all the controls are well placed and easy to navigate, particularly the funky chrome ventilation buttons that glow green at night. The minimalist Scandinavian design is easy on the eye and certainly unique, while build quality is exceptional. The driving position is good and from behind the wheel the XC60 doesn't feel like an off roader - while the raised position means a great view of the road ahead.