For a brand that built its reputation on its cars’ crash protection qualities it’s fitting that the Volvo V60 Cross Country is rated as a five star car by the experts at Euro NCAP.

Although the Cross Country version hasn’t been separately tested there’s no reason it should be inferior to the regular V60 base car.

There’s a significant amount of standard safety equipment fitted to the Volvo including all-round airbags, whiplash protection system, City Safety alert system and LED brake lights that vary in intensity depending upon how hard they’re called upon.

Many are available in the Driver Support Pack bundle although at £1,900 it’s a considerable amount to add to an already expensive car.

Active safety systems and driver aids

Included in the package are Volvo’s collision warning system with fully autonomous braking, pedestrian and cyclist detection, adaptive cruise control, road sign recognition, blind spot warning and, on front-wheel drive versions, Lane Keeping Aid, which gently applies force to the steering wheel guiding you back into your lane if you wander without indicating.

Just one glance at the sloping roofline and you’ll know Volvo V60 Cross Country practicality isn’t a patch on those big, square, Swedish estates of old.

Rear seats in place it’ll swallow 430-litres’ worth of luggage, smaller than a conventional hatchback such as the Peugeot 308, although utilising the space above the luggage cover to the roof height increases its potential to 557 litres.

Tumble the rear seats over – for added flexibility they’re split 40:20:40 – and the available capacity increases to 1,241 litres.

Same boot size as Volvo V60

Unsurprisingly the load space available is no different from the regular V60 although the loading lip has risen by 65mm along with the rest of the car.

Unlike the larger XC70, the V60 Cross Country’s bumpers are still largely painted and only have parking sensors on the rear as standard, so parking scrapes aren’t so easily disguised.

Inside the cabin are a number of useful storage cubbies, plus the awkward to access one behind the slender centre console. Beware the front cup holders on manual-gearboxed cars, though – they can make gear changes feel awkward if you’ve got a couple of taller receptacles in there.