New VOLVO XC60 review at a glance:
View New VOLVO XC60 prices, View VOLVO XC60 news, View VOLVO XC60 price research.

Advantages: Innovative City Safety technology second to none, premium look and feel throughout, accomplished all-round performer, surprisingly powerful, sophisticated interior, oodles of space, cavernous boot.

Disadvantages: Diesel engines aren’t as refined as rivals, turbocharged 3.0-litre unit has unresolved drinking problems, bit on the pricey side, relatively expensive to keep on the road.

Summary: Historically as safe as houses, the new Volvo XC60 restores family faith still further by possessing the applied intellect to stop in its tracks at the first whiff of danger looming, with or without the driver’s permission. Rammed to the gunnels with all manner of face-contoured cushions to protect occupants left, right and centre, the new XC60 claims to be the safest Volvo ever built.

In a world bogged down in PR spin, we find this luxury 4X4 to be true to its word; and then some. Some punchy engines, some inviting interiors, some boots to get lost in and some assured moves chiefly.

(2) AutoeBid customer VOLVO XC60 Reviews:
16-November-2011 New VOLVO XC60 Deals(D5 [215] SE 5d AWD [Start Stop])
“Very happy with 2012 model D5. Extremey comfortable, plenty of power and still economical.”

07-August-2011 New VOLVO XC60 Deals(D3 [163] SE Lux Premium 5d Geartronic)
“My new car is a delight to drive and everything I was hoping for. ”
New VOLVO XC60 Review:
Look up the adjective ‘safe’ in an alternative urban dictionary and you’d no doubt find it replaced by the more street word, ‘Volvo’. And there’s a simple explanation for this. Although having been around since the late 1940s, crash test dummies’ integral involvement with any mass car manufacturer didn’t come about until quite some time later.

Volvo was the first auto maker to employ the services of crash test dummies with the primary objective of with their volunteering, determining how their cars could be made more, well, user friendly. Which as it turned out was at the expense – and varying resin-based limbs – of our plastic friends, who seemingly couldn’t get enough of being catapulted through the front windscreen of a generation of Volvo’s finest passenger cars to determine just how ‘safe’ new models were.

What transpired by the relentless hours put in by crash test dummies, was the co-axel of the words Volvo and safety, as two inseparable forces galvanised in modern automotive history, which are seldom mentioned in separate sentences, and reassure legions of new Volvo buyers that they’re purchasing the vehicular equivalent of bubble wrap.

So when Volvo suddenly announce that its new XC60 is upping the safety ante still further, your mental pictures border on the insane. What’s Volvo suggesting? Other than owners possibly leaving their vehicles on the drive and walking to work/in-laws/supermarket/school (delete as applicable) there’s little more the Swedish manufacturer can invent and patent through a series of complex testing procedures that they haven’t already committed family-sized toys life’s to.

Unless of course the new XC60 is surrounded by an invisible shield (as opposed to a shield of invisibility, which would cause pandemonium and pile ups more than avoiding them). But then that thought belongs in the realms of fantasy, and as we know for a fact, Volvo’s solutions firmly exist in reality. The mind truly boggles.

Not for long though, as we discover the new Volvo XC60 is above all else, the harbinger of doom. Or to be more precise, the one 4X4 that will ensure you and your nearest and dearest avoid any premature doom closing on your immediate horizon, thanks to its bespoke City Safety technology onboard.

Not content with parading twin front and side airbags, cabin-length window airbags, a strengthened roof and anti-whiplash front head restraints in order to protect the innocent, the new Volvo XC60 fronts a cutting edge tech system that brings the vehicle to a rapid and grinding halt all of its own accord. If it senses imminent danger directly ahead, the new Volvo XC60 ultimately assumes the responsibility from the driver and over-rides their lacklustre input. Or entire lack of as the case may be.

Let us explain. Providing you’re footling along at an average speed of 20mph or under, sensors built in to the windscreen of the new XC60 alert the driver if it considers you’re on collision course with the car in front, based on instant trajectory calculations that support the system’s insistence. The driver’s attention is drawn to the impending danger by way of a warning buzzer, activated the millisecond the system draws its conclusion as to a likelihood of a low speed altercation between the two vehicles. If in the event the drivers fails to respond/comply, the intelligent Volvo assemblage steps in and literally on the brake for you averting costly and potentially occupant injury-threatening scenarios.

Whilst not claiming to eradicate all low speed shunts, Volvo remains upbeat in its belief that its City Safe technology will reduce the occurrence. Although detractors note that it doesn’t recognise pedestrians and struggles with the concept of motorbikes as potentially dangerous situations.

Away from the safety aspect making all the headlines up front, we find that the new Volvo XC60 is hardly a slouch in other areas either. Under the bonnet for example daddy cool can opt for the turbocharged 281bhp 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol lump which offers enough clout to make even the hot hatch crew look up, once they’ve repositioned their baseball cap that is. Otherwise its reliable diesel business as usual courtesy of a pair of 2.4-litre five-cylinder oil burners. Virtually the same but for the higher-spec D5 tuned up to produce 182bhp, although mid range torque makes both version viable prospects for family haulage duties.

Ride and handling is straight out of the luxury SUV/4X4 top drawer that proffers like-for-like ability against so-called premium manufacturers’ equivalent models. BMW X3 Land Rover Freelander you know who we’re talking about. Making a mockery of body roll whilst holding the hairpins, the XC60’s steering and subsequent balance prowess is never scrutinised as it makes light of all asphalt-based road tests. And given its well proportioned alloy wheels, jacked-up stance and perma four-wheel drive functionality the sophisticated XC60 can rough it out with all of its rivals.

Regardless of the diesel units sounding fairly vocal under duress, you never mistakenly think you’re behind the wheel of a tractor unlike some vociferous derv-favouring off-roaders out there. In fact, a lid is kept on the majority of the Volvo XC60’s exterior aural interference in general, including accumulative wind and surface acoustics.

Acknowledged as being class-leading in terms of residual value compensates for the initial outlay on the new XC60, that said it’s by no means the most expensive 4X4 in this segment. Still, the Volvo lives in the shadow of competitors when it comes down to running costs, which sees it visiting the pumps on a more regular basis. Again, its measures to minimise CO2 emissions aren’t sadly in the same league as its peers, a fact not lost in its company car tax bracket.

With some of the XC60’s core components begged, borrowed or half-inched from its manufacturer siblings, the mechanical aptitude are never brought to task, coupled with premium as well as durable plastics, brushed aluminium and wood inserts to interior nooks and crannies befits the Volvo with an overwhelming air of hardy and thoughtful build quality. And more than up to the rigours of substantial family to-ing and fro-ing.

Staying in the cabin space and occupants of all generations will discover acres of room in which to acquaint themselves, while the driver will revel in the invitingly tactile floating centre instrumentation console which serves as the singular nerve centre for the XC60 travails. You shouldn’t hear a peep out of the kids thanks to a centralised interior picnic table and a pair of DVD screens to keep them amused on long journeys. Sport-loving grown-ups will be pretty chuffed to with a massive 1455-litres of floor cargo space opening up for mountain bikes et al once they’ve flattened the rear-most chairs.

Two trim levels make the age-old dilemma that much simpler too, with the entry-level S version of the XC60 boasting the info-centre, steering wheel-mounted CD controls, climate, cruise and 17” alloys for starters. Plump for the SE Lux and you’ll bag chronographic-style instrumentation, leather, active headlights, power tailgate and rear parking sensors to boot.