5 Reasons why the Volvo XC60 deserves a place in your garage

By Ané Theron

The Volvo XC60 was 2018's World Car of the Year, beating some seriously stellar contenders such as the Mazda CX-5 and Range Rover Velar to the no.1  position on the podium of excellence. We recently drove the Volvo XC60 Geartronic D5 AWD Inscription, which costs R806 300 new. Here are five reasons why this Volvo XC60 will delight you on a daily basis.

 

1. Cutting-edge design 

The Scandinavians must have been the inventors of the "less is more" philosophy. The XC60 has that chic, understated, minimalistic elegance which doesn't just  look good, but also fulfils a functional and ergonomic purpose.

As soon as you seat your behind on those spine-soothing Nappa Leather seats and take in the harmonious, expertly crafted cabin around you, you feel perfectly calm and safely cosseted from the noise and chaos of the outside world. (Read our XC60 T6 AWD R-Design review here).

In my opinion, no other manufacturer currently comes close to the clever, practical and visually pleasing layout of the Volvo interior.  I loved the 'driftwood' interior trim and brushed chrome combination inside this model.

 

2. Intuitive infotainment system with crystal clear graphics

While many of the German and British premium SUVs have infotainment systems that almost warrant a 3-day how-to crash course, Volvo's 9-inch Sensus Connect system is effortless to use, operating much like an Apple iPad. The system also understands natural speech rather well.  For example, if you say "I'm cold" or "It's too hot", the temperature will be set to your exact requirements.

The other cabin highlight is the virtual 12.3-inch screen behind the steering wheel which replaces the more traditional analogue dial setup. This displays essential driver information such as turn-by-turn directions from the Sat-nav and even safety features that are currently enabled. The entire system is very straightforward and logical to use, putting many more expensive SUVs' overly complex  systems to shame.

 

3. Advanced semi-autonomous tech that takes the stress out of commuting

All the premium brands currently have some kind of self-driving and self-stopping technology, be it lane keep assist, steering assist, and/or camera/radar-based distance control function. However, in my opinion the Volvo Pilot Assist's self-driving skills are the best in the business. 

If you so prefer, the system will do most of the driving for you; all it needs is a reassuring touch to the steering wheel every now and again to continue its self-driving journey.  The system allows the XC60 to steer around bends autonomously, it recognises traffic signs, and will adapt to whatever driving conditions you find yourself in. And yes, Volvos already have the ability to drive completely on their own, but because of stringent legislation, we won't see fully autonomous cars on our roads just yet.

 

4. No turbo lag!

The issue with turbocharged engines is that they often take a while to respond to throttle input, but Volvo's brainy engineers have come up with a way to fix this little issue: The PowerPulse system which works with compressed air. 

The D5's 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine already features two sequential turbos to reduce lag, but, by injecting a pulse of compressed air into the exhaust manifold, it spins the smaller turbo from idling at 20 000 revolutions per minute to 150 000 rpm in only 0.3 seconds. In other words, the air "spools up" the turbos, resulting in less hesitation to swiftly move forward when you plant your right foot. The Volvo XC60 D5 Geartronic AWD, a heavy vehicle with a relatively compact turbodiesel engine, will sprint to a 100 km/h from standstill in an efficient 7.2 seconds. 

 

5. Award-winning safety features

“Our vision is that by 2020, nobody should be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo car.” - Volvo Cars CEO, Håkan Samuelsson.

The XC60 brims with standard safety systems such as Volvo's CITY safety with pedestrian/cyclist/large animal detection, as well as a front-collision warning, and full autonomous braking. On more than one occasion Volvo's emergency braking systems have saved my bacon: Once, in the S90, when a Taxi driver decided to swerve into my lane, and another time (in the XC60 T6), when a motorcyclist casually ignored a stop street and nearly found himself at the wrong end of my front bumper, had the XC60 not intervened.

The XC60 was also 2017's safest car in EuroNCAP Testing. It joins the S90 and V90 in "making history for Volvo Cars as the first manufacturer to hold all top three car rankings in Euro NCAP’s Autonomous Emergency Braking for the city, inter-urban and urban commuting. These three Volvos are the only cars to have achieved perfect scores in all three categories." (Read Left-field Swede, our review on the V90 Cross Country D5 Inscription here, and read Volvo S90 D5 R-Design: Redefining Swedish Sensibility here.)

 

Read more Volvo articles here:

• Volvo XC90 bags 2018 South African Car of the Year title
• Volvo XC90 - Loaded with tech & handsomely styled
• Volvo V40 - Sexy swede gets more svelte 

Source: Volvo press room